Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases

A special issue of Infectious Disease Reports (ISSN 2036-7449). This special issue belongs to the section "Infection Prevention and Control".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 8949

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Centre de Recherche en Infectiologie de l’Université Laval, Axe of Infectious and Immunological Diseases, CHU de Québec Research Centre-Université Laval (CHUL Hospital), Québec City, QC G1V4G2, Canada
Interests: genomics; antimicrobial resistance; protozoan parasites

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centre de Recherche en Infectiologie de l’Université Laval, CHU de Québec Research Centre-Université Laval (CHUL Hospital), Québec City, QC G1V4G2, Canada
Interests: sexually transmitted infections (STIs); prevention of vaginal infections; womens’ health; HIV/AIDS; HSV

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centre de Recherche en Infectiologie de l’Université Laval, Axe of Infectious and Immunological Diseases, CHU de Québec Research Centre-Université Laval (CHUL Hospital), Québec City, QC G1V4G2, Canada
Interests: host-pathogen interaction; innate immunity; muscular dystrophy; glycobiology; single-cell analyses

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The “Centre de recherche en Infectiologie” de l’Universite Laval ((CRI); Infectious Diseases Research Center at Laval University) is one of the largest centers dedicated to infectious diseases research in Canada. In 2024, the CRI will be commemorating its 50th anniversary. The CRI was established in 1974 by Dr. Michel G. Bergeron (ORCID: 0000-0002-0939-4435)—a recipient of prestigious honors, such as the Order of Canada, Order of Quebec, and Manning Award for life-time Innovation—who has published approximately 500 peer-reviewed publications.

To commemorate our research center’s 50th anniversary, the researchers of the CRI are contributing their research articles to this Special Issue of Infectious Disease Reports for spring 2024. This Special Issue will feature 9–10 peer-reviewed articles, each highlighting the discoveries and innovations made by CRI researchers, including the contribution of the founder, Dr. Bergeron, who contributed to important changes in the medical practice, such as the rapid (<1 h) molecular diagnosis of bacterial infections and resistance (the first-ever FDA-approved rapid diagnostic RT–PCR tests originated from the CRI team of Dr. Bergeron and now serve patients’ diagnostics in more than 60 countries by BD Diagnostics). The work of our CRI researchers covers all forefronts from better managing infections to addressing aspects of the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic infections.

This Special Issue of Infectious Disease Reports is designed to enable the rapid publication and dissemination of innovative research with the aim of advancing scientific and medical knowledge and highlighting future perspectives on the better management of microbes and infectious diseases to save lives and improve the quality of life of patients.

Prof. Dr. Marc Ouellette
Dr. Rabeea F. Omar
Dr. Sachiko Sato
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Infectious Disease Reports is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • managing infections (bacterial, viral and parasitic)
  • prevention
  • rapid molecular diagnosis
  • treatment
  • innovative solutions
  • multidisciplinarity
  • closing the loop and fulfilling patient’s unmet needs

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Review

18 pages, 641 KiB  
Review
The Paradigm Shift of Using Natural Molecules Extracted from Northern Canada to Combat Malaria
by Alexandra Bourgeois, Juliana Aline Souza Lemos, Stéphanie Roucheray, Audrey Sergerie and Dave Richard
Infect. Dis. Rep. 2024, 16(4), 543-560; https://doi.org/10.3390/idr16040041 - 26 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1541
Abstract
Parasitic diseases, such as malaria, are an immense burden to many low- and middle-income countries. In 2022, 249 million cases and 608,000 deaths were reported by the World Health Organization for malaria alone. Climate change, conflict, humanitarian crises, resource constraints and diverse biological [...] Read more.
Parasitic diseases, such as malaria, are an immense burden to many low- and middle-income countries. In 2022, 249 million cases and 608,000 deaths were reported by the World Health Organization for malaria alone. Climate change, conflict, humanitarian crises, resource constraints and diverse biological challenges threaten progress in the elimination of malaria. Undeniably, the lack of a commercialized vaccine and the spread of drug-resistant parasites beg the need for novel approaches to treat this infectious disease. Most approaches for the development of antimalarials to date take inspiration from tropical or sub-tropical environments; however, it is necessary to expand our search. In this review, we highlight the origin of antimalarial treatments and propose new insights in the search for developing novel antiparasitic treatments. Plants and microorganisms living in harsh and cold environments, such as those found in the largely unexploited Northern Canadian boreal forest, often demonstrate interesting properties that are not found in other environments. Most prominently, the essential oil of Rhododendron tomentosum spp. Subarcticum from Nunavik and mortiamides isolated from Mortierella species found in Nunavut have shown promising activity against Plasmodium falciparum. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases)
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12 pages, 778 KiB  
Review
Tackling Infectious Diseases with Rapid Molecular Diagnosis and Innovative Prevention
by Rabeea F. Omar, Maurice Boissinot, Ann Huletsky and Michel G. Bergeron
Infect. Dis. Rep. 2024, 16(2), 216-227; https://doi.org/10.3390/idr16020017 - 5 Mar 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3556
Abstract
Infectious diseases (IDs) are a leading cause of death. The diversity and adaptability of microbes represent a continuing risk to health. Combining vision with passion, our transdisciplinary medical research team has been focussing its work on the better management of infectious diseases for [...] Read more.
Infectious diseases (IDs) are a leading cause of death. The diversity and adaptability of microbes represent a continuing risk to health. Combining vision with passion, our transdisciplinary medical research team has been focussing its work on the better management of infectious diseases for saving human lives over the past five decades through medical discoveries and innovations that helped change the practice of medicine. The team used a multiple-faceted and integrated approach to control infectious diseases through fundamental discoveries and by developing innovative prevention tools and rapid molecular diagnostic tests to fulfill the various unmet needs of patients and health professionals in the field of ID. In this article, as objectives, we put in context two main research areas of ID management: innovative infection prevention that is woman-controlled, and the rapid molecular diagnosis of infection and resistance. We also explain how our transdisciplinary approach encompassing specialists from diverse fields ranging from biology to engineering was instrumental in achieving success. Furthermore, we discuss our vision of the future for translational research to better tackle IDs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases)
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18 pages, 1628 KiB  
Review
Management of Cytomegalovirus Infections in the Era of the Novel Antiviral Players, Letermovir and Maribavir
by Jocelyne Piret and Guy Boivin
Infect. Dis. Rep. 2024, 16(1), 65-82; https://doi.org/10.3390/idr16010005 - 18 Jan 2024
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2809
Abstract
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections may increase morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. Until recently, standard antiviral drugs against CMV were limited to viral DNA polymerase inhibitors (val)ganciclovir, foscarnet and cidofovir with a risk for cross-resistance. These drugs may also cause serious side effects. This [...] Read more.
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections may increase morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. Until recently, standard antiviral drugs against CMV were limited to viral DNA polymerase inhibitors (val)ganciclovir, foscarnet and cidofovir with a risk for cross-resistance. These drugs may also cause serious side effects. This narrative review provides an update on new antiviral agents that were approved for the prevention and treatment of CMV infections in transplant recipients. Letermovir was approved in 2017 for CMV prophylaxis in CMV-seropositive adults who received an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant. Maribavir followed four years later, with an indication in the treatment of adult and pediatric transplant patients with refractory/resistant CMV disease. The target of letermovir is the CMV terminase complex (constituted of pUL56, pUL89 and pUL51 subunits). Letermovir prevents the cleavage of viral DNA and its packaging into capsids. Maribavir is a pUL97 kinase inhibitor, which interferes with the assembly of capsids and the egress of virions from the nucleus. Both drugs have activity against most CMV strains resistant to standard drugs and exhibit favorable safety profiles. However, high-level resistance mutations may arise more rapidly in the UL56 gene under letermovir than low-grade resistance mutations. Some mutations emerging in the UL97 gene under maribavir can be cross-resistant with ganciclovir. Thus, letermovir and maribavir now extend the drug arsenal available for the management of CMV infections and their respective niches are currently defined. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases)
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