@article{FluegelMaurerBannertetal.1987, author = {Fl{\"u}gel, Rolf M. and Maurer, Bernd and Bannert, Helmut and Rethwilm, Axel and Schnitzler, Paul and Darai, Gholamreza}, title = {Nucleotide sequence analysis of a cloned DNA fragment from human cells reveals homology to retrotransposons}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-61525}, year = {1987}, abstract = {During molecular cloning of proviral DNA of human. spumaretroVirus, various recombinant clones were estabUshed and analyzed. Blot hybridization revealed that one of the recoinbinant plasmids bad the characteristic features of a member of the long interspersed repetitive sequences famlly. The DNA element was analyzed by restrictioil mapping and nuelootide sequencing. It showed a high degree of amino acid sequence homology of 54.3\% when conipared with the 5'-terminal part of the pol gelie product of the murine retrotransposon LIMd. The 3' region of the cloned DNA element encodes proteins witb an even higher degree of homology of 67.4\% in comparison to the corresponding parts of a member of the primate Kpnl sequence family.}, subject = {Virologie}, language = {en} } @article{TabatabaiPrifertPfeiletal.2014, author = {Tabatabai, Julia and Prifert, Christiane and Pfeil, Johannes and Grulich-Henn, Juergen and Schnitzler, Paul}, title = {Novel Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Genotype ON1 Predominates in Germany during Winter Season 2012-13}, series = {PLOS ONE}, volume = {9}, journal = {PLOS ONE}, number = {10}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0109191}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-115229}, pages = {e109191}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of hospitalization especially in young children with respiratory tract infections (RTI). Patterns of circulating RSV genotypes can provide a better understanding of the molecular epidemiology of RSV infection. We retrospectively analyzed the genetic diversity of RSV infection in hospitalized children with acute RTI admitted to University Hospital Heidelberg/Germany between October 2012 and April 2013. Nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPA) were routinely obtained in 240 children younger than 2 years of age who presented with clinical symptoms of upper or lower RTI. We analyzed NPAs via PCR and sequence analysis of the second variable region of the RSV G gene coding for the attachment glycoprotein. We obtained medical records reviewing routine clinical data. RSV was detected in 134/240 children. In RSV-positive patients the most common diagnosis was bronchitis/bronchiolitis (75.4\%). The mean duration of hospitalization was longer in RSV-positive compared to RSV-negative patients (3.5 vs. 5.1 days; p < 0.01). RSV-A was detected in 82.1\%, RSV-B in 17.9\% of all samples. Phylogenetic analysis of 112 isolates revealed that the majority of RSV-A strains (65\%) belonged to the novel ON1 genotype containing a 72-nucleotide duplication. However, genotype ON1 was not associated with a more severe course of illness when taking basic clinical/laboratory parameters into account. Molecular characterization of RSV confirms the co-circulation of multiple genotypes of subtype RSV-A and RSV-B. The duplication in the G gene of genotype ON1 might have an effect on the rapid spread of this emerging RSV strain.}, language = {en} } @article{LehnersTabatabaiPrifertetal.2016, author = {Lehners, Nicola and Tabatabai, Julia and Prifert, Christiane and Wedde, Marianne and Puthenparambil, Joe and Weissbrich, Benedikt and Biere, Barbara and Schweiger, Brunhilde and Egerer, Gerlinde and Schnitzler, Paul}, title = {Long-Term Shedding of Influenza Virus, Parainfluenza Virus, Respiratory Syncytial Virus and Nosocomial Epidemiology in Patients with Hematological Disorders}, series = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {11}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, number = {2}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0148258}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-167243}, pages = {e0148258}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Respiratory viruses are a cause of upper respiratory tract infections (URTI), but can be associated with severe lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) in immunocompromised patients. The objective of this study was to investigate the genetic variability of influenza virus, parainfluenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and the duration of viral shedding in hematological patients. Nasopharyngeal swabs from hematological patients were screened for influenza, parainfluenza and RSV on admission as well as on development of respiratory symptoms. Consecutive swabs were collected until viral clearance. Out of 672 tested patients, a total of 111 patients (17\%) were infected with one of the investigated viral agents: 40 with influenza, 13 with parainfluenza and 64 with RSV; six patients had influenza/RSV or parainfluenza/RSV co-infections. The majority of infected patients (n = 75/111) underwent stem cell transplantation (42 autologous, 48 allogeneic, 15 autologous and allogeneic). LRTI was observed in 48 patients, of whom 15 patients developed severe LRTI, and 13 patients with respiratory tract infection died. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a variety of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, A(H3N2), influenza B, parainfluenza 3 and RSV A, B viruses. RSV A was detected in 54 patients, RSV B in ten patients. The newly emerging RSV A genotype ON1 predominated in the study cohort and was found in 48 (75\%) of 64 RSV-infected patients. Furthermore, two distinct clusters were detected for RSV A genotype ON1, identical RSV G gene sequences in these patients are consistent with nosocomial transmission. Long-term viral shedding for more than 30 days was significantly associated with prior allogeneic transplantation (p = 0.01) and was most pronounced in patients with RSV infection (n = 16) with a median duration of viral shedding for 80 days (range 35-334 days). Long-term shedding of respiratory viruses might be a catalyzer of nosocomial transmission and must be considered for efficient infection control in immunocompromised patients.}, language = {en} }