Flavivirus ; Humans ; Immunity ; Vaccines ; Zika Virus ; Zika Virus Infection/prevention & control*

Viral infection is clinically common and some viral diseases, such as the ongoing global outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), have high morbidity and mortality. However, most viral infections are currently lacking in specific therapeutic agents and effective prophylactic vaccines, due to inadequate response, increased rate of drug resistance and severe adverse side effects. Therefore, it is urgent to find new specific therapeutic targets for antiviral defense among which "peptide-based therapeutics" is an emerging field. Peptides may be promising antiviral drugs because of their high efficacy and low toxic side effects. Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) is a prospective antiviral peptide. Since its successful isolation in 1970, VIP has been reported to be involved in infections of SARS-CoV-2, human immune deficiency virus (HIV), vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), Zika virus (ZIKV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV). Additionally, given that viral attacks sometimes cause severe complications due to overaction of inflammatory and immune responses, the potent anti-inflammatory and immunoregulator properties of VIP facilitate it to be a powerful and promising candidate. This review summarizes the role and mechanisms of VIP in all reported viral infections and suggests its clinical potential as an antiviral therapeutic target.
Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use* ; COVID-19/drug therapy* ; Humans ; Prospective Studies ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide/therapeutic use* ; Zika Virus ; Zika Virus Infection/drug therapy*

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging pathogen associated with neurological complications, such as Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults and microcephaly in fetuses and newborns. This mosquito-borne flavivirus causes important social and sanitary problems owing to its rapid dissemination. However, the development of antivirals against ZIKV is lagging. Although various strategies have been used to study anti-ZIKV agents, approved drugs or vaccines for the treatment (or prevention) of ZIKV infections are currently unavailable. Repurposing clinically approved drugs could be an effective approach to quickly respond to an emergency outbreak of ZIKV infections. The well-established safety profiles and optimal dosage of these clinically approved drugs could provide an economical, safe, and efficacious approach to address ZIKV infections. This review focuses on the recent research and development of agents against ZIKV infection by repurposing clinical drugs. Their characteristics, targets, and potential use in anti-ZIKV therapy are presented. This review provides an update and some successful strategies in the search for anti-ZIKV agents are given.
Adult ; Animals ; Drug Repositioning ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Microcephaly ; Pharmaceutical Preparations ; Zika Virus ; Zika Virus Infection/prevention & control*

OBJECTIVE: To establish a non-coated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on zika virus envelope (E) protein for detecting the expression of E protein in infected cells. METHODS: Adherent Vero-143 cells infected with zika virus in a 96-well plate were fixed, and the antibodies against zika virus E protein were added at an optimized concentration to establish the non-coated ELISA method for E protein. The antiviral activities of lignans compound C1 was evaluated using this method. The accuracy of this non-coated ELISA was verified by RT-PCR, and the cross reaction with dengue virus was assessed. RESULTS: After optimization, the background absorbance at 450 nm of uninfected cells was reduced to about 0.20. The antiviral activities of lignans compound C1 detected by this method were basically consistent with the results of RT-PCR. No cross reaction with dengue virus was found in this assay. CONCLUSIONS A non- coated ELISA method based on zika virus E protein was established, which can be used for screening antiviral agents against zika virus.
Antibodies, Viral ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Immunoglobulin M ; Viral Envelope Proteins ; Zika Virus ; Zika Virus Infection

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the number and risk of imported infections resulting from people visiting Asian and Latin American countries.METHODS: The dataset of visitors to 5 Asian countries with dengue were analyzed for 2016 and 2017, and in the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, imported cases of zika virus infection were also reported. For zika virus, a single imported case was reported from Brazil in 2016, and 2 imported cases reported from the Maldives in 2017. To understand the transmissibility in 5 Southeast Asian countries, the estimate of the force of infection, i.e., the hazard of infection per year and the average duration of travel has been extracted. Outbound travel numbers were retrieved from the World Tourism Organization, including business travelers.RESULTS: The incidence of imported dengue in 2016 was estimated at 7.46, 15.00, 2.14, 4.73 and 2.40 per 100,000 travelers visiting Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, respectively. Similarly, 2.55, 1.65, 1.53, 1.86 and 1.70 per 100,000 travelers in 2017, respectively. It was estimated that there were 60.1 infections (range: from 16.8 to 150.7 infections) with zika virus in Brazil, 2016, and 345.6 infections (range: from 85.4 to 425.5 infections) with zika virus in the Maldives, 2017.CONCLUSION: This study emphasizes that dengue and zika virus infections are mild in their nature, and a substantial number of infections may go undetected. An appropriate risk assessment of zika virus infection must use the estimated total size of infections.
Asia, Southeastern ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Brazil ; Commerce ; Dataset ; Dengue ; Humans ; Incidence ; Indian Ocean Islands ; Indonesia ; Korea ; Latin America ; Malaysia ; Philippines ; Risk Assessment ; Thailand ; Vietnam ; Zika Virus ; Zika Virus Infection

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a member of Flaviviridae family that has emerged as a pathogen of significant public health importance. The rapid expansion of ZIKV in the South and Central America has recently gained medical attention emphasizing the capacity of ZIKV to spread to non-endemic regions. ZIKV infection during pregnancy has been demonstrated to cause microcephaly and other fetal developmental abnormalities. An increased incidence of Guillain-Barre syndrome, an immune mediated neuropathy of the peripheral nervous system, has also been reported in ZIKV-infected patients in French Polynesia and Brazil. No effective therapies currently exist for treating patients infected with ZIKV. Despite the relatively short time interval, an intensive effort by the global scientific community has resulted in development of animal models to study multiple aspects of ZIKV biology. Several animal models have been established to investigate pathogenesis of ZIKV in adults, pregnant mothers, and developing fetuses. Here we review the remarkable progress of newly developed small and large animal models for understanding ZIKV pathogenesis.
Adult ; Animals* ; Biology ; Brazil ; Central America ; Fetal Development ; Fetus ; Flaviviridae ; Guillain-Barre Syndrome ; Humans ; Incidence ; Microcephaly ; Models, Animal* ; Mothers ; Peripheral Nervous System ; Polynesia ; Pregnancy ; Public Health ; Zika Virus Infection* ; Zika Virus*

Antimicrobial resistance and emerging infectious diseases, including avian influenza, Ebola virus disease, and Zika virus disease have significantly affected humankind in recent years. In the premodern era, no distinction was made between animal and human medicine. However, as medical science developed, the gap between human and animal science grew deeper. Cooperation among human, animal, and environmental sciences to combat emerging public health threats has become an important issue under the One Health Initiative. Herein, we presented the history of One Health, reviewed current public health threats, and suggested opportunities for the field of public health through better understanding of the One Health paradigm.
Animals ; Communicable Diseases ; Communicable Diseases, Emerging ; Drug Resistance, Microbial ; Ecology ; Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola ; Humans ; Influenza in Birds ; Korea ; Public Health* ; Zika Virus Infection ; Zoonoses

The recent epidemic of Zika virus in South America caused people around the world to exhibit an increased interest in the impact of arboviral illnesses. In Korea, malaria and Japanese encephalitis are the most important mosquito-borne diseases that occur indigenously. However, with the continuously increasing number of international travelers, the incidence of imported arboviral illnesses is also increasing. Currently, dengue fever is the most common mosquito-borne disease among Korean international travelers. The number of patients with Japanese encephalitis, chikungunya fever, and Zika virus infection is also on the rise. Many countries that have disease-transmitting mosquitoes have already experienced autochthonous arboviral infections due to the introduction of viruses by travelers. Moreover, with global warming and urbanization of the areas in which mosquito-borne diseases occur, the environment is becoming more favorable for mosquito-borne diseases. This concise review describes the current status and outlook of mosquito-borne diseases in Korea.
Chikungunya Fever ; Culicidae ; Dengue ; Encephalitis, Japanese ; Global Warming ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea* ; Malaria ; South America ; Urbanization ; Zika Virus ; Zika Virus Infection

Zika virus infection is, typically, either asymptomatic or causes mild illness; however, it may present severe clinical manifestations in neonates. Zika virus can be transmitted from a pregnant woman to her fetus, subsequently causing microcephaly and serious brain anomalies. Recently, the full spectrum of anomalies in neonates congenitally infected by Zika virus has been delineated as congenital Zika syndrome. Five major features are unique to congenital Zika syndrome: severe microcephaly with a partially collapsed skull, thin cerebral cortices with subcortical calcifications, macular scarring and focal pigment mottling of the retina, congenital contractures, and extrapyramidal symptoms. Recognition of this phenotype in neonates and infants by clinicians can help ensure appropriate etiologic evaluation of Zika virus infection and determine the required duration of follow-up and clinical care. Neonates with congenital Zika virus infection should be evaluated by a team of multiple specialists within the first year of life; the evaluations should include assessments of vision, hearing, feeding, growth, and neurodevelopmental function. Moreover, it is recommended that infants who show laboratory evidence of congenital Zika virus infection without apparent abnormalities be continuously monitored and screened by the primary care provider; repeated hearing tests should be carried out for such infants.
Brain ; Cerebral Cortex ; Cicatrix ; Contracture ; Culicidae ; Female ; Fetus ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hearing ; Hearing Tests ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn* ; Microcephaly ; Phenotype ; Pregnant Women ; Primary Health Care ; Retina ; Skull ; Specialization ; Zika Virus Infection* ; Zika Virus*

Global Health ; Humans ; Singapore ; Social Medicine ; Zika Virus ; Zika Virus Infection