Publications related to Influenza pandemic

Virucidal compounds and use thereof

Francesco Stellacci, Bruno Emanuel Ferreira De Sousa Correia, Pablo Gainza Cirauqui, Francesca Olgiati, Corey Alfred Stevens, Lukasz Richter, Chiara Medaglia

Disclosed herein are peptide-grafted compounds that irreversibly deactivate bacteriophages or influenza virus depending on the peptide and remain safe for bacteria and mammalian cells. The active compounds comprise a core (cyclodextrin or gold nanoparticle ...

2024

Inactivation of influenza A virus in expiratory droplets and aerosol particles and the associated physicochemical drivers

Aline Laetitia Schaub

Influenza is an infectious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses. Every year, it causes up to one billion cases of disease worldwide. Despite its high disease burden, the transmission pathway of influenza remains subject to debate. There is incre ...

EPFL2024

Biases in Information Selection and Processing: Survey Evidence from the Pandemic

Andreas Fuster

We conduct two survey experiments to study which information people choose to consume and how it affects their beliefs. In the first experiment, respondents choose between optimistic and pessimistic article headlines related to the COVID-19 pandemic and ar ...

2024

Epidemicity indices and reproduction numbers from infectious disease data in connected human populations

Andrea Rinaldo, Cristiano Trevisin, Lorenzo Mari, Marino Gatto

We focus on distinctive data-driven measures of the fate of ongoing epidemics. The relevance of our pursuit is suggested by recent results proving that the short-term temporal evolution of infection spread is described by an epidemicity index related to th ...

2024

Challenges of COVID-19 Case Forecasting in the US, 2020-2021

Joseph Chadi Benoit Lemaitre, Pan Xu, Weitong Zhang, Wei Cao, Myungjin Kim, Shan Yu, Xinyi Li, Lei Gao

During the COVID-19 pandemic, forecasting COVID-19 trends to support planning and response was a priority for scientists and decision makers alike. In the United States, COVID-19 forecasting was coordinated by a large group of universities, companies, and ...

Public Library Science2024

Inactivation mechanisms of influenza A virus under pH conditions encountered in aerosol particles as revealed by whole-virus HDX-MS

Athanasios Nenes, Tamar Kohn, Giovanni D'Angelo, Kalliopi Violaki, Ghislain Gilles Jean-Michel Motos, Aline Laetitia Schaub, Walter Hugentobler, Shannon Christa David, Jonathan Paz Montoya

Multiple respiratory viruses, including influenza A virus (IAV), can be transmitted via expiratory aerosol particles, and aerosol pH was recently identified as a major factor influencing airborne virus infectivity. Indoors, small exhaled aerosols undergo r ...

2023

Multivalent Virucidal Antivirals: Synthesis, Mechanisms of Action, and Immune-stimulating Effects

Yong Zhu

Viruses initiate invasion by binding to cell surface glycoproteins. Materials mimicking the carbohydrate motifs of these glycoproteins, such as heparan sulfate (HS) and sialic acid (SA) can block viral attachment and inhibit the infection. Multivalent disp ...

EPFL2023

Sporadic type VI secretion in seventh pandemic Vibrio cholerae

Melanie Blokesch, Sandrine Stutzmann, Nicolas René Chiaruttini, Alexis Joseph Proutière, Loriane Bader, Lisa Christina Metzger, Natalia Carolina Drebes Dorr, Sandrine Natacha Isaac

Vibrio cholerae is a pathogen that causes disease in millions of people every year by colonizing the small intestine and then secreting the potent cholera toxin. How the pathogen overcomes the colonization barrier created by the host’s natural microbiota i ...

2023

Antiviral Mechanism of Virucidal Sialic Acid Modified Cyclodextrin

Francesco Stellacci, Paulo Henrique Jacob Silva, Yong Zhu, Marine Batista, Andrey Sysoev

We have reported that CD-6'SLN [6-sialyllactosamine (6'SLN)-modified beta-cyclodextrin (CD)] can be a potential anti-influenza drug because it irreversibly deactivates virions. Indeed, in vivo, CD-6'SLN improved mice survival in an H1N1 infection model eve ...

MDPI2023

Expiratory Aerosol pH is a Driver of the Persistence of Airborne Influenza A Virus

Aline Laetitia Schaub

To mitigate the spread of a viral disease, it is crucial to understand the factors that influence airborne virus transmission. However, the micro-environment to which the virus is exposed in expiratory aerosol particles is highly complex. The relative humi ...

SWISS CHEMICAL SOC2023

Single nucleotide polymorphism determines constitutive versus inducible type VI secretion in Vibrio cholerae

Melanie Blokesch, Sandrine Stutzmann, Alexis Joseph Proutière, Loriane Bader, Natalia Carolina Drebes Dorr, Milena Jadwiga Jaskolska

Vibrio cholerae is a well-studied human pathogen that is also a common inhabitant of marine habitats. In both environments, the bacterium is subject to interbacterial competition. A molecular nanomachine that is often involved in such competitive behavior ...

2022

Electrochemical sensors for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus

Somanath Jagannath, Neeraj Kumar

Coronavirus (COVID-19), a deadly pandemic has spread worldwide and created many global health issues. Though methods of its detection are being continuously developed for the early detection and monitoring of COVID-19, still there is need for more novel me ...

ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA2022

Targeting molecular surfaces to engineer novel protein-based immunogens and inhibitors

Sarah Wehrle

Proteins are the basic building blocks necessary for the operation and regulation of virtually all functions in living organisms. Over millions of years, evolution has created a vast repertoire of proteins finely tuned to execute their biological functions ...

EPFL2022

Two defence systems eliminate plasmids from seventh pandemic Vibrio cholerae

Melanie Blokesch, David William Adams, Milena Jadwiga Jaskolska

Horizontal gene transfer can trigger rapid shifts in bacterial evolution. Driven by a variety of mobile genetic elements—in particular bacteriophages and plasmids—the ability to share genes within and across species underpins the exceptional adaptability o ...

2022

Protein Engineering for Personalized therapy and diagnosis

Lixia Wei

Protein Engineering, especially protein post-translational modification (PTM), ex-tends proteomes in a more complex way than one can expect from analysis of their encod-ing genomes. It can activate or deactivate certain catalytic functions, add new desired ...

EPFL2022

Projected resurgence of COVID-19 in the United States in July-December 2021 resulting from the increased transmissibility of the Delta variant and faltering vaccination

Francisco Javier Perez Saez, Shi Chen

In Spring 2021, the highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant began to cause increases in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in parts of the United States. At the time, with slowed vaccination uptake, this novel variant was expected to increase the ri ...

eLIFE SCIENCES PUBL LTD2022

Preliminary evidence that daily light exposure enhances the antibody response to influenza vaccination in patients with dementia

Jean-Louis Scartezzini

Enhancing lighting conditions in institutions for individuals with dementia improves their sleep, circadian rhythms and well-being. Here, we report first findings that exposure to brighter light during daytime may support the immune response to the annual ...

ELSEVIER2022

Expiratory Aerosol pH: The Overlooked Driver of Airborne Virus Inactivation

Tamar Kohn, Athanasios Nenes, Kalliopi Violaki, Ghislain Gilles Jean-Michel Motos, Walter Hugentobler, Aline Laetitia Schaub, Shannon Christa David

Respiratory viruses, including influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2, are transmitted by the airborne route. Air filtration and ventilation mechanically reduce the concentration of airborne viruses and are necessary tools for disease mitigation. However, they ign ...

2023

The molecular treasure box of environmental Vibrio cholerae strains

Natalia Carolina Drebes Dorr

Cholera pandemics have been affecting humankind for centuries and are still considered a major public health problem, especially in regions around the world with poor access to clean water and sanitation. Cholera pandemics are caused by a specific lineage ...

EPFL2021

Interferon Lambda Delays the Emergence of Influenza Virus Resistance to Oseltamivir

Francesco Stellacci, Paulo Henrique Jacob Silva, Chiara Medaglia

Influenza viruses are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. These air-borne pathogens are able to cross the species barrier, leading to regular seasonal epidemics and sporadic pandemics. Influenza viruses also possess a high genetic variabi ...

2021