Medical Microbiology

446 8 VirusesasHumanPathogen

atitisB;noimmunizationbyvaccineisavailable.Especiallyincombination

withribavirin(Table 7. 5 ),therapeuticuseofinterferoncanleadtoelimination

ofthevirusinpersistentinfectionsandthustopreventionofcirrhosisof

theliverandHCC.

Coronaviruses

&Infectionswithcoronavirusesarewidespreadinhumansandanimals.

Humanpathogensincludecausativeagentsofrhinitislikeinfectionsand

thevirusofthe“severeacuterespiratorysyndrome”(SARS),whichfirst

eruptedinChinain 20 02.

Diagnosis:serologyorelectronmicroscopyforcommoncoldstrains;PCR

orisolationforSARS. &

Pathogen.TheCoronaviridaefamilyincludesseveralviralspeciesthatcan

infectvertebratessuchasdogs,cats,cattle,pigs,rodents,andpoultry.The

name(corona,asinwreathorcrown)referstotheappearanceoftheviruses

(Fig.8. 13 ).Onecoronavirusspecies(humancoronavirus,HuCV)isknown

sincesometimetobeahumanpathogen.Ithasatleasttwoserotypes

andprobablyanumberofserologicalvariants.InNovember 20 02,anewco-

ronavirusemergedinChinaand,afteroriginallybeingmistakenasanewin-

fluenzarecombinant,wasidentifiedasthecausativeagentofsevereacute

respiratorysyndrome,orSARS,inspring 20 03.Itsorigin,possiblyfromani-

mals,isnotknowntodate.

Coronavirus

Fig.8. 13 “Spikes” with club or

drumstick-likeswellingsarelocated

atregular,relativelygenerousinter-

valsonthepleomorphicenvelope,

which measures 80 – 220 nm in

diameter.

8

Kayser, Medical Microbiology © 2005 Thieme