scholarly journals Human Metapneumovirus: A Largely Unrecognized Threat to Human Health

Pathogens ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles J. Russell ◽  
Rhiannon R. Penkert ◽  
Sonnie Kim ◽  
Julia L. Hurwitz
Keyword(s):  
Vaccine Development ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Human Metapneumovirus ◽  
Respiratory Tract Disease ◽  
Lower Respiratory Tract Disease ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
High Risk Populations ◽  
Tract Disease ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First Time

Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) infects most children by five years of age. The virus can cause both upper and lower respiratory tract disease and can be life threatening. High-risk populations include young children who are exposed to virus for the first time and the elderly. Currently, there is no standard treatment nor licensed vaccine for HMPV, although several attractive vaccine candidates have been developed for pre-clinical studies. A raised awareness of the impact of HMPV on public health is needed to drive research, complete vaccine development, and thereby prevent significant virus-associated morbidities and mortalities worldwide.

scholarly journals Human Metapneumovirus and Lower Respiratory Tract Disease in Otherwise Healthy Infants and Children

2004 ◽  
Vol 350 (5) ◽  
pp. 443-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
John V. Williams ◽  
Paul A. Harris ◽  
Sharon J. Tollefson ◽  
Lisa L. Halburnt-Rush ◽  
Joyce M. Pingsterhaus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Respiratory Tract ◽  
Lower Respiratory Tract ◽  
Human Metapneumovirus ◽  
Infants And Children ◽  
Respiratory Tract Disease ◽  
Healthy Infants ◽  
Lower Respiratory Tract Disease ◽  
Tract Disease

Clinical Characteristics of the Afebrile Pneumonia Associated With Chlamydia trachomatis Infection in Infants Less Than 6 Months of Age

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-197
Author(s):  
Margaret A. Tipple ◽  
Marc O. Beem ◽  
Evelyn M. Saxon
Keyword(s):  
Chlamydia Trachomatis ◽  
Respiratory Tract ◽  
Lower Respiratory Tract ◽  
Clinical Characteristics ◽  
Respiratory Tract Disease ◽  
Chlamydia Trachomatis Infection ◽  
Lower Respiratory Tract Disease ◽  
Tract Disease ◽  
Blood Eosinophils ◽  
Respiratory Tract Colonization

Respiratory tract colonization with Chlamydia trachomatis commonly occurs in natally acquired chlamydial infection and is sometimes associated with a chronic, afebrile pneumonia that has relatively distinctive clinical characteristics. To further define the frequency and clinical characteristics of lower respiratory tract disease associated with C trachomatis, we grouped 56 infants aged less than 6 months with afebrile pneumonia according to nasopharyngeal shedding of Chlamydia and viruses and compared their illnesses. Forty-one (73%) were positive for C trachomatis (23 had C trachomatis only, while 18 had C trachomatis plus a virus [cytomegalovirus, respiratory synctial virus, adenovirus, rhinovirus, or enterovirus]), and 15 were C trachomatis negative (nine had a virus only, and six had neither C trachomatis nor virus). The 41 infants with C trachomatis alone or C trachomatis plus a virus were similar clinically and differed significantly from other infants in several ways: (1) onset of symptoms before 8 weeks of age; (2) gradually worsening symptoms; (3) presentation for care at 4 to 11 weeks of age; (4) presence of conjunctivitis and ear abnormalities; (5) chest roentgenograms showing bilateral, symmetrical, interstitial infiltrates and hyperexpansion; (6) peripheral blood eosinophils ≥300/cu mm; and (7) elevated values for serum immunoglobulins M, G, and A.

scholarly journals Palaeopathology and its relevance to understanding health and disease today: the impact of the environment on health, past and present

2016 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Ann Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Dna Analysis ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Uv Light ◽  
Evolutionary Medicine ◽  
Lower Respiratory Tract Disease ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Urban Contexts ◽  
Tract Disease ◽  
Pathogen Dna ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This paper considers the discipline of palaeopathology, how it has developed, how it is studied, and what limitations present challenges to analysis. The study of disease has a long history and has probably most rapidly developed over the last 40-50 years with the development of methods, and particularly ancient pathogen DNA analysis. While emphasizing that palaeopathology has close synergies to evolutionary medicine, it focuses then on three ‘case studies’ that illustrate the close interaction people have had with their environments and how that has impacted their health. Upper and lower respiratory tract disease has affected sinuses and ribs, particularly in urban contexts, and tuberculosis in particular has been an ever present disease throughout thousands of years of our existence. Ancient DNA methods are now allowing us to explore how strains of the bacteria causing TB have changed through time. Vitamin D deficiency and ‘phossy jaw’ are also described, both potentially related to polluted environments, and possibly to working conditions in the industrial period. Access to UV light is emphasized as a preventative factor for rickets and where a person lives is important (latitude). The painful stigmatizing ‘phossy jaw’ appears to be a condition related to the match making industries. Finally, thoughts for the future are outlined, and two key concerns: a close consideration of ethical issues and human remains, especially with destructive analyses, and thinking more about how palaeopathological research can impact people beyond academia.

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