From 1988 to 1993, 30 cases of poliomyelitis associated with poliovirus type 2 were found in seven governorates of Egypt. Because many of the cases were geographically and temporally clustered and because the case isolates differed antigenically from the vaccine strain, it was initially assumed that the cases signaled the continued circulation of wild type 2 poliovirus. However, comparison of sequences encoding the major capsid protein, VP1 (903 nucleotides), revealed that the isolates were related (93 to 97% nucleotide sequence identity) to the Sabin type 2 oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) strain and unrelated (<82% nucleotide sequence identity) to the wild type 2 polioviruses previously indigenous to Egypt (last known isolate: 1979) or to any contemporary wild type 2 polioviruses found elsewhere. The rate and pattern of VP1 divergence among the circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) isolates suggested that all lineages were derived from a single OPV infection that occurred around 1983 and that progeny from the initiating infection circulated for approximately a decade within Egypt along several independent chains of transmission. Complete genomic sequences of an early (1988) and a late (1993) cVDPV isolate revealed that their 5 untranslated region (5 UTR) and noncapsid-3 UTR sequences were derived from other species C enteroviruses. Circulation of type 2 cVDPVs occurred at a time of low OPV coverage in the affected communities and ceased when OPV coverage rates increased. The potential for cVDPVs to circulate in populations with low immunity to poliovirus has important implications for current and future strategies to eradicate polio worldwide.

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TB remains a challenging disease to control worldwide. Nanoparticles have been used as drug carriers to deliver high concentrations of antibiotics directly to the site of infection, reducing the duration of treatment along with any side effects of off-target toxicities after systemic exposure to the antibiotics. Herein we have developed a drug delivery platform where gold nanorods (AuNRs) are conjugated to rifampicin (RF), which is released after uptake into macrophage cells (RAW264.7). Due to the nature of the macrophage cells, the nanoparticles are actively internalized into macrophages and release RF after uptake, under the safety frame of the host cells (macrophage). AuNRs without RF conjugation exhibit obvious antimicrobial activity. Therefore, AuNRs could be a promising antimycobacterial agent and an effective delivery vehicle for the antituberculosis drug Rifampicin for use in tuberculosis therapy.

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ABSTRACTSystematic environmental surveillance for poliovirus circulation has been conducted in Egypt since 2000. The surveillance has revealed three independent importations of wild-type poliovirus. In addition, several vaccine-derived polioviruses have been detected in various locations in Egypt. In addition to acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance, environmental surveillance can be used to monitor the wild poliovirus and vaccine-derived poliovirus circulation in populations in support of polio eradication initiatives.