Publications by authors named "Birgit Roge"

Objective: Rapid and accurate infection diagnosis is a prerequisite for appropriate antibiotic prescriptions in an ED. Accurately diagnosing acute infections can be difficult due to nonspecific symptoms and limitations of diagnostic testing. The accuracy of preliminary diagnoses, established on the initial clinical assessment, depends on a physician's skills and knowledge.

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Immunocompromised patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can have a longer duration of viral shedding and persistence of symptoms. The optimal treatment strategy for these patients remains to be established. This case describes a male in his late sixties with follicular lymphoma and persistent symptoms of infection with SARS-CoV-2 variant BA.

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Background: The prevalence of hepatitis C (HCV) among psychiatric patients is elevated compared to the background population in many studies, but the prevalence among Danish psychiatric patients is unknown. The aim of the study was to determine the HCV prevalence and the proportion of the psychiatric patient population that remains to be diagnosed and treated in a Danish setting.

Methods: During a 5-month period, patients attending the psychiatric emergency room in Vejle, Denmark, were offered point-of-care anti-HCV testing.

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Background: Knowing the prevalence of hepatitis C (HCV) in risk groups is essential for elimination. The aim of the study was to assess HCV prevalence among people with different risk profiles and the feasibility of linking people with HCV to care.

Methods: In Southern Denmark we tested people who were using shelters, cafés, and facilities for marginalized populations and the general population.

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Background: The goal of the C-Free-South project is to eliminate hepatitis C (HCV) in the Region of Southern Denmark (1.2 million inhabitants). One target group consists of people with HCV who had received care but were lost to follow-up.

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This prospective study provides data on the long-term humoral immunogenicity of a heterologous off-label vaccine regimen combining the adenoviral-vectored ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 from Astra-Zeneca (ChAd) with the mRNA-1273 vaccine from Moderna (m1273) in comparison with two different homologous mRNA vaccine schedules. Of the 316 COVID-19 naïve adult health care workers (HCW) included to complete a survey on vaccine-associated symptoms (VAS), 197 had received the homologous BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech (BNT/BNT), 76 the homologous m1273/m1273, and 43 the heterologous ChAd/m1273 vaccine regimen. The concentration of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in plasma 5−7 months after the second vaccine dose was higher in the m1273/m1273 and ChAd/m1273 than the BNT/BNT vaccine group.

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Enhancing treatment uptake for hepatitis C to achieve the elimination goals set by the World Health Organization could be achieved by reducing the treatment duration. The aim of this study was to compare the sustained virological response at week 12 (SVR12) after four weeks of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir (GLE/PIB) + ribavirin compared to eight weeks of GLE/PIB and to estimate predictors for SVR12 with four weeks of treatment through a multicenter open label randomized controlled trial. Patients were randomized 2:1 (4 weeks:8 weeks) and stratified by genotype 3 and were treatment naïve of all genotypes and without significant liver fibrosis.

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Denmark has signed the WHO strategy to eliminate hepatitis C virus (HCV). In the absence of a national strategy for elimination, a local action plan was developed in the Region of Southern Denmark (RSD). The aim of the strategy is to diagnose 90% of HCV-infected persons and treat 80% of those diagnosed by 2025.

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Objective: Healthcare workers (HCWs) carry a pronounced risk of acquiring severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence and potential risk factors of SARS-CoV-2 infection among HCWs in the Region of Southern Denmark after the first pandemic wave in the spring of 2020.

Methods: This was an observational study conducted between May and June 2020.

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Background And Aims: To evaluate the ability of pretreatment liver stiffness measurements (pLSM) to predict hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), incident decompensation and all-cause mortality in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients who achieved sustained virological response (SVR) after treatment with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs).

Methods: 773 CHC patients with SVR after DAA treatment and no prior liver complications were identified retrospectively. Optimized cut-off of 17.

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Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) have proven highly effective against chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. However, some patients experience treatment failure, associated with resistance-associated substitutions (RASs). Our aim was to investigate the complete viral coding sequence in hepatitis C patients treated with DAAs to identify RASs and the effects of treatment on the viral population.

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Objective: New potent direct-acting antiviral (DAA) regimens against hepatitis C virus have been approved in recent years. However, information about the rate of adverse events (AEs) across different DAA regimens is limited. We aimed to evaluate differences in AEs and treatment efficacy in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC), genotype (GT) 1 or 3, randomized to two different treatment arms, correspondingly.

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Objectives: We describe factors associated with and barriers to initiation of Direct Acting Antiviral (DAA) treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C, who fulfill national fibrosis treatment guidelines in Denmark.

Materials And Methods: In this nationwide cohort study, we included patients with chronic hepatitis C from The Danish Database for Hepatitis B and C (DANHEP) who fulfilled fibrosis treatment criteria. Factors associated with treatment initiation and treatment failure were determined by logistic regression analyses.

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Background And Aims: The first standard of care in treatment of chronic HCV genotype 1 infection involving directly acting antivirals was protease inhibitors telaprevir or boceprevir combined with pegylated-interferon and ribavirin (triple therapy). Phase III studies include highly selected patients. Thus, treatment response and development of viral resistance during triple therapy in a routine clinical setting needs to be determined.

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Background: Early identification of persons with undiagnosed HIV infection is an important health care issue. We examined associations between diseases diagnosed in hospitals and risk of subsequent HIV diagnosis.

Methods: In this population-based case control study, cases were persons with incident HIV infection diagnosed in Denmark between 1 January 1995 and 1 June 2008.

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Background: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection predisposes to tuberculosis (TB). We described incidence, risk factors and prognosis of TB in HIV-1 infected patients during pre (1995-1996), early (1997-1999), and late Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) (2000-2007) periods.

Methods: We included patients from a population-based, multicenter, nationwide cohort.

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Unlabelled: Abstract Background: Sexual transmission continues to be the primary mode of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in Western Europe. We aimed to describe predictors of unsafe sex and reasons given for such behaviour.

Methods: We performed a survey examining sexual risk behaviours and reasons for unsafe sex in a nationwide cohort of adult Danish HIV-1-positive patients.

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Background: The mortality in patients with persistent low CD4 count despite several years of HAART with sustained viral suppression is poorly documented. We aimed to identify predictors for inadequate CD4 cell recovery and estimate mortality in patients with low CD4 count but otherwise successful HAART.

Method: In a nationwide cohort of HIV patients we identified all individuals who started HAART before 1 January 2005 with CD4 cell count ≤ 200 cells/μL and experienced three years with sustained viral suppression.

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The objective of this study was to determine the effect of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients infected through injecting drug use (injecting drug users, IDUs) compared to patients infected via other routes (non-IDUs). We conducted a nationwide population-based cohort study of all HIV-infected patients who initiated HAART during the study period of 1 January 1995 to 31 December 2007. We compared changes in CD4(+) cell counts, percentage of full viral suppression (< 500 copies/ml) and mortality from start of HAART, as well as differences in initial HAART regimen.

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Objective: To study the evolution of multi-drug-resistant HIV-1 in treatment-experienced patients receiving foscarnet (PFA) as part of salvage therapy and to investigate the virological consequences of emerging mutations.

Methods: Genotypic and phenotypic resistance tests were performed on plasma viruses from seven patients at baseline and during treatment with PFA. The phenotypic effects of mutations suspected to be associated with PFA resistance were evaluated by site-directed mutagenesis of wild-type or thymidine analogue mutations (TAM)-carrying pNL4-3.

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A case of severe spinal infection with Actinomyces israelii is presented. A 38-y-old male was admitted with symptoms of infection and neurological symptoms. Magnetic resonance imaging showed extensive affection involving the entire spinal cord.

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Antiretroviral treatment with three nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) is widely used, but the combination of abacavir, didanosine and stavudine has never been investigated. We describe the surprising and consistent genotypic and phenotypic outcome in patients failing this combination. As part of a Danish multicentre study, 60 antiretroviral-naive patients were randomized to treatment with abacavir, didanosine and stavudine.

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A study on the course of hyperlactataemia during highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and the association between hyperlactataemia and antiretroviral drugs was conducted at the outpatient department, Rigshopitalet, Copenhagen. Lactate levels were monitored in 848 patients during a study period of 1 y. Longitudinal analysis was performed on all human immunodeficiency virus-1-infected patients who had plasma lactate > 2.

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Objective: To investigate the skeletal muscle mitochondrial function in HIV-infected patients with lipodystrophy or elevated p-lactate levels.

Design: Eight HIV patients treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy, with lipodystrophy or elevated p-lactate, and eight healthy controls were exposed to incremental exercise until exhaustion.

Methods: Blood samples and gas analysis were performed at rest, during exercise and in recovery.

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