The COVID-19 pandemic has generated an overuse of antimicrobials in critically ill patients. Acinetobacter baumannii frequently causes nosocomial infections, particularly in intensive care units (ICUs), where the incidence has increased over time. Since the WHO declared the COVID-19 pandemic on 12 March 2020, the disease has spread rapidly, and many of the patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 needed to be admitted to the ICU. Bacterial co-pathogens are commonly identified in viral respiratory infections and are important causes of morbidity and mortality. However, we cannot neglect the increased incidence of antimicrobial resistance, which may be attributed to the excess use of antimicrobial agents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients with COVID-19 could be vulnerable to other infections owing to multiple comorbidities with severe COVID-19, prolonged hospitalization, and SARS-CoV-2-associated immune dysfunction. These patients have acquired secondary bacterial infections or superinfections, mainly bacteremia and urinary tract infections. This review will summarize the prevalence of A. baumannii coinfection and secondary infection in patients with COVID-19.

Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus perform an important role in the transmission of the dengue virus to human populations, particularly in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Despite a lack of understanding in relation to the maintenance of the dengue virus in nature during interepidemic periods, the vertical transmission of the dengue virus in populations of A. aegypti and A. albopictus appears to be of significance in relation to the urban scenario of Fortaleza. From March 2007 to July 2009 collections of larvae and pupae of Aedes spp were carried out in 40 neighborhoods of Fortaleza. The collections yielded 3,417 (91%) A. aegypti mosquitoes and 336 (9%) A. albopictus mosquitoes. Only pools containing females, randomly chosen, were submitted to the following tests indirect immunofluorescence (virus isolation), RT-PCR/nested-PCR and nucleotide sequencing at the C-prM junction of the dengue virus genome. The tests on pool 34 (35 A. albopictus mosquitoes) revealed with presence of DENV-3, pool 35 (50 A. aegypti mosquitoes) was found to be infected with DENV-2, while pool 49 (41 A. albopictus mosquitoes) revealed the simultaneous presence of DENV-2 and DENV-3. Based on the results obtained, there was a minimum infection rate of 0.5 for A. aegypti and 9.4 for A. albopictus. The fragments of 192 bp and 152 bp related to DENV-3, obtained from pools 34 and 49, was registered in GenBank with the access codes HM130699 and JF261696, respectively. This study recorded the first natural evidence of the vertical transmission of the dengue virus in populations of A. aegypti and A. albopictus collected in Fortaleza, Ceará State, Brazil, opening a discuss on the epidemiological significance of this mechanism of viral transmission in the local scenario, particularly with respect to the maintenance of these viruses in nature during interepidemic periods.

(1) Background: Disinfection of medical devices designed for clinical use associated or not with the growing area of tissue engineering is an urgent need. However, traditional disinfection methods are not always suitable for some biomaterials, especially those sensitive to chemical, thermal, or radiation. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the minimal concentration of ozone gas (O₃) necessary to control and kill a set of sensitive or multi-resistant Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The cell viability, membrane permeability, and the levels of reactive intracellular oxygen (ROS) species were also investigated; (2) Material and Methods: Four standard strains and a clinical MDR strain were exposed to low doses of ozone at different concentrations and times. Bacterial inactivation (cultivability, membrane damage) was investigated using colony counts, resazurin as a metabolic indicator, and propidium iodide (PI). A fluorescent probe (H₂DCFDA) was used for the ROS analyses; (3) Results: No reduction in the count colony was detected after O₃ exposure compared to the control group. However, the cell viability of E. coli (30%), P. aeruginosa (25%), and A. baumannii (15%) was reduced considerably. The bacterial membrane of all strains was not affected by O₃ but presented a significant increase of ROS in E. coli (90 ± 14%), P. aeruginosa (62.5 ± 19%), and A. baumanni (52.6 ± 5%); (4) Conclusion: Low doses of ozone were able to interfere in the cell viability of most strains studied, and although it does not cause damage to the bacterial membrane, increased levels of reactive ROS are responsible for causing a detrimental effect in the lipids, proteins, and DNA metabolism.

A serine protease was purified 942-fold from culture supernatant ofL. amazonensispromastigotes using (NH₄)₂SO₄precipitation followed by affinity chromatography on aprotinin-agarose and continuous elution electrophoresis by Prep Cell, yielding a total recovery of 61%. The molecular mass of the active enzyme estimated by SDS-PAGE under conditions of reduction was 56 kDa and 115 kDa under conditions of non-reduction, suggesting that the protease is a dimeric protein. Additionally, it was found to be a non-glycosylated enzyme, with a pI of 5·0. The optimal pH and temperature of the enzyme were 7·5 and 28 °C respectively, using α-N-ρ-tosyl-L-arginine-methyl ester (L-TAME) as substrate. Assays of thermal stability indicated that 61% of the enzyme activity was preserved after 1 h of pre-treatment at 42 °C. Haemoglobin, bovine serum albumin (BSA), ovalbumin, fibrinogen, collagen, gelatin and peptide substrates containing arginine in an ester bond and amide substrates containing hydrophobic residues at the P1 site were hydrolysed by this extracellular protease. The insulin β-chain was also hydrolysed by the enzyme and many peptidic bonds were susceptible to the protease action, and 4 of them (L¹¹-V¹², E¹³-A¹⁴, L¹⁵-Y¹⁶and Y¹⁶-L¹⁷) were identified. Inhibition studies suggested that the enzyme belongs to the serine protease class inhibited by calcium and manganese and activated by zinc. These findings show that this enzyme ofL. amazonensisis a novel serine protease, which differs from all known flagellate proteases characterized.

Long COVID-19 is a condition characterized by persistent symptoms lasting beyond the acute phase of COVID-19. Long COVID-19 produces diverse symptomatology and can impact organs and systems, including the hematological system. Several studies have reported, in COVID-19 patients, hematological abnormalities. Most of these alterations are associated with a higher risk of severe disease and poor outcomes. This literature review identified studies reporting hematological parameters in individuals with Long COVID-19. Findings suggest that Long COVID-19 is associated with a range of sustained hematological alterations, including alterations in red blood cells, anemia, lymphopenia, and elevated levels of inflammatory markers such as ferritin, D-dimer, and IL-6. These alterations may contribute to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of Long COVID-19 and its associated symptoms. However, further research is needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and potential treatments for these hematological changes in individuals with Long COVID-19.

(1) Background: coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been linked to hematological dysfunctions, but there are little experimental data that explain this. Spike (S) and Nucleoprotein (N) proteins have been putatively associated with these dysfunctions. In this work, we analyzed the recruitment of hemoglobin (Hb) and other metabolites (hemin and protoporphyrin IX-PpIX) by SARS-Cov2 proteins using different approaches. (2) Methods: shotgun proteomics (LC–MS/MS) after affinity column adsorption identified hemin-binding SARS-CoV-2 proteins. The parallel synthesis of the peptides technique was used to study the interaction of the receptor bind domain (RBD) and N-terminal domain (NTD) of the S protein with Hb and in silico analysis to identify the binding motifs of the N protein. The plaque assay was used to investigate the inhibitory effect of Hb and the metabolites hemin and PpIX on virus adsorption and replication in Vero cells. (3) Results: the proteomic analysis by LC–MS/MS identified the S, N, M, Nsp3, and Nsp7 as putative hemin-binding proteins. Six short sequences in the RBD and 11 in the NTD of the spike were identified by microarray of peptides to interact with Hb and tree motifs in the N protein by in silico analysis to bind with heme. An inhibitory effect in vitro of Hb, hemin, and PpIX at different levels was observed. Strikingly, free Hb at 1mM suppressed viral replication (99%), and its interaction with SARS-CoV-2 was localized into the RBD region of the spike protein. (4) Conclusions: in this study, we identified that (at least) five proteins (S, N, M, Nsp3, and Nsp7) of SARS-CoV-2 recruit Hb/metabolites. The motifs of the RDB of SARS-CoV-2 spike, which binds Hb, and the sites of the heme bind-N protein were disclosed. In addition, these compounds and PpIX block the virus’s adsorption and replication. Furthermore, we also identified heme-binding motifs and interaction with hemin in N protein and other structural (S and M) and non-structural (Nsp3 and Nsp7) proteins.