About the Authors

Bui Tien Sy

Affiliations Department of Infectious Diseases, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany, Department of Pathophysiology, Vietnam Military Medical University, Ha Noi, Ha Dong, Viet Nam

Boris A. Ratsch

Affiliation Department of Infectious Diseases, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany

Nguyen Linh Toan

Affiliation Department of Pathophysiology, Vietnam Military Medical University, Ha Noi, Ha Dong, Viet Nam

Le Huu Song

Affiliation 108 Institute of Clinical Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Tran Hung Dao Hospital, Ha Noi, Viet Nam

Christian Wollboldt

Affiliation Department of Infectious Diseases, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany

Agnes Bryniok

Affiliation Department of Infectious Diseases, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany

Hung Minh Nguyen

Affiliation Center of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, da Nang, Viet Nam

Hoang Van Luong

Affiliation Department of Pathophysiology, Vietnam Military Medical University, Ha Noi, Ha Dong, Viet Nam

Thirumalaisamy P. Velavan

Affiliation Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

Heiner Wedemeyer

Affiliation Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany

Peter G. Kremsner

Affiliation Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

C.-Thomas Bock

bockc@rki.de

Affiliations Department of Infectious Diseases, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany, Department of Molecular Pathology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

Competing Interests

The co-author Prof. Dr. Heiner Wedemeyer currently serves as an editor for PLOS ONE. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: BTS BAR NLT LHS TPV PK CTB. Performed the experiments: BTS BAR AB HMN CW CTB. Analyzed the data: BTS BAR NLT LHS HMN CW HVL TPV HW CTB. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: NLT LHS HMN HVL PK. Wrote the manuscript: BTS BAR HMN TPV CTB.