Infezioni in Medicina最新文献

Objectives: Due to the limited data available within the Moroccan context, the aim of the study was therefore to estimate the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) and Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) infection and co-infection among men who have sex with men (MSM) as well as to update the behavioral indicators for this population.

Methods: During the period of November 2020 to January 2021, 275 and 303 MSM in Agadir and Fes respectively, were recruited by using respondent-driven sampling protocol (RDS). Eligibility criteria for participants included men identified as having anal sex with another man in the last 6 months, aged 18 years or older and residing in either Agadir or Fes, regardless of their nationality, for the past 6 months.Anal swabs were collected from 445 respondents for molecular investigation of CT, NG, and TV. GeneXpert (Cepheid, USA) was used to test all samples. A survey on the socio-demographic, and risk behavior was then administered to participants.

Results: Most MSM subjects were identified as being young, and homosexual. CT prevalence was 11.3% (95%CI, 7.2 to 15.4) and 12.5% (95%CI, 7.5 to 17.5) in Agadir and Fes respectively; NG was 13.3% (95%CI, 8.5 to 18.1) in Agadir and 5.5% (95%CI, 1.9 to 9.2) in Fes. Meanwhile, TV prevalence was 0.4% (95%CI, 0 to 1.1) in Agadir and 0.2% (95%CI, -0.2 to 0.6) in Fes. A CT/NG co-infection was found in 4.5% (95%CI, 3.5 to 5.9) of cases in Agadir and 2.7% (95%CI, 1.9 to 3.9), in Fes.

Conclusion: It follows that a regular risk assessment and Sexually Transmitted Infectious (STIs) screening should be administered in these two cities as part of a global strategy to enhance the sexual health of the key populations in question.

Advanced HIV naive represents an unfavorable prognostic condition due to a persistent high risk of death, increased probability of virological failure, immunologic impairment, clinical progression, and immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS), cumulative adverse drug events, drug-drug interactions and increased healthcare costs. Currently, all international guidelines recommend the rapid initiation of ART, especially in late-stage naive patients. Bictegravir/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide (B/F/TAF), due to its efficacy high genetic barrier, good safety profile, and low DDI potential, is one of the regimens recommended for overall rapid initiation by international guidelines. B/F/TAF has been tested in observational or uncontrolled pilot studies (OPERA, RAINBOW), while a large randomized controlled trial is currently ongoing (LAPTOP). In conclusion, B/F/TAF is an ideal combination for the initiation of antiretroviral therapy, particularly in the HIV late presenter or advanced HIV disease patient, even in the context of rapid start or same-day treatment regimens, where the initiation of treatment usually occurs in the absence of information on viral load, CD4 count, biochemical profile and HIV transmitted resistance.

The 1889-1892 influenza pandemic is the first flu outbreak that can be demonstrated to have been truly worldwide in scope. Its initial spread, along with the successive waves, coincided with an uneasy period of economic and political instability in Greece. Greek historians have largely ignored this outbreak in a national setting and have exclusively focused on the economic crisis and social unrest of that era. As in other countries, it seems that in Greece, too, the case fatality ratio was low, but morbidity and public health issues gained importance. Culturally, it triggered the creation of a new terminology around disease and proved an inspiration for satirical magazines. The economic distress of large parts of the population contributed to the design of health measures of only limited impact, with the press being the main source for dissemination of new health information. Despite being separated by 130 years, the 1889 influenza pandemic and the COVID-19 pandemic share some striking similarities. They both spread across transport lines and were followed by spotty and multifocal subsequent waves, disproportionately affected the poorest and most vulnerable, and led to neologisms, strong public health debates, and shifts in employment habits and measures. As we move forward into the 21^st century, it is essential that we are able to reflect on such shared trends over decades, which are true because of common and interactive co-determinants of infectious disease outbreak emergence and spread and our responses to them.

During COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of diseases suffered from a limited access to health care services, owing to the use of resources, both technical and financial, mainly directed towards such a dramatic outbreak. Among these, tuberculosis (TB) has been one of the most penalized, with a huge delay both in diagnosis and in start of treatment, with a consequential dramatic increase in morbidity and mortality. COVID-19 and tuberculosis share similar common pathogenetic pathways, and both diseases affect primarily the lungs. About the impact of TB on COVID-19 severity and mortality, data are unclear and literature reports are often conflicting. Certainly, considering the management of coinfected patients, there are pharmacokinetic interactions between several drugs used for the therapy of SARS-CoV-2 infection and the treatment of TB.

Several clusters and individual cases of acute hepatitis have been reported in the US, Europe and recently in Asia and Central America since October 2021. A laboratory investigation of the common viral hepatitis agents (HAV, HBV, HCV, HDV and HEV) yielded negative results prompting the use of the term "acute non HepA-E hepatitis" to describe this condition. As of 24 June of 2022, WHO have reported 920 probable cases of severe acute hepatitis of unknown origin among pediatrics in 33 countries in five WHO regions. Since the previous reports on 27 May 2022, 270 new probable cases have been increased, including from four new countries, some of whom were also found to be positive for SARS-CoV-2. All the patients showed symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, and abdominal pain. The patients' liver enzymes were remarkably increased. No connection with SARS-CoV-2 or its vaccine has been found so far. However, the suspected cause is adenovirus, including its genomic variations, because its pathogenesis and laboratory investigations have been positively linked. Until further evidence emerges, hygiene precautions could be helpful to prevent its spread.

Introduction: Liposomal amphotericin use is limited in developing countries due to its extremely high cost and availability. Therefore, the study aimed to evaluate deoxycholate amphotericin B's utility and adverse effect profile in patients with mucormycosis.

Methodology: This retrospective cohort study from 2019 to 2021 included patients with proven mucormycosis who received deoxycholate amphotericin B for more than or equal to five days and had at least three creatinine values on treatment. Baseline demographic details, risk factors and treatment details of all the patients were recorded. In addition, the details of treatment-related adverse effects and outcomes were ascertained.

Results: Of the 57 included patients, a history of diabetes, COVID-19 and steroid use was present in 49 (86%), 43 (75.4%) and 33 (57.9%) patients, respectively. Isolated rhino-orbital mucormycosis was the most common presentation (n=49, 86%). The median time of follow-up was 48 (30.5-90) days. A total of 8 (14%) patients died during the hospital stay. The median duration of amphotericin treatment was 21 (14-40) days. Thirty-nine patients (68.4%) developed hypokalaemia on treatment, while 27 (47.4%) patients developed hypomagnesaemia. A total of 34 (59.6%) patients developed AKI on treatment. The median day of development of AKI was 6 (4-10) days. The median baseline, highest and final creatinine values were 0.78 (0.59-0.94) mg/dl, 1.27 (0.89-2.16) mg/dl and 0.93 (0.74-1.59) mg/ dl respectively. The median percentage change from baseline to highest value and last follow-up value was 45% (0.43%-161%) and 25% (-4.8%-90.1%) respectively. The final creatinine was less than 150% of the baseline in 36 (63.2%) patients.

Conclusion: Deoxycholate amphotericin is an acceptable alternative for treating mucormycosis in resource-constrained settings.

The main aim of this research is to investigate the trend of influenza infection among children under 5 years with severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) as well as those who suffer from a high burden of disease. This research is based on a survey conducted from September 2017 to March 2019. During this period nasopharyngeal swabs were collected in a group of 942 children under 5 years with SARI, admitted in pediatric services of 8 sentinel hospitals. The virological surveillance of influenza was carried out at the National influenza Center, located in the National Institute of Hygiene, using a Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRt-PCR) monoplex assay developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; Atlanta, GA). The median age of participants was 11 months, and 40% of them were female. A total of 112 samples were reported positive yielding a frequency of 11.88% (112/942). Among all the influenza confirmed cases, 68.75% (77/112), 15.17% (17/112), 16.04% (18/112) were subtyped as influenza AH1N1pdm09, AH3N2 and influenza B respectively. Meanwhile, the proportion of patients admitted at the intensive care unit was 5,35% (6/112). Out of which 83.33% (5/6) were AH1N1pdm09 and it was reported that just 1.78% (2/112) of the positive cases were vaccinated. The study confirms that influenza affects greatly children with SARI. Thus, the need for influenza vaccines is highly recommended for children under 5 years. Moreover, our findings highlight that influenza virus is not the only cause of SARI among this group of children. Accordingly, special attention should be paid to the non-flu respiratory viruses.

To reduce the overburden in the hospital, during the COVID-19 pandemic, some "COVID Committed Home Medical Teams" (CCHTs) were created in Italy. These units consist of a small pool of general practitioners who aim to evaluate all patients with COVID-19 who require a medical examination directly at home. After the first visit (which can end with patient hospitalisation or home management), CCHTs periodically monitor the patients' clinical conditions and vital signs (usually a revaluation every 24-48 hours, except for a sudden worsening). However, this strategy - which reduces the pressure on hospitals - has never been evaluated for patient safety. Our study aims to determine whether a home-based monitoring and treatment strategy for non-severe COVID-19 patients was safe as direct hospital admission by the emergency department. We conducted a retrospective observational study about 1,182 patients admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 between September 2020 and April 2021, confronting in-hospital and 30-day mortality in both CCHT-referred (n=275) and directly admitted by emergency department (n=907). Patients assessed by the CCHT had lower in-hospital and 30-day mortality (18% vs 28%, p=0.001; and 20% vs 30%, p=0.002); but, in the propensity score matching comparison, there was no characteristic between the two groups turned out significantly different. CCHT did not correlate with in-hospital or 30-day mortality. CCHT is a safe strategy to reduce hospital overburden for COVID-19 during pandemic surges.

We describe three cases of actinomycosis of the head and neck area, clinically suspected to be malignancies, diagnosed by fine-needle aspiration (FNAC). The patients presented with painless, slowly growing masses in the cervicofacial area. Ultrasonography identified the masses as enlarged lymph nodes which were subsequently biopsied by FNAC. Cytological features were similar in all cases, with a background of granulocytes and scattered lymphocytes and histiocytes. At high magnification colonies of branching, filamentous and beaded bacteria were detected. In the Diff-Quik-stained smears, these filamentous colonies showed an evident yellowish color with the typical feature of the "sulfur granules" consistent with the Splendore-Hoeppli phenomenon. A diagnosis of actinomycosis was made and confirmed in all cases by the subsequent microbiological tests. The patients were treated with high-dose penicillin, which caused the masses to progressively shrink. The lymph nodal localization of cervico-facial actinomycosis may be a diagnostic challenge, because in that area, lymphadenopathies may occur both in benign and malignant conditions. FNAC is a safe, fast, and reliable method to perform an accurate diagnosis of actinomycosis avoiding the surgical excision for histological evaluation.

The battle against human viral infections has historically relied on two medical strategies, namely vaccines to protect from contagion and antivirals to treat infected patients. In the absence of vaccines, antivirals have occasionally been used as peri-exposure prophylaxis, given either before (pre-exposure prophylaxis) or right after (post-exposure prophylaxis). In an unprecedented way, the use of antiretrovirals as chemoprophylaxis has triumphed in the HIV field. Indeed, oral antiretrovirals given either daily or at demand to HIV-uninfected individuals engaged in high-risk behaviors protect from contagion. More recently, the advent of long-acting formulations has allowed HIV protection following intramuscular injections every three months. Can we envision a similar prophylactic strategy for other human viral infections? The advent of such 'chemical vaccines' would fill an unmet need when classical vaccines do not exist, cannot be recommended, immune responses are suboptimal, escape mutants emerge or immunity wanes. In this review, we discuss the opportunities for antiviral chemoprophylaxis for viral hepatitis B and C, retroviruses HTLV-1 and HIV-2, and respiratory viruses influenza and SARS-CoV-2, among others.