Background/Objectives: Human adenovirus 55 (HAdV55) is a notable pathogen causing community-acquired pneumonia; outbreaks occur frequently in military camps, hospitals, and schools, thereby posing a threat to public health security. This study aimed to develop a method for detecting HAdV55 nucleic acid by targeting the conserved region of the Hexon gene. The sequence was amplified using enzymatic recombination isothermal amplification (ERA) technology, in conjunction with CRISPR-Cas12a technology, to enhance the amplification signal. Methods: Optimized primer and crRNA sequences were selected through ERA isothermal amplification testing. The ERA-CRISPR/Cas12a detection method was completed within 30 min at a constant temperature of 42 °C. Results: Sensitivity was assessed by detecting standard plasmids and live strains at various dilution concentrations. The detection limits were determined to be 9 copies/reaction for standard plasmids and 2.5 copies/reaction for cultured HAdV55 strains. Specificity tests were conducted on positive samples for five common respiratory pathogens and five other adenovirus subtypes, all of which showed no cross-reactivity. Conclusions: A rapid ERA-CRISPR/Cas12a nucleic acid detection method for HAdV55 has been successfully developed, demonstrating high sensitivity and specificity without the need for expensive or complex instruments. This method holds promise for on-site pathogen screening and detection.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is an important etiology of liver failure. This study aimed to explore the associations of blood fibrosis profiles with HEV-related liver failure (HEV-LF) onset and evaluate their prediction performance in hospitalized patients with acute hepatitis E. Participants were obtained from two tertiary medical centers in Jiangsu, China, between January 2018 and November 2024. Cox proportional hazards regression, restricted cubic splines, and threshold effect analysis were used to examine associations between fibrosis markers and HEV-LF risk. The predictive value of these markers was evaluated for importance ranking, discrimination, calibration, and net benefit. Among 504 included participants, 59 developed HEV-LF during hospitalization. After adjusting for covariates, elevated baseline laminin (HR = 1.432, 95% CI: 1.080–1.900), fibrosis-4 score (HR = 1.865, 95% CI: 1.375–2.530), and aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI) (HR = 1.603, 95% CI: 1.315–1.954) were associated with a higher HEV-LF risk in a dose-dependent manner. Hyaluronic acid (≤ 740 ng/mL: HR = 1.797, 95% CI: 1.177–2.744) and type IV collagen (≤ 137 ng/mL: HR = 3.075, 95% CI: 1.709–5.533) showed nonlinear associations. APRI was ranked the highest in importance, and its combination with the other two top important markers provided good discrimination (7-day HEV-LF: AUROC = 84.98%, 95% CI: 78.55–91.41; 14-day HEV-LF: AUROC = 80.11%, 95% CI: 73.49–86.73), calibration, and clinical utility for predicting HEV-LF onset. Several blood fibrosis markers are closely associated with HEV-LF risk and have promising predictive value. These findings may inform clinical risk stratification in patients with AHE. Not applicable.