A Case of Human Lassa Virus Infection With Robust Acute T-Cell Activation and Long-Term Virus-Specific T-Cell Responses

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Anita Katherine McElroy, Emory University; Rama Akondy, Emory University; Jessica R. Harmon, CDC; Ali H. Ellebedy, Emory University; Deborah Cannon, CDC; John D. Klena, CDC; John Sidney, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology Center for Infectious Disease; Alessandro Sette, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology Center for Infectious Disease; Aneesh K Mehta, Emory University; Colleen S Kraft, Emory University; G Marshall Lyon III, Emory University; Jay B Varkey, Emory University; Bruce Ribner, Emory University; Stuart T. Nichol, Emory University; Christina F. Spiropoulou, CDC
• Language: English
• Date: 2017-06-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP): Policy B - Oxford Open Option C
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2017. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jix201
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Journal of Infectious Diseases
• ISSN: 0022-1899
• Volume: 215
• Issue: 12
• Start Page: 1862
• End Page: 1872
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was performed while Anita K. McElroy held a Burroughs Wellcome Career Award for Medical Scientists and an NIH K08 (AI119448-02) and while Alessandro Sette held a National Institutes of Health contract (HHSN27220140045C).
• Keywords: Infectious Diseases; EBOLA; Immunology; Lassa virus; HUMAN DENDRITIC CELLS; CYNOMOLGUS MONKEYS; RHESUS-MONKEYS; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; IMMUNOGLOBULIN-M; biomarkers; REPLICATION; immunology; MACROPHAGES; T cells; Microbiology; MOPEIA VIRUS; human; Science & Technology; FEVER; IMMUNE PLASMA
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Immunology; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery

Abstract

A nurse who acquired Lassa virus infection in Togo in the spring of 2016 was repatriated to the United States for care at Emory University Hospital. Serial sampling from this patient permitted the characterization of several aspects of the innate and cellular immune responses to Lassa virus. Although most of the immune responses correlated with the kinetics of viremia resolution, the CD8 T-cell response was of surprisingly high magnitude and prolonged duration, implying prolonged presentation of viral antigens. Indeed, long after viremia resolution, there was persistent viral RNA detected in the semen of the patient, accompanied by epididymitis, suggesting the male reproductive tract as 1 site of antigen persistence. Consistent with the magnitude of acute T-cell responses, the patient ultimately developed long-term, polyfunctional memory T-cell responses to Lassa virus.