Disease relevance of Lassa Fever

• Identification of alpha-dystroglycan as a receptor for lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus and Lassa fever virus [1].
• Protection of rhesus monkeys from fatal Lassa fever by vaccination with a recombinant vaccinia virus containing the Lassa virus glycoprotein gene [2].

High impact information on Lassa Fever

• Lassa fever. Effective therapy with ribavirin [3].
• Acute sensorineural deafness in Lassa fever [4].
• Identification of Lassa fever virus infection with recombinant nucleocapsid protein antigen [5].
• Both cytokines inhibit replication which is relevant for the design of antiviral strategies against Lassa fever with the aim of enhancing the IFN response [6].
• The arenavirus Lassa virus causes Lassa fever, a viral hemorrhagic fever that is endemic in the countries of Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea and perhaps elsewhere in West Africa. To determine the degree of genetic diversity among Lassa virus strains, partial nucleoprotein (NP) gene sequences were obtained from 54 strains and analyzed [7].

Chemical compound and disease context of Lassa Fever

• Tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels were not elevated in patients with fatal or nonfatal Lassa fever [8].
• Plasma from patients with severe Lassa fever profoundly modulates f-met-leu-phe induced superoxide generation in neutrophils [9].
• Journal of Infection Control Nursing. Nursing the isolated patient: Lassa fever [10].

Gene context of Lassa Fever

• These data indicate that acute nonfatal Lassa fever is associated with high levels of circulating IL-8 and IP-10 and that low levels or absence of these mediators correlates with a poor outcome [8].
• The large (L) RNA segment of Lassa fever virus (LAS) encodes a putative RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp or L protein) [11].
• The recombinant ELISA was able to clearly distinguish sera from human cases of Lassa fever against a panel of known negative sera of African origin [12].
• Handling patients with suspected Lassa fever entering Great Britain [13].
• OBJECTIVES: Lassa fever virus (LAS) is transmitted to man by rodent carriers and is fatal in a third of untreated cases [14].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Lassa Fever

• These studies in a realistic primate model suggest that the antigen detection ELISA or the IgM capture ELISA described, in which beta-propiolactone-inactivated sera are used, should be useful for the rapid diagnosis of human Lassa fever [15].
• 5-8% of 434 sera collected in Lassa village, Nigeria, in August 1970 were positive by neutralization test for Lassa fever (LF) virus [16].
• Regarding future applications to diagnostic assays, the recombinant glycoprotein proved to be an effective substitute for Lassa virus-infected mammalian cells in IFAs and it was able to distinguish sera from several human cases of Lassa fever, against a panel of known negative sera of African origin, in an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) [17].

References