The State of Hepatitis C Elimination from the Front Lines: A Qualitative Study of Provider-Perceived Gaps to Treatment Initiation.

Background: Hepatitis C (HCV) is a curable chronic infection, but lack of treatment uptake contributes to ongoing morbidity and mortality. State and national strategies for HCV elimination emphasize the pressing need for people with HCV to receive treatment.

Objective: To identify provider-perceived barriers that hinder the initiation of curative HCV treatment and elimination of HCV in the USA.

Hepatitis C Virus Elimination Programs in Louisiana and Washington: Importance of Screening and Surveillance Systems.

The US government has established a national goal of hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination by 2030. To date, most HCV elimination planning and activity have been at the state level. Fifteen states presently have publicly available HCV elimination plans.

Sexual Transmission of Viral Hepatitis.

Ongoing sexual transmission presents a significant barrier to viral hepatitis control. Endemic transmission of hepatitis A virus continues through communities of men with male sex partners, despite vaccine availability. Increased incidence of hepatitis B virus from 2014-2018 prompted expanded vaccination guidelines, but uptake and physician awareness remain poor.

Barriers to vaccination in immunocompromised children: A needs assessment in children with childhood-onset SLE and inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: Vaccination of immunocompromised children (ICC) remains suboptimal.

Methods: Needs assessment surveys were administered to patients and caregivers during routine ambulatory visits to the rheumatology and gastroenterology clinics at Nationwide Children's Hospital (NCH) from January 1 through August 31, 2018, and to community primary care physicians (PCPs) at their monthly meeting and electronically.

Results: Completed surveys were received for 57 patients 31 with childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (c-SLE) and 26 with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)) and 30 PCPs.

Opioid use disorder: a neglected human immunodeficiency virus risk in American adolescents.

In 2017 alone, 783 000 children aged 12-17 years misused opioids with 14 000 using heroin. Opioid misuse and opioid use disorder (OUD) in adolescents and young adults are significant barriers to ending the HIV epidemic. To address these synergistic scourges requires dedicated practitioners and improved access to life-saving evidence-based treatment.

Unravelling the multiple functions of the architecturally intricate Streptococcus pneumoniae β-galactosidase, BgaA.

Bacterial cell-surface proteins play integral roles in host-pathogen interactions. These proteins are often architecturally and functionally sophisticated and yet few studies of such proteins involved in host-pathogen interactions have defined the domains or modules required for specific functions. Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus), an opportunistic pathogen that is a leading cause of community acquired pneumonia, otitis media and bacteremia, is decorated with many complex surface proteins.