Premium
Molecular and serological findings in suspected patients with Crimean‐Congo hemorrhagic fever virus in Iran
Author(s) -
Karlberg Helen,
SharifiMood Batool,
MousaviJazi Mehrdad,
Dilcher Meik,
Lindegren Gunnel,
Mardani Masoud,
Bereskly Sandor,
Weidmann Manfred,
Mirazimi Ali
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.24106
Subject(s) - serology , crimean–congo hemorrhagic fever , virology , virus , antibody , outbreak , medicine , viral disease , immunology , tick
Crimean‐Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is an arthropod‐borne disease of humans associated with a severe clinical picture, including hemorrhagic syndrome and a high mortality rate. CCHF virus is widely distributed throughout large areas of the world. To characterize the serological status in CCHF patients, paired clinical samples were collected from suspected CCHF patients and analyzed by microbiological and other laboratory analyses with the aim of: determining the presence of neutralizing antibodies against CCHF virus; investigating the cross‐reactivity of these neutralizing antibodies against virus isolated from the same outbreak and against other available laboratory strain; and studying the relationship between the isolated virus with other virus by whole genome sequencing. Patients at Boo‐Ali Hospital, Zahedan, Iran, with clinical symptoms ranging from mild to severe hemorrhagic fever were included in the study. Two serum samples were taken from each patient, the first as soon as the patient matched the criteria for CCHF notification and the second when the patient was discharged from hospital (2 weeks later). Commercial and in‐house assays revealed a positive IgM signal in acute serum samples from six patients. A novel finding was that CCHF patients develop neutralizing antibodies soon after infection. Interestingly these antibodies were able to neutralize other CCHF virus strains too. The complete sequence of the Zahedan 2007 isolate, including the hitherto unknown first L‐segment sequence, was identified using an original clinical sample from one patient with confirmed CCHF infection. J. Med. Virol. 87:686–693, 2015 . © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.