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Deep Learning Technology: Sebastian Arnold, Betty van Aken, Paul Grundmann, Felix A. Gers and Alexander Löser. Learning Contextualized Document Representations for Healthcare Answer Retrieval. The Web Conference 2020 (WWW'20)
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TORCH syndrome can be prevented by treating an infected pregnant person, thereby preventing the infection from affecting the fetus.
The treatment of TORCH syndrome is mainly supportive and depends on the symptoms present; medication is an option for herpes and cytomegalovirus infections.
Some vertically transmitted infections, such as toxoplasmosis and syphilis, can be effectively treated with antibiotics if the mother is diagnosed early in her pregnancy. Many viral vertically transmitted infections have no effective treatment, but some, notably rubella and varicella-zoster, can be prevented by vaccinating the mother prior to pregnancy.
If the mother has active herpes simplex (as may be suggested by a pap test), delivery by Caesarean section can prevent the newborn from contact, and consequent infection, with this virus.
IgG antibody may play crucial role in prevention of intrauterine infections and extensive research is going on for developing IgG-based therapies for treatment and vaccination.
Each type of vertically transmitted infection has a different prognosis. The stage of the pregnancy at the time of infection also can change the effect on the newborn.
A 2009 study reported results from 36 children who had received a stem cell transplant. At the time of follow-up (median time 62 months), 75% of the children were still alive.
Treatment is supportive as the infection is frequently self-limiting. Antipyretics (i.e., fever reducers) are commonly used. The rash usually does not itch but can be mildly painful. There is no specific therapy.
Any age may be affected although it is most common in children aged five to fifteen years. By the time adulthood is reached about half the population will have become immune following infection at some time in their past. Outbreaks can arise especially in nursery schools, preschools, and elementary schools. Infection is an occupational risk for school and day-care personnel. There is no vaccine available for human parvovirus B19, though attempts have been made to develop one.
Although patients can receive intensive antibiotherapy and even granulocyte transfusions from healthy donors, the only current curative therapy is the hematopoietic stem cell transplant. However, progress has been made in gene therapy, an active area of research. Both foamyviral and lentiviral vectors expressing the human ITGB2 gene under the control of different promoters have been developed and have been tested so far in preclinical LAD-I models (such as CD18-deficient mice and canine leukocyte adhesion deficiency-affected dogs).
This form usually lessens in severity within two years of diagnosis.
The use of prophylactic antibiotics has been proposed.
See article at BioMed Central site:
SCID mice are routinely used as model organisms for research into the basic biology of the immune system, cell transplantation strategies, and the effects of disease on mammalian systems. They have been extensively used as hosts for normal and malignant tissue transplants. In addition, they are useful for testing the safety of new vaccines or therapeutic agents in immunocompromised individuals.
The condition is due to a rare recessive mutation on Chromosome 16 responsible for deficient activity of an enzyme involved in DNA repair (Prkdc or "protein kinase, DNA activated, catalytic polypeptide"). Because V(D)J recombination does not occur, the humoral and cellular immune systems fail to mature. SCID mice, therefore, present with impaired ability to make T or B lymphocytes, or activate some components of the complement system, and cannot efficiently fight infections, nor reject tumors and transplants.
By crossing SCID mice with mice carrying mutations in related genes, such as interleukin-2Rgamma, more efficient immunocompromised strains can be created to further aid research. The degree to which the various components of the immune system are compromised varies according to what other mutations the mice carry along with the SCID mutation.
The cause of TEC is unknown, but it thought to be triggered by a viral infection. While rare cases have been attributed to infection with Parvovirus B19, the majority of cases are not related to Parvovirus infection. This is in contrast to transient aplastic crisis, seen in patients with hemoglobinopathies such as sickle cell disease, which is usually caused by Parvovirus infection.
Doxycycline and minocycline are the medications of choice. For people allergic to antibiotics of the tetracycline class, rifampin is an alternative. Early clinical experience suggested that chloramphenicol may also be effective, however, in vitro susceptibility testing revealed resistance.
SMEDI (an acronym of stillbirth, mummification, embryonic death, and infertility) is a reproductive disease of swine caused by "Porcine parvovirus" ("PPV") and "Porcine enterovirus". The term SMEDI usually indicates "Porcine enterovirus", but it also can indicate "Porcine parvovirus", which is a more important cause of the syndrome. SMEDI also causes abortion, neonatal death, and decreased male fertility.
From an economic standpoint SMEDI is an important disease because of the loss of productivity from fetal death in affected herds. Initial infection of a herd causes the greatest effect, but losses slow over time. The disease is spread most commonly by ingestion of food and water contaminated with infected feces and occasionally through sexual contact and contact with aborted tissue. A vaccine is available (ATCvet code: ).
The severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is a severe immunodeficiency genetic disorder that is characterized by the complete inability of the adaptive immune system to mount, coordinate, and sustain an appropriate immune response, usually due to absent or atypical T and B lymphocytes. In humans, SCID is colloquially known as "bubble boy" disease, as victims may require complete clinical isolation to prevent lethal infection from environmental microbes.
Several forms of SCID occur in animal species. Not all forms of SCID have the same cause; different genes and modes of inheritance have been implicated in different species.
The coronavirus which causes ECE has a counterpart strain that has more systemic effects with a higher mortality rate. This systemic syndrome has been compared to Feline infectious peritonitis in cats.
No human vaccine is available for ehrlichiosis. Tick control is the main preventive measure against the disease. However, in late 2012 a breakthrough in the prevention of CME (canine monocytic ehrlichiosis) was announced when a vaccine was accidentally discovered by Prof. Shimon Harrus, Dean of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Koret School of Veterinary Medicine.
There is no specific treatment for the canine distemper. As with measles, the treatment is symptomatic and supportive. The supportive care is geared towards treating fluid/electrolyte imbalances, neurological symptoms, and preventing any secondary bacterial infections. Examples include administering fluids, electrolyte solutions, analgesics, anticonvulsants, broad spectrum antibiotics, antipyretics, parenteral nutrition and nursing care.
This depends on the age of the animal affected and the efficiency of its immune system.
Colostral protection lasts up to 5 months of age, after which it decreases to an all-time low to increase yet again at about 12 months of age.
- Prenatal infection: virus travels from infected mother to fetus via the placenta. In this case, the time of gestation determines the result of the infection.
- If the fetus is infected in the first 30 days of fetal life, death and absorption of all, or some of the fetuses may occur. In this case, some immunotolerant healthy piglets may be born.
- If the infection happens at 40 days, death and mummification may occur. Also in this case, some or all the fetuses are involved, i.e. some of the fetuses can be born healthy and immunotolerant, or else carriers of the disease.
- If the viruses crosses the placenta in the last trimester, neonatal death may occur, or the birth of healthy piglets with a protective pre-colostral immunity.
- Postnatal infection (pigs up to 1 year of age): Infection occurs oro-nasally, followed by a viremic period associated with transitory leucopenia.
- Infection in adults (over 1 year of age): These subject would have an active, protective immune system which protects them from future exposures (e.g. mating with an infected male).
Therefore, it is important to note that the virus is particularly dangerous for the sow in her first gestation, which would be at 7–8 months of age, as she would have a particularly low antibody count at this age and could easily contract the virus via copulation.
Most patients recover completely within 1–2 months.
However many reported cases have lasted 18–24 months and longer.
The mortality rate of the virus largely depends on the immune status of the infected dogs. Puppies experience the highest mortality rate, where complications such as pneumonia and encephalitis are more common. In older dogs that develop distemper encephalomyelitis, vestibular disease may present. Around 15% of canine inflammatory central nervous system diseases are a result of CDV.
Cat flu is the common name for a feline upper respiratory tract disease. While feline upper respiratory disease can be caused by several different pathogens, there are few symptoms that they have in common.
While Avian Flu can also infect cats, Cat flu is generally a misnomer, since it usually does not refer to an infection by an influenza virus. Instead, it is a syndrome, a term referring to the fact that patients display a number of symptoms that can be caused by one or more of the following infectious agents (pathogens):
1. Feline herpes virus causing feline viral rhinotracheitis (cat common cold, this is the disease that is closely similar to cat flu)
2. Feline calicivirus—(cat respiratory disease)
3. "Bordetella bronchiseptica"—(cat kennel cough)
4. "Chlamydophila felis"—(chlamydia)
In South Africa the term cat flu is also used to refer to Canine Parvo Virus. This is misleading, as transmission of the Canine Parvo Virus rarely involves cats.
The prognosis is good for dogs with acute ehrlichiosis. For dogs that have reached the chronic stage of the disease, the prognosis is guarded. When bone marrow suppression occurs and there are low levels of blood cells, the animal may not respond to treatment.
Supportive care must be provided to animals that have clinical signs. Subcutaneous or intravenous fluids are given to dehydrated animals, and severely anemic dogs may require a blood transfusion. Treatment for ehrlichiosis involves the use of antibiotics such as tetracycline or doxycycline for a period of at least six to eight weeks; response to the drugs may take one month. Treatment with macrolide antibiotics like clarithromycin and azithromycin is being studied. In addition, steroids may be indicated in severe cases in which the level of platelets is so low that the condition is life-threatening.
In the United States, research examining the Foxhound and Neapolitan Mastiff is scheduled to continue into 2011 at the University of Iowa. The goals of this project are to screen for the presence of the "Leishmania" parasite DNA and to be a stepping stone to future research of T-cell function with the hopes of understanding canine leishmaniasis as a model for better understanding human leishmaniasis.
- Foxhound submissions forms
- Neapolitan Mastiff submission forms
Also in the United States, the CDC is monitoring Italian Spinones, with no end date indicated on sample submissions.
In areas where the known vector is a sandfly, deltamethrin collars worn by the dogs has been proven to be 86% effective. The sandfly is most active at dusk and dawn; keeping dogs indoors during those peak times will help minimize exposure.
Unfortunately, there is no one answer for leishmaniasis prevention, nor will one vaccine cover multiple species. "Different virulence factors have been identified for distinct "Leishmania" species, and there are profound differences in the immune mechanisms that mediate susceptibility/resistance to infection and in the pathology associated with disease."
In 2003, Fort Dodge Wyeth released the Leshmune vaccine in Brazil for "L. donovani" (also referred to as "kala-azar" in Brazil). Studies indicated up to 87% protection. Most common side effects from the vaccine have been noted as anorexia and local swelling.
The president of the Brazil Regional Council of Veterinary Medicine, Marcia Villa, warned since vaccinated dogs develop antibodies, they can be difficult to distinguish from asymptomatic, infected dogs.
Studies also indicate the Leshmune vaccine may be reliable in treating "L. chagasi", and a possible treatment for dogs already infected with "L. donovani".