Volume 14, Nº 2 (2024)

Objective. Assessment of the safety of long-term vaccination of children with a live pentavalent recombinant rotavirus vaccine as part of a pilot project in Podolsk, Moscow region.

Materials and methods. A retrospective analysis of the incidence of intussusception (ICD-10 K56.1) was carried out based on data on hospitalization of children in a city hospital before (2013–2015) and against the background (2016–2022) of vaccinations against rotavirus infection (RVI). The data of expedited reports (form N^o 058u) and form N^o 2 of federal statistical observation, as well as reports of investigations of post-vaccination complications received by Territorial Administration of the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being in the Moscow region in 2013–2022 were also studied.

Results. Over the 7 years, children received 38 144 vaccinations against RVI. No post-vaccination complications were recorded. The background incidence rate of intussusception in the city has not changed since the beginning of the pilot project. Over 10 years, 21 children were diagnosed with intussusception, four of them were vaccinated against RVI: two received the full course of vaccinations, two received only two vaccinations. The duration of the disease ranged from 69 days to 5 years after receiving the last dose of the vaccine, which indicated the absence of a cause-and-effect relationship between the cases of intussusception and the introduction of the rotavirus vaccine.

Conclusion. The results confirmed the published data on the safety of the pentavalent rotavirus vaccine. When organizing vaccine prevention of RVI, it is necessary to monitor adverse events in accordance with current guidelines.

Objective. Assessment of the dynamics of morbidity and the role of pathogens of influenza, acute respiratory viral infections (ARVI) and herpes in the epidemic season 2022–2023 in Moscow.

Materials and methods. A retrospective epidemiological analysis of the dynamics of morbidity rates was carried out using the federal state statistical observation form N^o 2 Information on infectious and parasitic diseases» for 2010–2023, data from the weekly national bulletin on influenza and ARVI of the Smorodintsev Influenza Research Institute and N.F. Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology for the epidemic season 2022–2023. Molecular genetic methods were used to etiologically decipher cases of diseases and serological methods (ELISA, RTGA) – to assess the level of specific antibodies (IgG) to current pathogens of acute upper respiratory tract viral infections.

Results. Influenza and ARVI incidence rates during the epidemic season2022–2023 corresponded to the characteristics of the pre-pandemic» period with peak values at the 48–49^th week in Moscow and at the 50th week in the Russian Federation. The dominant circulation of influenza viruses A(H1N1)pdm09 (A/Victoria/4897/2022) among Moscow residents was noted due to the large number of non-immune individuals. On the contrary, against the background of high seroprevalence to influenza viruses B line B/Victoria-like and A(H3N2) (A/Darwin/9/2021), there were low number of cases of diseases. Among the pathogens of ARVI, rhinoviruses (35.6% of all findings), as well as metapneumo-, boca-, adenoviruses and parainfluenza viruses 1 prevailed; the circulation of rhinoviruses was most intense at the beginning and end of the epidemic season. It was established that the presence of IgG to SARS-CoV-2 in the examined individuals was a prerequisite for detecting markers of reactivation of chronic infections caused by the Epstein–Barr virus and herpes simplex virus, which indicates the trigger role of COVID-19 in maintaining the epidemic process of herpesvirus infections.

Conclusion. The introduction of mandatory molecular genetic monitoring along with seroprevalence assessment can ensure effective prediction and identification of priority pathogens of acute respiratory tract infections for the upcoming epidemic season.

Objective. Characteristics of clinical symptoms of Q fever and determination of molecular genetic and serological markers of C. burnetii in patients in the Novosibirsk region hospitalized in the early stages with unspecified fever and suspected infectious diseases transmitted by ticks.

Material and methods. 830 patients hospitalized with suspected infectious diseases transmitted by ticks in the spring-summer period 2018–2022 were examined. To confirm the results of PCR analysis, positive samples containing C. burnetii DNA were amplified using fragments of the IS1111 genes and the heat shock protein B gene (htpB), followed by their sequencing. The presence of class G immunoglobulins to C.burnetii in blood serum samples of patients was detected using ELISA.

Results. All patients with Q fever had intoxication syndrome with febrile fever, 86% had hepatitis with mild-to-moderate cytolysis syndrome; 2 (14.3%) patients developed serous meningitis. Pneumonia was diagnosed in 1 (7.1%) case.

Conclusion. Diagnosis of Q fever due to the polymorphism of the clinical course is impossible without laboratory confirmation. Identification of cases of the disease in the Novosibirsk region during a comprehensive clinical and laboratory study dictates the need to include early diagnosis of Q fever in the list of mandatory tests in patients with tick bites, which is of great practical importance for timely and adequate therapy.

Objective. Determination of the frequency of occurrence and characteristics of sensitivity to antibiotics of different Streptococcus species isolated from patients in the departments of purulent surgery and coloproctology of a multidisciplinary hospital in Moscow.

Materials and methods. An epidemiological observational descriptive continuous retrospective study using data from patients of departments of purulent surgery (n = 2094) and coloproctology (n = 1933) aged 18 years and older for 2017–2022 was conducted. The sensitivity to antibiotics of 1208 streptococcal cultures isolated in the department of purulent surgery and 827 cultures obtained in the department of coloproctology was analyzed. Antibiotic susceptibility was determined using microbiological analyzers BD Phoenix M50 and VITEK 2XL in accordance with EUCAST and CLSI recommendations.

Results. In the department of purulent surgery, Streptococcus pyogenes (28,53%), Streptococcus agalactiae (22,0%), Streptococcus anginosus (16,49%) were isolated statistically significantly more often; in the department of coloproctology – S. anginosus (41,66%), Streptococcus constellatus (15,99%), S. agalactiae (14,54%). A significant proportion of S. agalactiae cultures showed resistance to tetracycline (80,32%) and clindamycin (41,13%). In the department of purulent surgery, S. agalactiae resistance to erythromycin increased from 15,4 to 38,3% from 2019 to 2021, in the department of coloproctology – from 16,67 to 38,46%.

Conclusion. The results obtained revealed significant differences in the antimicrobial resistance of streptococci and showed the inappropriateness of using tetracycline and erythromycin to treat patients in the department of purulent surgery.

Objective. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the use of recombinant protein EDIII-TBEV and chicken IgY antibodies in the development of a diagnostic kit for detecting IgG to the tick-borne encephalitis virus by dot analysis.

Materials and methods. Probes based on colloidal gold and secondary immunoreagents (Au-SpA, Au-SpG, Au-IgG-a/Hum and Au-IgY-a/Hum) were manufactured and studied in a dot analysis of human immunoglobulins of A, M and G classes. Experimental kits for dot-immunoassay of IgG to TBEV were created based on the probes and EDIII-TBEV.

Results. Experimental assessment of the characteristics of the kits using panels of blood serum samples containing and not containing IgG to TBEV, as well as panels of samples containing antibodies to pathogens of other flavivirus infections (dengue fever and yellow fever) showed 100% sensitivity and specificity of the dot analysis, which indicates the high selectivity of the recombinant EDIII-TBEV antigen. Probes based on polyclonal IgY-a/Hum are not inferior in sensitivity and provide a 10-20% more intense optical signal compared to probes based on mouse monoclonal IgG-a/Hum.

Conclusion. Probes based on IgY-a/Hum and recombinant EDIII-TBEV antigen can be considered as promising reagents for antibody analysis, in particular, for dot analysis on flat substrates. Kits created on their basis can be used to diagnose tick-borne encephalitis in remote areas with poorly developed laboratory infrastructure.

According to WHO estimates, from 700 thousand to 1.3 million new cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis and 200–400 thousand cases of visceral leishmaniasis are registered annually in the world. Visceral leishmaniasis kills up to 30 thousand people in the world, and in terms of mortality, visceral leishmaniasis is second only to malaria. The article describes a clinical case of non-imported visceral leishmaniasis in a 40-year-old man. The presented clinical observation indicates the difficulties of diagnosing the disease in non-endemic regions and the difficulties of carrying out differential diagnosis for somatic doctors.

Objective. A comprehensive assessment of the effect of calcium butyrate (CB) and inulin (I) on reducing the risk of developing post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in patients with acute bacterial intestinal infections (ABIIs) with a high risk of its development in the period of convalescence.

Materials and methods. The study included 60 patients with ABIIs aged 18 to 60 years who had a high risk of developing IBS, established using a discriminant equation that included triglyceride, cholesterol and urea levels at the height of the disease. Patients were randomized into 2 groups of 30 individuals each: in the comparison group, standard therapy was prescribed; in the main group, patients additionally received the biologically active dietary supplement zakofalk (250 mg CB and 250 mg I). The effectiveness of therapy was assessed by the triglyceride levels at the height of the disease and at discharge from hospital, fecal calprotectin and I-FABP levels at the height of the disease and 1 month after after discharge.

Results. There were no statistically significant intergroup differences in the duration of the main clinical symptoms and laboratory parameters. However, the fecal calprotectin and I-FABP levels decreased statistically after 1 month after hospital treatment in the main group. Triglyceride levels were also lower during the recovery period in patients of the main group. Incidence of IBS development over the next 6 months was 38.5 times lower in the group receiving BC + I compared with patients receiving standard therapy.

Conclusion. The use of BC + I in addition to standard therapy accelerates the normalization of inflammatory markers and reduces the risk of developing IBS after ABIIs. A biologically active dietary supplement containing BC + I can be considered as an effective mean of preventing the development of IBS in patients with ABII.