Emerging Infectious Diseases and Strategies for Their Prevention and Control 2.0

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Medical Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 8241

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
3rd Department of Internal Medicine and Laboratory, School of Medicine, NKUA, Sotiria General Hospital, Athens, Greece
Interests: viral infections; emerging pathogens; infection control; antimicrobial resistance; antimicrobial stewardship; public health; medical education
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Guest Editor
Department of Infectious Diseases, German Oncology Center, 4108 Limassol, Cyprus
Interests: infection control; antimicrobial resistance; antimicrobial stewardship; refugee health; public health; medical education
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Third Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Sotiria Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
Interests: immunology of infectious diseases; clinical pharmacology; viral and bacterial infections; COVID-19; antimicrobial resistance and stewardship; public health and medical education

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Emerging infectious diseases are defined as infections based upon whether they have recently appeared within a population or those for which its incidence or geographic range is rapidly increasing or threatens to increase in the near future. They can be caused by a variety of pathogens, and existing examples include SARS virus, SARS-CoV-2, MERS virus, filoviruses, hemorrhagic fever viruses, dengue virus, chikungunya virus, West Nile virus, Zika virus, monkeypox virus, Borrelia burgdorferi, and Candida auris. Emerging infectious diseases can have a serious public health impact if not detected and contained while they are localized and manageable, as was the case with the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are pleased to invite you to submit articles related to the epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and control of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, with particular a particular on recent advances in the aforementioned fields. Original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following: new pathogen identification; diagnosis and detection; outbreak investigation and management; infection prevention and control; vaccination; education and training.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Garyphallia Poulakou
Dr. Nikolaos Spernovasilis
Dr. Vasiliki Rapti
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • emerging infectious diseases
  • re-emerging infectious diseases
  • epidemic-prone diseases
  • infection prevention
  • infection control
  • outbreak management
  • preventive vaccines
  • health education

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 1006 KiB  
Article
Remdesivir: Effectiveness and Safety in Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19 (ReEs-COVID-19)—Analysis of Data from Daily Practice
by Nikos Pantazis, Evmorfia Pechlivanidou, Anastasia Antoniadou, Karolina Akinosoglou, Ioannis Kalomenidis, Garyfallia Poulakou, Haralampos Milionis, Periklis Panagopoulos, Markos Marangos, Ioannis Katsarolis, Pinelopi Kazakou, Vasiliki Dimakopoulou, Anna-Louiza Chaliasou, Vasiliki Rapti, Eirini Christaki, Angelos Liontos, Vasileios Petrakis, Georgios Schinas, Dimitrios Biros, Maria-Christina Rimpa and Giota Touloumiadd Show full author list remove Hide full author list
Microorganisms 2023, 11(8), 1998; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11081998 - 3 Aug 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1294
Abstract
Remdesivir was the first antiviral approved for treating COVID-19. We investigated its patterns of use, effectiveness and safety in clinical practice in Greece. This is a retrospective observational study of hospitalized adults who received remdesivir for COVID-19 in September 2020–February 2021. The main [...] Read more.
Remdesivir was the first antiviral approved for treating COVID-19. We investigated its patterns of use, effectiveness and safety in clinical practice in Greece. This is a retrospective observational study of hospitalized adults who received remdesivir for COVID-19 in September 2020–February 2021. The main endpoints were the time to recovery (hospital discharge within 30 days from admission) and safety. The “early” (remdesivir initiation within 24 h since hospitalization) and “deferred” (remdesivir initiation later on) groups were compared. One thousand and four patients (60.6% male, mean age 61 years, 74.3% with severe disease, 70.9% with ≥1 comorbidities) were included, and 75.9% of them were on a 5-day regimen, and 86.8% were in the early group. Among those with a baseline mild/moderate disease, the median (95% CI) time to recovery was 8 (7–9) and 12 (11–14) days for the early and deferred groups, respectively (p < 0.001). The corresponding estimates for those with a severe disease were 10 (9–10) and 13 (11–15) days, respectively (p = 0.028). After remdesivir initiation, increased serum transaminases and an acute kidney injury were observed in 6.9% and 2.1%, respectively. Nine (0.9%) patients discontinued the treatment due to adverse events. The effectiveness of remdesivir was increased when it was taken within 24 h since admission regardless of the disease severity. Remdesivir’s safety profile is similar to that described in clinical trials and other real-world cohorts. Full article
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18 pages, 1691 KiB  
Article
Optimal Fast Integral Decontamination of Bacillus thuringiensis Aerosols and Fast Disinfection of Contaminated Surfaces
by José Luis Pérez-Díaz, Tania Martín-Pérez, Cristina del Álamo, Juan Sánchez-García-Casarrubios, José Luis Copa-Patiño, Juan Soliveri, José M. Orellana-Muriana, Jorge Pérez-Serrano and Francisco José Llerena-Aguilar
Microorganisms 2023, 11(4), 1021; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11041021 - 14 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1777
Abstract
Aerosolized anthrax (Bacillus anthracis) spores are of extreme health concern and can remain airborne for hours and contaminate all kinds of surfaces, constituting reservoirs from which resuspension is easily produced. The assessment of decontamination techniques must therefore consider both air and [...] Read more.
Aerosolized anthrax (Bacillus anthracis) spores are of extreme health concern and can remain airborne for hours and contaminate all kinds of surfaces, constituting reservoirs from which resuspension is easily produced. The assessment of decontamination techniques must therefore consider both air and surfaces. In the present study, several kinds of disinfecting fogs were experimentally tested against Bacillus thuringiensis spores, which served as a surrogate for Bacillus anthracis, both as aerosols released into the air and spread on porous and non-porous surfaces with different positions and orientations. This technology removed Bacillus thuringiensis spores from the air in 20 min with just a 1 min application of fog. The dynamics and characteristics of the fog, related to aerosol and surface interactions, proved to be critical for optimal performance and decontamination. An optimal configuration could provide effective disinfection even on indirectly reached surfaces. In all cases, 8% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) provided a higher disinfection rate than 2% glutaraldehyde. Full article
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11 pages, 1326 KiB  
Article
Novel Virus Air Sampler Based on Electrostatic Precipitation and Air Sampling of SARS-CoV-2
by Kyohei Fukuda, Hiroaki Baba, Mie Yoshida, Kouichi Kitabayashi, Shinjirou Katsushima, Hiroki Sonehara, Kazue Mizuno, Hajime Kanamori, Koichi Tokuda, Atsuhiro Nakagawa and Akira Mizuno
Microorganisms 2023, 11(4), 944; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11040944 - 4 Apr 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3436
Abstract
The assessment of airborne viruses in air is a critical step in the design of appropriate prevention and control measures. Hence, herein, we developed a novel wet-type electrostatic air sampler using a viral dissolution buffer containing a radical scavenging agent, and verified the [...] Read more.
The assessment of airborne viruses in air is a critical step in the design of appropriate prevention and control measures. Hence, herein, we developed a novel wet-type electrostatic air sampler using a viral dissolution buffer containing a radical scavenging agent, and verified the concentration of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA in the air of hospital rooms inhabiting coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients and public areas. RNA damage caused by corona discharge was negligible when Buffer AVL was used as the collecting electrode. The viral RNA concentration in the air of the room varied by patient: 3.9 × 103 copy/m3 on the 10th day after onset in a mild case and 1.3 × 103 copy/m3 on the 18th day in a severe case. Viral RNA levels were 7.8 × 102 and 1.9 × 102 copy/m3 in the air of the office and food court, respectively, where people removed their masks when eating and talking, but it remained undetected in the station corridor where all the people were wearing masks. The assessment of airborne SARS-CoV-2 RNA using the proposed sampler can serve as a basis for the safe discontinuation of COVID-19 isolation precautions to identify exposure hotspots and alert individuals at increased infection risks. Full article
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