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TropicalMed
Special Issues
Genetic Diversity of Viruses: From Source Tracing to Treatment Tailoring
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Genetic Diversity of Viruses: From Source Tracing to Treatment Tailoring

A special issue of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease (ISSN 2414-6366). This special issue belongs to the section "Infectious Diseases".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 3550

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Ivana Grgic

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Guest Editor
Department of Immunological and Molecular Diagnostics, University Hospital for Infectious Diseases “Dr. Fran Mihaljevic”, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: infectious diseases; viral infections; molecular diagnostic; viral drug resistance
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Every year, new viruses are being identified as etiologic agents of human diseases as they adjust to the new host. In the process, genetically divergent variants are formed. Determining the genetic sequence of the virus can be a crucial step in battling infection as it may inform clinicians as to the origin of the epidemic, provide an understanding of how different variants can affect the clinical outcome and direct the development of new drugs. Direct-acting antivirals have changed the way we deal with viral infections. Therapy for HIV infection has demonstrated how antivirals can impact the outcome of a lethal and chronic infection and extend life expectancy, while treatment for HCV infection using direct-acting antivirals is a good example of what is needed to reach a sustained virological response. These lessons could be useful to further improve research for treating many other viral diseases in the future since the development of new antiviral drugs is very much a work in progress, with active drug discovery programs for filoviruses, coronaviruses, dengue, and others. In the past, the primary focus for drug development has been viral enzymes. However, targeting host cellular activities necessary for viral entry and replication can also be a good strategy. Finally, the repurposing of drugs already approved for human use to target a whole spectrum of viruses instead of one could save time and money. However, viruses can easily adapt to any therapy; therefore, resistance to antiviral drugs should be intensely studied.

In this Special Issue, our aim is to emphasize the need to explore how genetic diversity can affect treatment outcomes, whether research discusses viruses developing drug resistance mutations or different genotypes and subtypes of causing a diverse spectrum of symptoms to improve the diagnostic methods available. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic showed once again the need to detect new pathogens and determine the source of epidemics. These recent events also emphasized the need for new treatment solutions and the continuance of monitoring the development of resistance mutations is essential if we are to be one step ahead of the virus.

Dr. Ivana Grgic
Guest Editor

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. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2700 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

  • antiviral therapy
  • direct acting antivirals
  • drug resistance testing
  • viral drug resistance
  • phylogenetic analysis
  • viral genotypes/subtypes

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

17 pages, 313 KiB  
Review
Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) Genetic Diversity, Drug Resistance Testing and Prevalence of the Resistance Mutations: A Literature Review
by Ivana Grgic and Lana Gorenec
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2024, 9(2), 49; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed9020049 - 15 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1560
Abstract
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a pathogen with high prevalence in the general population that is responsible for high morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised individuals and newborns, while remaining mainly asymptomatic in healthy individuals. The HCMV genome is 236,000 nucleotides long and encodes approximately [...] Read more.
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a pathogen with high prevalence in the general population that is responsible for high morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised individuals and newborns, while remaining mainly asymptomatic in healthy individuals. The HCMV genome is 236,000 nucleotides long and encodes approximately 200 genes in more than 170 open reading frames, with the highest rate of genetic polymorphisms occurring in the envelope glycoproteins. HCMV infection is treated with antiviral drugs such as ganciclovir, valganciclovir, cidofovir, foscarnet, letermovir and maribavir targeting viral enzymes, DNA polymerase, kinase and the terminase complex. One of the obstacles to successful therapy is the emergence of drug resistance, which can be tested phenotypically or by genotyping using Sanger sequencing, which is a widely available but less sensitive method, or next-generation sequencing performed in samples with a lower viral load to detect minority variants, those representing approximately 1% of the population. The prevalence of drug resistance depends on the population tested, as well as the drug, and ranges from no mutations detected to up to almost 50%. A high prevalence of resistance emphasizes the importance of testing the patient whenever resistance is suspected, which requires the development of more sensitive and rapid tests while also highlighting the need for alternative therapeutic targets, strategies and the development of an effective vaccine. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Diversity of Viruses: From Source Tracing to Treatment Tailoring)
13 pages, 1093 KiB  
Review
Seroprevalence and Genotype Diversity of Hepatitis C Virus in the Caribbean—A Review
by Michelle G. Brown, John F. Lindo, Ivan E. Vickers, Kereann Nelson, Yakima Phillips, Cameil Wilson-Clarke, Samuel Gavi, Gene D. Morse and Andrew H. Talal
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2023, 8(7), 370; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed8070370 - 17 Jul 2023
Viewed by 1700
Abstract
Hepatitis C (HCV) continues to present a global public health challenge, with no vaccine available for prevention. Despite the availability of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) to cure HCV, it remains prevalent in many regions including the Caribbean. As efforts are made to eliminate HCV [...] Read more.
Hepatitis C (HCV) continues to present a global public health challenge, with no vaccine available for prevention. Despite the availability of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) to cure HCV, it remains prevalent in many regions including the Caribbean. As efforts are made to eliminate HCV from the region, existing barriers, such as the high cost of DAAs and lack of an established database of HCV cases within the Caribbean, must be addressed. This review seeks to assess epidemiologic trends (seroprevalence and genotypic diversity) of HCV in the Caribbean and identify gaps in surveillance of the disease. The literature for the period 1 January 2005 to October 2022 was reviewed to gather country-specific data on HCV across the Caribbean. References were identified through indexed journals accessed through established databases using the following keywords: Caribbean, genotype distribution, and general epidemiologic characteristics. The usage pattern of HCV drugs was determined from information obtained from pharmacists across the Caribbean including Jamaica. The prevalence of HCV in the Caribbean was 1.5%; the region should therefore be considered an area of moderate HCV prevalence. The prevalence of HCV among intravenous drug users (21.9–58.8%), persons living with HIV/AIDS (0.8 to 58.5%), prisoners (32.8–64%), and men who have sex with men (MSM) (0.8–6.9%) was generally higher than in the general population (0.8–2.3%). Genotype 1 (83%) was most prevalent followed by genotypes 2 (7.2%) and 3 (2.1%), respectively. Less than 50% of countries in the Caribbean have reliable or well-curated surveillance data on HCV. Drugs currently being used for treatment of HCV infections across the Caribbean include Epclusa (sofosbuvir/velpatasvir) and Harvoni (ledipasvir/sofosbuvir). Some of these drugs are only available in the private sector and are sourced externally whenever needed. While trends point to a potentially higher prevalence of HCV, it will require well-designed random surveys to obtain better estimates of the infection seroprevalence, supported by strong public health laboratory systems. DAAs that are pan-genotypic should translate into treatments that are affordable, accessible, and available to improve cure rates and reduce the HCV burden in the population. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Diversity of Viruses: From Source Tracing to Treatment Tailoring)
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