Viral infections during pregnancy may cause fetal or neonatal damage. Clinical intervention, which is required for certain viral infections, relies on laboratory tests performed during pregnancy and at the neonatal stage. This review describes traditional and advanced laboratory approaches and testing methods used for assessment of the six most significant viral infections during pregnancy: rub...

Background: Approximately 600,000 deaths occur every year as a result of the acute and chronic consequences of hepatitis B virus infection. Ten different hepatitis B virus genotypes have been identified with distinct geographical distributions. Different clinical outcomes, including the rate of mutations, development of hepatocellular carcinoma, chronicity, response to treatment, transplantatio...

BACKGROUND A(H1N1)pdm09, a new influenza pandemic virus emerged in 2009. The A(H1N1)pdm09 infection had several unique characteristics which included rapid transmissibility and high morbidity in obese individuals, pregnant women and individuals suffering from chronic diseases. OBJECTIVES To study the relationships between A(H1N1)pdm09 influenza infection and infections with other respiratory ...

Background: Sodium valproate, an anticonvulsant drug, is reported to stimulate Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 and Human cytomegalovirus replication. Since epileptic patients undergoing sodium valproate therapy may suffer from various virus infections, the effect of this drug on replication of viruses especially those affecting neuronal tissues such as Herpes simplex virus type 1 is worthy ...

Ill or immunosuppressed hospital patients are at increased risk for herpes simplex and herpes zoster virus infections, with high potential morbidity and mortality. Here, we present two cases of reactivation of herpes virus infections with delay in diagnosis, with ultimately fatal results. Since these infections are treatable, it is important to keep a high index of suspicion to facilitate early...

A new commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the diagnosis of Japanese encephalitis virus infections showed a sensitivity of 88% with sera and 81% with cerebrospinal fluid and a specificity of 97% with sera from patients with primary and secondary dengue virus infections. Specificity was 100% when samples from nonflavivirus infections were tested.

Arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) infections cause several emerging and resurgent infectious diseases in humans and animals. Chikungunya-affected areas often overlap with dengue-endemic areas. Concurrent dengue virus (DENV) and chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infections have been detected in travelers returning from regions of endemicity. CHIKV and DENV co-infected Aedes albopictus have also been col...

Infections by influenza virus constitute a major and recurrent threat for human health. Together with vaccines, antiviral drugs play key role in the prevention treatment of infection disease. Today, number molecules approved is relatively limited, their use threatened emergence viral strains resistance mutations. There therefore real need to expand prophylactic therapeutic arsenal. This chapter...

After Hurricane Jeanne in September 2004, surveillance for mosquitoborne diseases in Gonaïves, Haiti, identified 3 patients with malaria, 2 with acute dengue infections, and 2 with acute West Nile virus infections among 116 febrile patients. These are the first reported human West Nile virus infections on the island of Hispaniola.