• Projects
• Publications
• Research Team

Department of Emerging Viral Infections

Department of Emerging viral infections (directed by Associate
Professor S. Ruta, MD,PhD email: simonarutavirusologie@yahoo.com)
has current projects focusing on:


- pediatric HIV infection:

1. virological and immunological monitoring of long term survivor HIV parenterally infected children;
2. virological studies in the pediatric AIDS encephalopathy
3. surveillance of the antigenic heterogeneity of the circulating viral strains
4. sero/genotyping the HIV isolates from nonprogressors and recently infected adults or vertically infected children in order to understand resistance development and the corresponding changes in viral fitness on a molecular level;
5. evaluation of HIV-specific immunity in infected children who were subjects of non-structured interruptions of treatment;
6. investigation of the natural history of HBV and HCV coinfections in HIV infected children;
7. molecular diagnosis in malignant opportunistic diseases involving EBV, HPV and HHV8 in HIV infected individuals

- parenterally acquired viral hepatitis:

1. serosurveillance studies for HBV, HCV and HDV in the general population and in selected risk groups directed to the identification of virus transmission routes and infection sources;
2. evaluation of HBV and HCV genotypes/viral isolates circulating in Romania
3. assessing the  the impact of genetical diversity on the performance of diagnostic tests used in clinical laboratories and developing methods that allow  identification and characterization of new HCV subtypes/isolates and recombinants strains with high pathogenity risk

- the early warning and control of viral epidemics (West Nile meningo-encephalitis and pandemic influenza) and the role of the blood brain barrier in viral encephalitis
- assessment of the efficacy of national vaccination campaigns against  measles, rubella, hepatitis B, mounting specific strategies for diseases eradication
- virological diagnosis in sexual and blood borne transmitted diseases and in herpes and respiratory viral infection (Constanta Antipa, MD; PhD). Between 2002-2005 the team participated in a Bilateral Scientific Project Greece – Romania ("St. S. Nicolau "Institute of Virology" and Technological Institution of Athens, Greece) on the epidemiology of genital Mycoplasma infections, a part of a larger study concerning the association of genital mycoplasmas with spread, pathogenic features and antibiotic resistance in the Balkans. Between 2003-2004 the group collaborated with Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA, SUA for genotyping of Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV) circulating strains isolated from Romanian patients