Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 40 in total

Abstract:
Sort:
  1. Chua KB
    J Clin Virol, 2003 Apr;26(3):265-75.
    PMID: 12637075
    Nipah virus, a novel paramyxovirus, closely related to Hendra virus emerged in northern part of Peninsular Malaysia in 1998. The virus caused an outbreak of severe febrile encephalitis in humans with a high mortality rate, whereas, in pigs, encephalitis and respiratory diseases but with a relatively low mortality rate. The outbreak subsequently spread to various regions of the country and Singapore in the south due to the movement of infected pigs. Nipah virus caused systemic infections in humans, pigs and other mammals. Histopathological and radiological findings were characteristic of the disease. Fruitbats of Pteropid species were identified as the natural reservoir hosts. Evidence suggested that climatic and anthropogenic driven ecological changes coupled with the location of piggeries in orchard and the design of pigsties allowed the spill-over of this novel paramyxovirus from its reservoir host into the domestic pigs and ultimately to humans and other animals.
    Matched MeSH terms: Paramyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology*
  2. Wong KT
    Neuropathol. Appl. Neurobiol., 2000 Aug;26(4):313-8.
    PMID: 10931364
    Two major epidemics of viral encephalitis occurred in Asia in 1997 and 1998. The first was a re-emergence of neurovirulent strains of enterovirus 71, which caused severe encephalomyelitis in children in Malaysia, Taiwan and Japan, on a background of hand, foot and mouth disease. Necropsy studies of patients who died of enterovirus 71 infection showed severe perivascular cuffing, parenchymal inflammation and neuronophagia in the spinal cord, brainstem and diencephalon, and in focal areas in the cerebellum and cerebrum. Although no viral inclusions were detected, immunohistochemistry showed viral antigen in the neuronal cytoplasm. Inflammation was often more extensive than neuronal infection, suggesting that other factors, in addition to direct viral cytolysis, may be involved in tissue damage. The second epidemic of viral encephalitis was the result of a novel paramyxovirus called Nipah, which mainly involved pig handlers in Malaysia and Singapore. Pathological evidence suggested that the endothelium of small blood vessels in the central nervous system was particularly susceptible to infection. This led to disseminated endothelial damage and syncytium formation, vasculitis, thrombosis, ischaemia and microinfarction. However, there was also evidence of neuronal infection by the virus and this may also have contributed to the neurological dysfunction in Nipah encephalitis. Some patients who seemed to recover from the acute symptoms have been re-admitted with clinical findings suggestive of relapsing encephalitis. As these two epidemics indicate, the emergence and re-emergence of viral encephalitides continue to pose considerable challenges to the neuropathologist, in establishing the diagnosis and unravelling the pathogenesis of the neurological disease.
    Matched MeSH terms: Paramyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology*
  3. Chua KB, Bellini WJ, Rota PA, Harcourt BH, Tamin A, Lam SK, et al.
    Science, 2000 May 26;288(5470):1432-5.
    PMID: 10827955
    A paramyxovirus virus termed Nipah virus has been identified as the etiologic agent of an outbreak of severe encephalitis in people with close contact exposure to pigs in Malaysia and Singapore. The outbreak was first noted in late September 1998 and by mid-June 1999, more than 265 encephalitis cases, including 105 deaths, had been reported in Malaysia, and 11 cases of encephalitis or respiratory illness with one death had been reported in Singapore. Electron microscopic, serologic, and genetic studies indicate that this virus belongs to the family Paramyxoviridae and is most closely related to the recently discovered Hendra virus. We suggest that these two viruses are representative of a new genus within the family Paramyxoviridae. Like Hendra virus, Nipah virus is unusual among the paramyxoviruses in its ability to infect and cause potentially fatal disease in a number of host species, including humans.
    Matched MeSH terms: Paramyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology*
  4. Lam TT, Tang JW, Lai FY, Zaraket H, Dbaibo G, Bialasiewicz S, et al.
    J Infect, 2019 10;79(4):373-382.
    PMID: 31323249 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinf.2019.07.008
    OBJECTIVES: To improve our understanding of the global epidemiology of common respiratory viruses by analysing their contemporaneous incidence at multiple sites.

    METHODS: 2010-2015 incidence data for influenza A (IAV), influenza B (IBV), respiratory syncytial (RSV) and parainfluenza (PIV) virus infections were collected from 18 sites (14 countries), consisting of local (n = 6), regional (n = 9) and national (n = 3) laboratories using molecular diagnostic methods. Each site submitted monthly virus incidence data, together with details of their patient populations tested and diagnostic assays used.

    RESULTS: For the Northern Hemisphere temperate countries, the IAV, IBV and RSV incidence peaks were 2-6 months out of phase with those in the Southern Hemisphere, with IAV having a sharp out-of-phase difference at 6 months, whereas IBV and RSV showed more variable out-of-phase differences of 2-6 months. The tropical sites Singapore and Kuala Lumpur showed fluctuating incidence of these viruses throughout the year, whereas subtropical sites such as Hong Kong, Brisbane and Sydney showed distinctive biannual peaks for IAV but not for RSV and PIV.

    CONCLUSIONS: There was a notable pattern of synchrony of IAV, IBV and RSV incidence peaks globally, and within countries with multiple sampling sites (Canada, UK, Australia), despite significant distances between these sites.

    Matched MeSH terms: Paramyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology*
  5. Oong XY, Chook JB, Ng KT, Chow WZ, Chan KG, Hanafi NS, et al.
    Virol J, 2018 05 23;15(1):91.
    PMID: 29792212 DOI: 10.1186/s12985-018-1005-8
    BACKGROUND: Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is established as one of the causative agents of respiratory tract infections. To date, there are limited reports that describe the effect of HMPV genotypes and/or viral load on disease pathogenesis in adults. This study aims to determine the role of HMPV genetic diversity and nasopharyngeal viral load on symptom severity in outpatient adults with acute respiratory tract infections.
    METHODS: Severity of common cold symptoms of patients from a teaching hospital was assessed by a four-category scale and summed to obtain the total symptom severity score (TSSS). Association between the fusion and glycoprotein genes diversity, viral load (quantified using an improved RT-qPCR assay), and symptom severity were analyzed using bivariate and linear regression analyses.
    RESULTS: Among 81/3706 HMPV-positive patients, there were no significant differences in terms of demographics, number of days elapsed between symptom onset and clinic visit, respiratory symptoms manifestation and severity between different HMPV genotypes/sub-lineages. Surprisingly, elderly patients (≥65 years old) had lower severity of symptoms (indicated by TSSS) than young and middle age adults (p = 0.008). Nasopharyngeal viral load did not correlate with nor predict symptom severity of HMPV infection. Interestingly, at 3-5 days after symptom onset, genotype A-infected patients had higher viral load compared to genotype B (4.4 vs. 3.3 log10 RNA copies/μl) (p = 0.003).
    CONCLUSIONS: Overall, HMPV genetic diversity and viral load did not impact symptom severity in adults with acute respiratory tract infections. Differences in viral load dynamics over time between genotypes may have important implications on viral transmission.
    Study site: Primary Care Clinic, University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
    Matched MeSH terms: Paramyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology
  6. Chew MH, Arguin PM, Shay DK, Goh KT, Rollin PE, Shieh WJ, et al.
    J Infect Dis, 2000 May;181(5):1760-3.
    PMID: 10823780
    During 10-19 March 1999, 11 workers in 1 of 2 Singaporean abattoirs developed Nipah-virus associated encephalitis or pneumonia, resulting in 1 fatality. A case-control study was conducted to determine occupational risk factors for infection. Case patients were abattoir A workers who had anti-Nipah IgM antibodies; control subjects were randomly selected abattoir A workers who tested negative for anti-Nipah IgM. All 13 case patients versus 26 (63%) of 41 control subjects reported contact with live pigs (P=.01). Swine importation from Malaysian states concurrently experiencing a Nipah virus outbreak was banned on 3 March 1999; on 19 March 1999, importation of Malaysian pigs was banned, and abattoirs were closed. No unusual illnesses among pigs processed during February-March were reported. Contact with live pigs appeared to be the most important risk factor for human Nipah virus infection. Direct contact with live, potentially infected pigs should be minimized to prevent transmission of this potentially fatal zoonosis to humans.
    Matched MeSH terms: Paramyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology*
  7. Parashar UD, Sunn LM, Ong F, Mounts AW, Arif MT, Ksiazek TG, et al.
    J Infect Dis, 2000 May;181(5):1755-9.
    PMID: 10823779
    An outbreak of encephalitis affecting 265 patients (105 fatally) occurred during 1998-1999 in Malaysia and was linked to a new paramyxovirus, Nipah, that infected pigs, humans, dogs, and cats. Most patients were pig farmers. Clinically undetected Nipah infection was noted in 10 (6%) of 166 community-farm controls (persons from farms without reported encephalitis patients) and 20 (11%) of 178 case-farm controls (persons from farms with encephalitis patients). Case patients (persons with Nipah infection) were more likely than community-farm controls to report increased numbers of sick/dying pigs on the farm (59% vs. 24%, P=.001) and were more likely than case-farm controls to perform activities requiring direct contact with pigs (86% vs. 50%, P=.005). Only 8% of case patients reported no contact with pigs. The outbreak stopped after pigs in the affected areas were slaughtered and buried. Direct, close contact with pigs was the primary source of human Nipah infection, but other sources, such as infected dogs and cats, cannot be excluded.
    Matched MeSH terms: Paramyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology*
  8. Wong KT, Shieh WJ, Kumar S, Norain K, Abdullah W, Guarner J, et al.
    Am J Pathol, 2002 Dec;161(6):2153-67.
    PMID: 12466131
    In 1998, an outbreak of acute encephalitis with high mortality rates among pig handlers in Malaysia led to the discovery of a novel paramyxovirus named Nipah virus. A multidisciplinary investigation that included epidemiology, microbiology, molecular biology, and pathology was pivotal in the discovery of this new human infection. Clinical and autopsy findings were derived from a series of 32 fatal human cases of Nipah virus infection. Diagnosis was established in all cases by a combination of immunohistochemistry (IHC) and serology. Routine histological stains, IHC, and electron microscopy were used to examine autopsy tissues. The main histopathological findings included a systemic vasculitis with extensive thrombosis and parenchymal necrosis, particularly in the central nervous system. Endothelial cell damage, necrosis, and syncytial giant cell formation were seen in affected vessels. Characteristic viral inclusions were seen by light and electron microscopy. IHC analysis showed widespread presence of Nipah virus antigens in endothelial and smooth muscle cells of blood vessels. Abundant viral antigens were also seen in various parenchymal cells, particularly in neurons. Infection of endothelial cells and neurons as well as vasculitis and thrombosis seem to be critical to the pathogenesis of this new human disease.
    Matched MeSH terms: Paramyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology
  9. Nichol ST, Arikawa J, Kawaoka Y
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2000 Nov 07;97(23):12411-2.
    PMID: 11035785
    Matched MeSH terms: Paramyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology*
  10. Chua KB, Chua BH, Wang CW
    Malays J Pathol, 2002 Jun;24(1):15-21.
    PMID: 16329551
    In late 1998, a novel paramyxovirus named Nipah virus, emerged in Malaysia, causing fatal disease in domestic pigs and humans with substantial economic loss to the local pig industry. Pteropid fruitbats have since been identified as a natural reservoir host. Over the last two decades, the forest habitat of these bats in Southeast Asia has been substantially reduced by deforestation for pulpwood and industrial plantation. In 1997/1998, slash-and-burn deforestation resulted in the formation of a severe haze that blanketed much of Southeast Asia in the months directly preceding the Nipah virus disease outbreak. This was exacerbated by a drought driven by the severe 1997-1998 El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event. We present data suggesting that this series of events led to a reduction in the availability of flowering and fruiting forest trees for foraging by fruitbats and culminated in unprecedented encroachment of fruitbats into cultivated fruit orchards in 1997/1998. These anthropogenic events, coupled with the location of piggeries in orchards and the design of pigsties allowed transmission of a novel paramyxovirus from its reservoir host to the domestic pig and ultimately to the human population.
    Matched MeSH terms: Paramyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology
  11. Chua KB, Lam SK, Goh KJ, Hooi PS, Ksiazek TG, Kamarulzaman A, et al.
    J Infect, 2001 Jan;42(1):40-3.
    PMID: 11243752
    To study the excretion of Nipah virus in the upper respiratory secretions and urine of infected patients in relation to other clinical features.
    Matched MeSH terms: Paramyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology
  12. Enserink M
    Science, 2000 Jul 28;289(5479):518-9.
    PMID: 10939954 DOI: 10.1126/science.289.5479.518
    Scientists are a step closer to unraveling a medical mystery that killed 105 people in Malaysia last year and destroyed the country's pig industry. The Nipah virus, which caused the disease, most likely originated in a native fruit bat species, Malaysian researchers reported here at a meeting last week. They say the findings will help Malaysian health authorities prevent future outbreaks of the Nipah virus. Others see the case as an argument for expanding research into infections that can leap the boundary between animals and humans.
    Matched MeSH terms: Paramyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology*
  13. Ozawa Y, Ong BL, An SH
    Rev. - Off. Int. Epizoot., 2001 Aug;20(2):605-13.
    PMID: 11548530
    Traceback systems in most countries of Asia are not well developed, as indicated by responses to a questionnaire by veterinary officials in thirteen countries. Marking of animals for traceback is practised only in a limited number of countries in specific areas or zones and for specific purposes only. In Malaysia, traceback has been undertaken by marking farm code tattoos on pigs. This enables the identification of the farm of origin of pigs found to be infected by Nipah virus in sero-surveillance programmes. The origin of the foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus that surfaced in the Republic of Korea in March 2000 was investigated through several epidemiological studies of suspected sources of contamination such as imported hay, yellow sand, milk collection trucks and feed delivery trucks. None of these studies gave results that indicated the origin of the FMD virus. The origin of the FMD virus that was recorded in Japan in March 2000 was also investigated in epidemiological studies; in this case, imported wheat straw was incriminated as the most likely source of infection. Comparative studies of the pathogenicities of FMD (type O) viruses isolated in Taipei China, the Republic of Korea and Japan, suggest that these viruses might have originated as vaccine strains used in a third country.
    Matched MeSH terms: Paramyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology
  14. Goh KJ, Tan CT, Chew NK, Tan PS, Kamarulzaman A, Sarji SA, et al.
    N Engl J Med, 2000 Apr 27;342(17):1229-35.
    PMID: 10781618 DOI: 10.1056/NEJM200004273421701
    BACKGROUND: Between September 1998 and June 1999, there was an outbreak of severe viral encephalitis due to Nipah virus, a newly discovered paramyxovirus, in Malaysia.
    METHODS: We studied the clinical features of the patients with Nipah virus encephalitis who were admitted to a medical center in Kuala Lumpur. The case definition was based on epidemiologic, clinical, cerebrospinal fluid, and neuroimaging findings.
    RESULTS: Ninety-four patients with Nipah virus infection were seen from February to June 1999 (mean age, 37 years; ratio of male patients to female patients, 4.5 to 1). Ninety-three percent had had direct contact with pigs, usually in the two weeks before the onset of illness, suggesting that there was direct viral transmission from pigs to humans and a short incubation period. The main presenting features were fever, headache, dizziness, and vomiting. Fifty-two patients (55 percent) had a reduced level of consciousness and prominent brain-stem dysfunction. Distinctive clinical signs included segmental myoclonus, areflexia and hypotonia, hypertension, and tachycardia and thus suggest the involvement of the brain stem and the upper cervical spinal cord. The initial cerebrospinal fluid findings were abnormal in 75 percent of patients. Antibodies against Hendra virus were detected in serum or cerebrospinal fluid in 76 percent of 83 patients tested. Thirty patients (32 percent) died after rapid deterioration in their condition. An abnormal doll's-eye reflex and tachycardia were factors associated with a poor prognosis. Death was probably due to severe brain-stem involvement. Neurologic relapse occurred after initially mild disease in three patients. Fifty patients (53 percent) recovered fully, and 14 (15 percent) had persistent neurologic deficits.
    CONCLUSIONS: Nipah virus causes a severe, rapidly progressive encephalitis with a high mortality rate and features that suggest involvement of the brain stem. The infection is associated with recent contact with pigs.
    Matched MeSH terms: Paramyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology
  15. Ivan A, Indrei LL
    Rev Med Chir Soc Med Nat Iasi, 2000 Apr-Jun;104(2):51-5.
    PMID: 12089991
    In the interval 1994-1999, in Australia, Malaysia and Singapore, epizootic and epidemiological episodes of meningoencephalitis and severe acute respiratory syndromes were reported. Highly lethal in horses, swine and humans, the episodes were proved to be caused by the "new" viruses Hendra (HeV) and Nipah (NiV). At the same time three "new" viral agents have been isolated: Lyssavirus, Menanglevirus and Tupaia paramyxovirus. The intense contemporary circulation of people, animals and food products together with changes in human ecosystem favor new relations between humans and the "natural reservoirs" of biologic agents with a pathogenic potential for domestic and peridomestic animals and humans.
    Matched MeSH terms: Paramyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology
  16. Gibbs WW
    Sci. Am., 1999 Aug;281(2):80-7.
    PMID: 10443039
    Matched MeSH terms: Paramyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology
  17. Lim CC, Sitoh YY, Hui F, Lee KE, Ang BS, Lim E, et al.
    AJNR Am J Neuroradiol, 2000 Mar;21(3):455-61.
    PMID: 10730635
    BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: An epidemic of suspected Japanese encephalitis occurred in Malaysia in 1998-1999 among pig farmers. In neighboring Singapore, an outbreak occurred among pig slaughterhouse workers. It was subsequently established that the causative agent in the outbreak was not the Japanese encephalitis virus but a previously unknown Hendra-like paramyxovirus named Nipah virus.

    METHODS: The brain MR images of eight patients with Nipah virus infection were reviewed. All patients tested negative for acute Japanese encephalitis virus. Seven patients had contrast-enhanced studies and six had diffusion-weighted examinations.

    RESULTS: All patients had multiple small bilateral foci of T2 prolongation within the subcortical and deep white matter. The periventricular region and corpus callosum were also involved. In addition to white matter disease, five patients had cortical lesions, three had brain stem involvement, and a single thalamic lesion was detected in one patient. All lesions were less than 1 cm in maximum diameter. In five patients, diffusion-weighted images showed increased signal. Four patients had leptomeningeal enhancement and four had enhancement of parenchymal lesions.

    CONCLUSION: The brain MR findings in patients infected with the newly discovered Nipah paramyxovirus are different from those of patients with Japanese encephalitis. In a zoonotic epidemic, this striking difference in the appearance and distribution of lesions is useful in differentiating these diseases. Diffusion-weighted imaging was advantageous in increasing lesion conspicuity.

    Matched MeSH terms: Paramyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology
  18. Nor'e SS, Sam IC, Mohamad Fakri EF, Hooi PS, Nathan AM, de Bruyne JA, et al.
    Trop Biomed, 2014 Sep;31(3):562-6.
    PMID: 25382484 MyJurnal
    Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a recently discovered cause of viral respiratory infections. We describe clinical and molecular epidemiology of HMPV cases diagnosed in children with respiratory infection at University of Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The prevalence rate of HMPV between 2010 and 2012 was 1.1%, and HMPV contributed 6.5% of confirmed viral respiratory infections. The HMPV patients had a median age of 1.6 years, and a median hospital admission of 4 days. The most common clinical presentations were fever, rhinitis, pneumonia, vomiting/diarrhoea, and bronchiolitis. Based on the partial sequences of F fusion gene from 26 HMPV strains, 14 (54%) were subgenotype A2b, which was predominant in 2010; 11 (42%) were subgenotype B1, which was predominant in 2012; and 1 (4%) was subgenotype A2a. Knowledge of the circulating subgenotypes in Malaysia, and the displacement of predominant subgenotypes within 3 years, is useful data for future vaccine planning.
    Matched MeSH terms: Paramyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology
  19. Yazici Z, Gumusova S, Tamer C, Muftuoglu B, Ozan E, Arslan S, et al.
    Trop Biomed, 2019 Sep 01;36(3):803-809.
    PMID: 33597501
    Bovine parainfluenza 3 virus (BPI3V)is one of the most important respiratory pathogens and a leading cause of serious respiratory illnesses in cattle, both independent of and in connection with other pathogens involved in the bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC). In this study, we aimed to identify the historical circulation of genotype C bovine BPI3V (BPI3Vc) in Turkey using the archival serum samples of domestic ruminants that had been collected from six provinces of northern Anatolia in Turkey between 2009-2010. A total of 896 sera from cattle (n=442), sheep (n=330), and goats (n=124) were randomly selected and screened with a virus neutralization test in order to detect antibodies for BPI3Vc. The overall seropositivity rate was 21.09%, with seropositivity rates for cattle, sheep, and goats of 21.04%, 20.00%, and 24.19%, respectively. Neutralizing antibody titers for selected samples ranged between 1/4 to 1/512. This study represents the first serological study conducted using the first BPI3V isolate of Turkey.
    Matched MeSH terms: Paramyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology
  20. Fieldhouse JK, Toh TH, Lim WH, Ting J, Ha SJ, Hii KC, et al.
    PLoS One, 2018;13(8):e0202147.
    PMID: 30110367 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202147
    BACKGROUND: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and parainfluenza virus (PIV) are frequent causes of pneumonia and death among children at Sibu and Kapit Hospitals in Sarawak, Malaysia.

    OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence and risk factors for RSV subtypes A and B and PIV types 1-4 among patients hospitalized with pneumonia.

    METHODS: In a cross-sectional, pilot study nasopharyngeal swabs were studied with real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assays. Concurrently, we helped Sibu and Kapit Hospitals adapt their first molecular diagnostics for RSV and PIV.

    RESULTS: Of 129 specimens collected (June to July 2017), 39 tested positive for RSV-A (30.2%), two were positive for RSV B (1.6%), one was positive for PIV-3 (0.8%) and one was positive for PIV-4 (0.8%). No samples were positive for PIV-1 or PIV-2. Of the 39 RSV-A positive specimens, 46.2% were collected from children under one year of age and only 5.1% were from patients over the age of 18. A multivariable analysis found the odds of children <1 year of age testing positive for RSV-A were 32.7 (95% CI: 3.9, 276.2) times larger than >18 years of age, and the odds of patients hospitalized at Kapit Hospital testing positive for RSV-A were 3.2 (95% CI: 1.3, 7.8) times larger than patients hospitalized at Sibu Hospital.

    CONCLUSION: This study found an unusually high prevalence of RSV-A among pneumonia patients admitted to the two hospitals. Subsequently, Sibu Hospital adapted the molecular assays with the goal of providing more directed care for such pneumonia patients.

    Matched MeSH terms: Paramyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology*
Filters
Contact Us

Please provide feedback to Administrator (afdal@afpm.org.my)

External Links