Experimental evaluation of the potential for crayfish plague transmission through the digestive system of warm-blooded predators.

The crayfish plague pathogen (Aphanomyces astaci) can be transmitted through the digestive system of fish, but its dispersal through mammalian and bird digestive tracts has been considered unlikely, and direct experimental evidence remains scarce. We present a small-scale transmission experiment with European otter and American mink fed with infected crayfish, and experiments testing survival of cultures of five A. astaci strains at temperatures corresponding to those inside mammal and bird bodies.

[30 years since the first AIDS cases were reported: history and the present part III].

The end of the article features the development of HIV/AIDS diagnosis and its implementation in the Czech Republic. The establishment of the National Reference Laboratory for AIDS (NRL AIDS) at the National Institute of Public Health late in 1985 is mentioned and its responsibilities as the methodology centre in the areas of HIV/AIDS laboratory diagnosis and epidemiology are specified. In cooperation with the respective experts, a pilot HIV/AIDS prevalence study was conducted in the Czech Republic.

[30 years since the first AIDS cases were reported: history and the present. Part II].

HIV taxonomy, morphology, biophysical properties, and replication cycle as well as modes of HIV transmission in humans are described. State of the art laboratory diagnosis of HIV/AIDS, core clinical diagnostic criteria for AIDS, and AIDS treatment guidelines are summarized. Global HIV/AIDS epidemic and relevant prevention activities are discussed.

Treatment-associated polymorphisms in protease are significantly associated with higher viral load and lower CD4 count in newly diagnosed drug-naive HIV-1 infected patients.

Background: The effect of drug resistance transmission on disease progression in the newly infected patient is not well understood. Major drug resistance mutations severely impair viral fitness in a drug free environment, and therefore are expected to revert quickly. Compensatory mutations, often already polymorphic in wild-type viruses, do not tend to revert after transmission.

[30 years since the first AIDS cases were reported: history and the present. Part I].

The 30-year natural history of AIDS disease is presented from the first clinical cases reported in 1981 to the identification of the HIV as the etiological agent of the disease. The priority dispute between Robert C. Gallo and Luc Montagnier over the discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus is briefly addressed.

HIV-1 drug-resistance patterns among patients on failing treatment in a large number of European countries.

Background: Information about patterns of HIV-1 drug resistance among treatment-exposed patients is crucial for the development of novel effective drugs. Currently no system exists that monitors patterns of resistance in patients failing therapy.

Methods: The study included 1,988 HIV-1 sequences from patients experiencing therapy failure collected between 2000 and 2004 in 15 European countries.

Transmission of drug-resistant HIV-1 is stabilizing in Europe.

The SPREAD Programme investigated prospectively the time trend from September 2002 through December 2005 of transmitted drug resistance (TDR) among 2793 patients in 20 European countries and in Israel with newly diagnosed human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection. The overall prevalence of TDR was 8.4% (225 of 2687 patients; 95% confidence interval [CI], 7.

A study of HIV-1 genetic diversity in the Czech Republic: 1986-2007.

Background: The global HIV/AIDS epidemic consists of a number of regional epidemics caused by different HIV-1 subtypes prevailing in different regions.

Objectives: To study changes in genetic diversity of HIV-1 strains isolated in the Czech Republic (CR) over a more than twenty-year period (1986-2007).

Study Design: HIV-1 strains isolated in CR from 1986 to 2007 were subtyped by pol gene sequencing followed by phylogenetic analysis.

Short report: HIV infection among commercial sex workers and injecting drug users in the Czech Republic.

Since the first HIV case was diagnosed in the Czech Republic in 1985, there is a lack of information regarding the epidemiology of HIV infection in most high-risk groups. To determine the prevalence of, and risk factors for, HIV among female and male commercial sex workers (FCSW and MCSW, respectively) and injecting drug users (IDUs), cross-sectional studies were conducted in the cities of Cheb, Usti nad Labem, Ostrava, and Prague of the Czech Republic. A total of 1,277 subjects were enrolled, which included 585 FCSWs, 230 MCSWs, and 462 IDUs.

Response of HIV positive patients to the long-term salvage therapy by lopinavir/ritonavir.

Background: The cohort of 19 patients on LPV/r salvage regimen was followed for the period of up to 37.5 months. Patient's virologic response was evaluated with regard to the various baseline characteristics.

Long-term analysis of the resistance development in HIV-1 positive patients treated with protease and reverse transcriptase inhibitors: correlation of the genotype and disease progression.

In this study, 27 HIV-1-positive patients on long-term highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in the Czech Republic were followed for a period of up to 7 years. Variability of the HIV-1 protease (PR) sequence common in the Czech Republic was observed. Under the pressure of inhibitors of protease (PRIs) and reverse transcriptase (RTIs) mutations in PR were detected.

Seroprevalence of HHV 8 antibodies among the general population and HIV positive persons in the Czech Republic.

Background: The seroprevalence rates of herpesvirus 8 (HHV 8) antibodies were determined for the general Czech population and HIV-positive individuals.

Objectives: Six hundred and sixty six serum samples from the general Czech population and 129 serum samples from HIV-positive persons were tested for the presence of antibodies to the HHV 8 lytic and latent antigens.

Study Design: HHV 8 antibodies were detected by the indirect immunofluorescence test.

Human immunodeficiency virus 1 strains resistant to nucleoside inhibitors of reverse transcriptase in isolates from the Czech Republic as monitored by line probe assay and nucleotide sequencing.

The genetic resistance to nucleoside inhibitors of the reverse transcriptase (RT) of human immunodeficiency virus I (HIV-1) isolates in the Czech Republic was examined by a line probe assay (LiPA) and nucleotide sequencing. The results of LiPA analysis of 294 blood specimens obtained from 156 patients revealed a high incidence of mutations in the RT gene related to resistance to various drugs (67.3%) in various combinations.

High prevalence of HIV risk-behavior and the identification of predictors for sharing injecting materials among young drug users in Prague, Czech Republic.

This study is one of the first studies in the Czech Republic evaluating the extent of the HIV epidemic among drug users. Interview data on demographics, drug use, sexual practices, and HIV knowledge and risk perception were obtained from study participants and a saliva sample was obtained for an HIV antibody test. Although the HIV infection rate is low (0.

Genetic subtypes of HIV type 1 viruses circulating in the Czech Republic.

We analyzed the genetic diversity of HIV-1 strains circulating in the Czech Republic. Phylogenetic analysis of the env and gag gene sequence fragments from 39 isolates revealed that the majority of these strains (32 of 39, 82%) were of subtype B; other genetic subtypes identified were A, C, F, and recombinant circulating form CRF01_AE. The isolates that did not cluster with subtype B originated almost exclusively from a heterosexual route of transmission.

[Indicators of progression of HIV infection and their application to therapy].

The authors evaluated in a group of 217 HIV positive patients the mutual relationship of the number of CD4+T lymphocytes and the level of the viral load of HIV RNA. Using correlation analysis evidence was provided of a not very marked negative correlation of the two indicators. As it was assumed that the relationship of the two parameters is influenced by the applied therapeutic procedures which reduce in particular the viral load, the two parameters were evaluated in relation to treatment.

HIV infection and high risk behavior among patients attending an STD referral clinic in Prague, Czech Republic.

Objective: This survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of HIV infection and associated risk behaviour in a high risk population of clients attending an STD clinic in Prague, Czech Republic.

Methods: Between September 1994 and January 1995, clients entering the Apolinar STD clinic in Prague, Czech Republic, were enrolled in a blinded, unlinked HIV antibody seroprevalence study. Non-identifying demographic characteristics, STD diagnoses, HIV risk exposures, and voluntary HIV testing experience were extracted from medical charts.

10th anniversary of the National Reference Laboratory on AIDS in the Czech Republic.

National Reference Laboratory on AIDS (NRL AIDS) was established in the National Institute of Public Health by the Ministry of Health in the late 1985. At that time the existence of HIV/AIDS and the potencial spread of this infection/disease even in a socialistic country has been officially recognized. The main tasks of NRL AIDS were and still are the laboratory diagnostic, epidemiology and research of HIV/AIDS.

[Detection of HIV virus antibodies in saliva].

The authors evaluate the use of saliva as alternative biological material for detection of HIV antibodies. If collected properly and when using the appropriate ELISA methods, HIV antibodies can be assessed in saliva with considerable sensitivity and specificity. Testing in saliva eliminates many disadvantages found when assessing HIV antibodies in serum.

Mycobacterial infections in patients with AIDS in a low HIV prevalence area.

The Czech Republic is characterized here as both a low HIV prevalence area (1.64 registered positivity per 10(5) population and 45 AIDS patients notified in the 1986-93 period) and a low tuberculosis prevalence area (mortality rate 0.8, incidence of bacillary pulmonary cases 11.