Publications by authors named "A Bitnun"

Importance: Detection of congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection has previously relied on targeted screening programs or clinical recognition; however, these approaches miss most cCMV-infected newborns and fail to identify those infants who are asymptomatic at birth but at risk for late-onset sensorineural hearing loss.

Objective: To determine the feasibility of using routinely collected newborn dried blood spots (DBS) in a population-based cCMV screen to identify infants at risk for hearing loss and describe outcomes of infants screened.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This diagnostic study of a population-based screening program in Ontario, Canada, took place from July 29, 2019, to July 31, 2023.

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La syphilis congénitale peut provoquer un arrêt de grossesse et une morbidité importante chez les nouveau-nés. L'épidémie actuelle de syphilis congénitale au Canada (particulièrement dans l'Ouest canadien) est une urgence sanitaire évitable. Les taux font foi d'un manque de contrôle de la syphilis dans la communauté et d'un manque de ressources de santé publique pour éviter une propagation qui s'est amorcée avant la pandémie de COVID-19.

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Congenital syphilis can result in pregnancy loss and substantial morbidity in newborns. The current epidemic of congenital syphilis in Canada (especially Western Canada) is a preventable public health emergency. Rates indicate a lack of control of syphilis within the community and insufficient public health resources to prevent spread that predate the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Objective: To investigate the association between African ancestry and neutrophil counts among children living with HIV (CLWH). We also examined whether medications, clinical conditions, hospitalization, or HIV virologic control were associated with low neutrophil counts or African ancestry.

Design: We conducted a secondary analysis of the Early Pediatric Initiation Canada Child Cure Cohort (EPIC4) Study, a multicenter prospective cohort study of CLWH across 8 Canadian pediatric HIV care centers.

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Article Synopsis
  • Chronic/latent viral infections, particularly in people living with HIV (PLWH), can accelerate immunological aging, and the study investigated their impact on leukocyte telomere length (LTL).
  • The research involved 377 participants across various age groups, genders, and HIV statuses, finding that PLWH and older females tend to harbor more chronic/latent viruses, which is linked to shorter LTL.
  • Ultimately, the study indicates that persistent viral infections may contribute to immunological aging in PLWH and highlights the need to explore potential health issues associated with this later in life.
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