Approximately 240 million people worldwide are chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) [1], with about 700,000 deaths from complications of HBV infection, including cirrhosis and liver cancer [2]. HBV infection is determined through serological testing for HBV surface antigen (HBsAg), and additional serology tests alone or in combination can...

Persistent hrHPV infection has been established as a necessary oncogenic factor for cervical carcinogenesis [1]. Globally, cervical cancer remains one of the most deadly malignancies in women but its incidence is highly reducible by screening, HPV vaccination and education. Screening for cancerous and precancerous cervical lesions has been performed...

In recent years, BK polyomavirus (BKPyV) infection has emerged as a major problem in kidney transplant recipients. About 90% of the latter are seropositive for BKPyV [1]. The virus reactivates periodically with urinary shedding but remains asymptomatic in immunocompetent adults. The immunosuppressive therapy used to prevent rejection after solid organ...

Over the last 10 years, it has become apparent that hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a pathogen of global significance. HEV infection is among the most frequent causes of acute hepatitis worldwide (1). The HEV strains infecting humans are classified as one of 4 major genotypes. Peak viremia occurs during the incubation period and early phase of disease In...

Flaviviruses are typically transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes or ticks. The most important human-pathogenic representatives are yellow fever (YF), Japanese encephalitis (JE), West Nile (WN), dengue (DEN), Zika and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) viruses, which constitute significant health problems in many parts of the world. The expansion of...

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), a double stranded DNA herpesvirus, is the most frequent cause of congenital malformations worldwide, resulting in neurodevelopmental delay, foetal or neonatal death, and most frequently sensorineural hearing loss [1–3]. It is characterized by a large genome encoding a wide range of gene products, endowed of effective immunomodulatory...