The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that has a significant rapid transmission is an international public health concern. Several dengue-endemic countries reported similar clinical and laboratory features between COVID-19 and dengue in the early incubation period, and thus discerning the infection is difficult. As a dengue-endemic country, Indonesia also poses the same challenge during the COVID-19 outbreak. This current study analyzed the IgG and IgM profiles from COVID-19 patients by using a serological SARS-CoV-2 and dengue rapid test. In addition, 38 sera from healthy individuals (pre-COVID-19 date) were analyzed using a dengue rapid test. Among 120 samples, 4 samples indicated dengue IgG positive. However, IgM, NS1, and RT-PCR analyses showed negative results. Interestingly, regarding seropositivity of NS1 and DENV IgG from healthy individuals (pre COVID-19 infection), two samples were positive DENV IgG, while one of them was positive NS1. This suggested that in the dengue-endemic area, many people have already experienced dengue and have immunity against dengue virus. There is also the possibility of antibody cross-reactivity between COVID-19 and dengue infection. This also emphasizes the high demand for a rapid method with high sensitivity and specificity that can distinguish between SARS-CoV-2 and dengue.

Background and Aim: Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is highly contagious in cloven-hoofed animals, and it causes outbreaks in Indonesia and several countries worldwide. This disease is caused by the FMD virus (FMDV), which belongs to the genus Aphthovirus and family Picornaviridae. In 1990, the World Organization for Animal Health Office International des Epizooties recognized Indonesia as an FMD-free country. A new FMDV outbreak in Indonesia was reported in April 2022 and confirmed in May 2022, resulting in economic losses to the beef cattle sector. This study aimed to determine the genotype and amino acid content of viral proteins (VP1) gene. Materials and Methods: Samples were obtained from vesicle swabs from the mouth and feet of cattle in Banyuwangi Regency, Lamongan Regency, and Surabaya City, East Java, Indonesia. Samples were identified using one-step reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction with a pair of specific primers encoding the VP1O serotype with a target of 1165 bp. Results: Sequencing revealed that the FMDV subtype belonged to the O/ME-SA/Ind2001e. Phylogenetic analysis showed that our isolate was 100% amino acid-identical to the Indonesian outbreak isolates from 2022 and 95% identical to isolates from Southeast Asia. The amino acid substitutions found in the G-H Loop of the VP1were S134C, D138E, T140A, and A156T. Only the K135Q mutation was detected in Lamongan. Conclusion: The spread of the subtype O/ME-SA/Ind2001e in South-east Asia caused an outbreak in Indonesia due to less stringent animal traffic control measures. Surveillance studies and whole-genome sequence analyses are important for monitoring FMDV genetics in Indonesia. Keywords: cattle, foot and mouth disease virus, Indonesia, phylogenetic tree, viral proteins 1.

Norovirus infection is the second most frequent viral agent causing gastroenteritis worldwide. Asymptomatic norovirus infection is prevalent in children and is associated with growth failure. Evaluating the intestinal inflammation of asymptomatic norovirus infection is pivotal to overcoming malnutrition, especially in resource-limited settings. The current study aimed to compare the level of fecal neopterin and calprotectin, as the well-established biomarker for intestinal inflammation, in malnourished children with symptomatic and asymptomatic norovirus infections. In total 78 stool samples from children under five years old were analyzed in this comparative study. The 67 of the participants were malnourished children, with 24 had asymptomatic (ANV) and 18 had symptomatic norovirus infection (SNV), while 25 had no infections (Mal). We assigned 11 healthy children without any infection as control (Healthy). We assessed the fecal neopterin and calprotectin from the stools samples collected during viral diarrhea surveillance in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, using commercially ELISA kit from BT Lab (Zhejiang, China) for human neopterin and calprotectin. The statistical differences were tested using Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric test. The level of fecal neopterin (mean ± SD, 15.46 ± 1.75 nmol/L and 15.12 ± 2.41 nmol/L; p-value: 0.744) and calprotectin (mean ± SD, 184.35 ± 35.09 ng/ml and 177.95 ± 49.55 ng/ml; p-value: 0.457) between ANV and SNV was comparable, also between Mal and Healthy groups. Meanwhile, the level of both biomarkers was significantly different in norovirus positive group and norovirus negative group (p-value < 0.000). Norovirus infection, regardless of the presence of symptoms, triggered intestinal inflammation, represented by the increased of fecal neopterin and calprotectin level.

Tempat penampungan sampah di Pesantren Nurul Jadid yang seluas 3.000 m² tidak mampu menampung sampah yang dihasilkan oleh civitas akademika pesantren yang jumlahnya tidak kurang dari 5 ton setiap harinya. Ini muncul karena sampah yang dihasilkan belum diolah secara benar: sampah belum terolah, belum dipilah, belum ada upaya pemanfaatan sampah yang dihasilkan, dan pemahaman para siswa tentang apa yang disebut sampah juga masih sangat umum yakni sesuatu yang sudah tidak dibutuhkan lagi. Pengabdian ini bertujuan untuk memberikan pemahaman (literasi) kepada siswi-siswi MA Nurul Jadid agar dapat melakukan penyikapan yang benar terhadap sampah yang dihasilkan melalui PSSP Language (Purpose-Structure-State-Performance). Melalui kegiatan literasi, para siswi MANJ telah memahami bahwa dalam PSSP Language, tidak semua barang yang telah dipakai, serta merta berstatus sebagai sampah.  

Background: Asymptomatic Norovirus (NoV) infection is known to affect the linear growth of children, yet it is still neglected during malnutrition intervention. NoV is known to disrupt the gut microbiota profile in healthy individuals, which could affect their appetite regulation and nutrient absorption. However, the report of the asymptomatic NoV infection incidence and the effect on food intake and weight changes in malnourished children is still lacking. The current study was aimed to evaluate the incidence and the effect of asymptomatic NoV infection in children with malnutrition. Methods: A total of 142 stool samples were collected from 71 asymptomatic children with malnutrition who received a nutrition intervention program in Semampir District of Surabaya, Indonesia. One-step Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) GI & GII detection kit Ver. 2 (Shimadzu, Tokyo, Japan) was used to identify NoV, then confirmed by conventional Reverse Transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR) for NoV GII and GI. The growth of the children was monitored for a month by measuring body weight every week. Food intake was evaluated by subtracting the serving portion with leftover portion every day, then presented in daily percentage intake. The effect of asymptomatic NoV infection on food intake and weight change of the children were analyzed using an independent t-test. Results: Thirteen out of 142 samples were positive for NoV by conventional PCR, with a detection rate of 9.2%, with 13 individuals had one positive sample (18.3%). Genogroup I (GI) was the most prevalent genogroup circulating in this study, with a ratio of 53.8% (7/13) for GI, 30.7% (4/13) for GII and 15.5% (2/13) for mix-infection of GI and GII. The mean percent intake of asymptomatic NoV-positive children (mean ± SD, 48.5% ± 7.76%) was significantly lower than that of NoV-negative children (Mean ± SD, 64.4% ± 3.15% ) with a p-value of 0.04. The weight change of NoV-positive children was 10 g ± 72g, while in NoV-negative children was 236 g ± 58 g ( p-value = 0.01). Conclusions: Our findings showed that the incidence of asymptomatic NoV infection was higher in malnourished children than in healthy individuals. We confirmed that asymptomatic NoV infection affects the food intake and weight changes of malnourished children.