A5002144784- SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Tuberculosis Research and Epidemiology
- SARS-CoV-2 detection and testing
- Mycobacterium research and diagnosis
- COVID-19 epidemiological studies
- COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies
- Respiratory viral infections research
- Biosensors and Analytical Detection
- Pneumonia and Respiratory Infections
- Infection Control and Ventilation
- Data-Driven Disease Surveillance
- Bacillus and Francisella bacterial research
- Infectious Diseases and Mycology
- COVID-19 Digital Contact Tracing
- Infectious Diseases and Tuberculosis
- COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiology
- Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria
- COVID-19 diagnosis using AI
- Animal Virus Infections Studies
- Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia detection and treatment
- HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions
- HIV/AIDS Impact and Responses
- Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
- Advanced Chemical Sensor Technologies
KU Leuven
2005-2025
Universitair Ziekenhuis Leuven
2019-2024
Rega Institute for Medical Research
2020-2024
IMEC
2023
Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency
2022
Korea University
2022
VIB-KU Leuven Center for Microbiology
2022
Hasselt University
2019-2022
Instituut voor Tropische Geneeskunde
2019-2022
Sciensano (Belgium)
2022
We assessed the in vitro antiviral activity of remdesivir and its parent nucleoside GS-441524, molnupiravir EIDD-1931 viral protease inhibitor nirmatrelvir against ancestral SARS-CoV2 strain five variants concern including Omicron. VeroE6-GFP cells were pre-treated overnight with serial dilutions compounds before infection. The GFP signal was determined by high-content imaging on day 4 post-infection. All molecules have equipotent virus VOCs Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta These findings are line...
Molecular diagnostics are considered the most promising route to achieving rapid, universal drug susceptibility testing for
Abstract The human- and animal-adapted lineages of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) are thought to have expanded from a common progenitor in Africa. However, molecular events that accompanied this emergence remain largely unknown. Here, we describe two MTBC strains isolated patients with multidrug resistant tuberculosis, representing an as-yet-unknown lineage, named Lineage 8 (L8), seemingly restricted African Great Lakes region. Using genome-based phylogenetic reconstruction,...
Abstract Convergent evolution of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2, BA.4, and BA.5 lineages has led to the emergence several new subvariants, including BA.2.75.2, BA.4.6. BQ.1.1. The subvariant BQ.1.1 became predominant in many countries December 2022. subvariants carry an additional often redundant set mutations spike, likely responsible for increased transmissibility immune evasion. Here, we established a viral amplification procedure easily isolate strains. We examined their sensitivity 6...
The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants concern (VoCs) has exacerbated the COVID-19 pandemic. End November 2021, a new variant namely omicron (B.1.1.529) emerged. Since this is heavily mutated in spike protein, WHO classified as 5th (VoC). We previously demonstrated that ancestral strain and other VoCs replicate efficiently cause COVID19-like pathology Syrian hamsters. here wanted to explore infectivity comparison D614G hamster model. Strikingly, hamsters had been infected with variant, 3 log
The Xpert MTB/RIF assay has garnered significant interest as a sensitive and rapid diagnostic tool to improve detection of drug resistant tuberculosis. However, most existing literature described the performance testing only in study conditions; little information is available on its use routine case finding. TB REACH multi-country initiative focusing innovative ways notification. We selected convenience sample nine projects for inclusion cover range implementers, regions approaches....
Abstract Since the start of COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented number genomic sequences SARS-CoV-2 have been generated and shared with scientific community. The unparalleled volume available genetic data presents a unique opportunity to gain real-time insights into virus transmission during but also daunting computational hurdle if analyzed gold-standard phylogeographic approaches. To tackle this practical limitation, we here describe apply rapid analytical pipeline analyze spatiotemporal...
The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant was first identified in November 2021 Botswana and South Africa 1,2 . It has the meantime spread to many countries is expected rapidly become dominant worldwide. lineage characterized by presence of about 32 mutations Spike, located mostly N-terminal domain (NTD) receptor binding (RBD), which may enhance viral fitness allow antibody evasion. Here, we isolated an infectious virus Belgium, from a traveller returning Egypt. We examined its sensitivity 9 monoclonal...
Conventional molecular tests for detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) drug resistance on clinical samples cover a limited set of mutations. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) typically requires culture. Here, we evaluated the Deeplex Myc-TB targeted deep-sequencing assay prediction to 13 anti-tuberculous drugs/drug classes, directly applicable sputum. With MTBC DNA tests, limit detection was 100–1000 genome copies fixed captured in silico 97.1–99.3% phenotypes correctly predicted...
The emergence of Omicron sublineages impacts the therapeutic efficacy anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Here, we evaluate neutralization and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) activities 6 mAbs against Delta, BA.2, BA.4, BA.5. subvariants escape most but remain sensitive to bebtelovimab cilgavimab. Consistent with their shared spike sequence, BA.4 BA.5 display identical profiles. Sotrovimab is efficient at eliciting...
Currently, the real-life impact of indoor climate, human behaviour, ventilation and air filtration on respiratory pathogen detection concentration are poorly understood. This hinders interpretability bioaerosol quantification in to surveil pathogens transmission risk. We tested 341 samples from 21 community settings Belgium for 29 using qPCR. On average, 3.9 were positive per sample 85.3% at least one. Pathogen varied significantly by pathogen, month, age group generalised linear (mixed)...
There were approximately 10 million tuberculosis (TB) cases in 2020, of which 500,000 drug-resistant. Only one third drug-resistant TB diagnosed and enrolled on appropriate treatment, an issue partly driven by a lack rapid, accurate drug-susceptibility testing (DST) tools deployable peripheral settings. In 2014, World Health Organization (WHO) published target product profiles (TPPs) detailed minimal optimal criteria to address high-priority diagnostic needs, including DST. Since then, the...
We investigated the serial interval for SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 and Delta variants observed a shorter Omicron, suggesting faster transmission. Results indicate relationship between empirical vaccination status both variants. Further assessment of causes extent dominance over is warranted.