Introduction Mild intermittent asthma is common in children and viral infections are responsible for the majority of exacerbations. As leukotrienes are potent inflammatory mediators, some studies have shown that Montelukast, a leukotriene receptor antagonist, may be effective on reduction of asthma symptom. To determine whether a short course of Montelukast in asthmatic children with common col...

Many infectious pathogens, and in particular viruses, have an extremely high rate of mutation. This can lead to rapid evolution driven by selection pressures operating at the withinand betweenhost levels, as strains compete for resources within their host while also competing to effectively transmit to new hosts. In the case of chronic viral infections, such as those caused by HIV or hepatitis ...

Natural killer (NK) cells contribute to immunity and reproduction. Guiding these functions, and NK cell education, are killer cell Ig-like receptors (KIR), NK cell receptors that recognize HLA class I. In most human populations, these highly polymorphic receptors and ligands combine with extraordinary diversity. To assess how much of this diversity is necessary, we studied KIR and HLA class I a...

BACKGROUND Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a progressive lung disease that is punctuated by periods of exacerbations (worsening of symptoms) that are attributable to viral infections. While rhinoviruses are most commonly isolated viruses during episodes of exacerbation, influenza viruses have the potential to become even more problematic with the increased likelihood of an epidemic. ...

Dengue virus (DENV) is currently the most prevalent mosquito-borne viral pathogen. DENVs naturally exist as highly heterogeneous populations. Even though the descriptions on DENV diversity are plentiful, only a few studies have narrated the dynamics of intra-epidemic virus diversity at a fine scale. Such accounts are important to decipher the reciprocal relationship between viral evolutionary d...

Human noroviruses are positive-sense RNA viruses and are the leading cause of epidemic acute viral gastroenteritis in developed countries. The absence of an in vitro cell culture model for human norovirus infection has limited the development of effective antivirals and vaccines. Human histo-blood group antigens have been regarded as receptors for norovirus infection, and expression of the alph...

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is a contagious animal disease that causes irreparable damage to the economy of countries, including Iran in which this disease is a native one. Among the ways to combat FMD are vaccination and slaughter. Due to the specific situation of Iran, it is not possible to kill infected animals. Therefore, vaccination is the most important way to fight this disease. S...

Teratogenicity ofthe rubella virus for the developing organ systems of the human embryo has been recognized since Gregg's (1941) clinical description of the congenital rubella syndrome and the retrospective epidemiological investigation of the 1940 Australian rubella epidemic by Swan et al. (1943). Pathogenesis, however, remained speculative, as rubella was only of presumed viral etiology. Subs...

Acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis (AHC) infection is highly contagious and can lead to explosive epidemics. In early February 2011, the Center for Epidemiologic Surveillance of the State of São Paulo Health Secretariat (SES-SP) in Brazil received reports of conjunctivitis outbreaks from rural areas of the state that subsequently spread statewide. This report describes that AHC epidemic and its e...

There are many effective chemothereutic agents used in influenza disease which some of them inhibit virus replication by interfering with FluV (influenza virus) viral binding or its penetration into cell membrane. A series of polyoxometalates compounds such as POM-523 and PM-504 have been synthesized and have showed inhibitory effects on viruses. In this study we examined anti influenza activit...