Contribution of Syphilis to Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes in People Living With and Without HIV in South Brazil: 2008 to 2018.

Background: Syphilis coinfection among pregnant people living with HIV (PLH) may worsen pregnancy outcomes. We evaluated the impact of syphilis coinfection on pregnancies in south Brazil.

Methods: Data were extracted from hospital records between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2018.

Cesarean delivery and risk of HIV vertical transmission in Southern Brazil, 2008-2018.

Background: Childbirth via cesarean delivery can prevent intrapartum vertical transmission for women who are not virally suppressed at the time of delivery. Few studies have compared cesarean delivery trends between women living with HIV and women without HIV and have examined the role of cesarean delivery in the prevention of vertical transmission in the era of potent combination antiretroviral therapy.

Objective: We hypothesized that the cesarean delivery rate is high in women living with HIV compared with women without HIV and that cesarean delivery usage decreases over time among women living with HIV with advances in combined antiretroviral therapy in a country with a high national cesarean delivery rate.

Patterns of pregnancy loss among women living with and without HIV in Brazil, 2008-2018.

Background: Pregnancy loss is poorly understood, but infection may be a risk factor. Few studies have evaluated pregnancy loss among women living with HIV in the era of potent combination antiretroviral therapy.

Objective: We hypothesize that maternal HIV and syphilis infection lead to increased risk of pregnancy loss, including both miscarriage and stillbirth.

Ineffective penicillin treatment and absence of partner treatment may drive the congenital syphilis epidemic in Brazil.

Background: Reducing congenital syphilis has been the focus of Brazilian health programs for decades, yet the cases continue to increase. Although health interventions have targeted HIV screening and treatment, syphilis management continues to be challenging. Syphilis during pregnancy may enhance the HIV maternal seroconversion risk.

Prospective cohort study of children exposed to hepatitis C virus through a pregnancy screening program.

Objectives: Porto Alegre, in south Brazil, has one of the highest hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection rates in the country (84.4 cases/100 000 in 2018). Prenatal screening of HCV, however, has not been routinely offered.

Patterns of Antiretroviral Therapy Use and Immunologic Profiles at Enrollment in the REPRIEVE Trial.

Background: Patterns of antiretroviral therapy (ART) use and immunologic correlates vary globally, and contemporary trends are not well described.

Methods: The REPRIEVE trial (Randomized Trial to Prevent Vascular Events in HIV) enrolled persons with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who were aged 40-75 years, receiving ART, and had low-to-moderate cardiovascular disease risk. ART use was summarized within Global Burden of Disease (GBD) super-regions, with adjusted linear and logistic regression analyses examining associations with immune parameters and key demographics.

Increased IL-8 levels in HIV-infected individuals who initiated ART with CD4 T cell counts <350 cells/mm - A potential hallmark of chronic inflammation.

The identification of inflammatory markers in HIV+ individuals on ART is fundamental since chronic ART-controlled HIV infection is linked to an increased inflammatory state. In this context, we assessed plasma levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-8, and IL-12p70) of HIV+ individuals who initiated ART after immunosuppression (CD4 T cell counts <350 cells/mm). HIV+ individuals were stratified according to two extreme phenotypes: Slow Progressors (SPs; individuals with at least 8 years of infection before ART initiation) and Rapid Progressors (RPs; individuals who needed to initiate ART within 1-4 years after infection).

High CXCL10/IP-10 levels are a hallmark in the clinical evolution of the HIV infection.

The aim of this study was to investigate the modulation of plasma CXCL10, CCL20, CCL22, CCL2, CCL17 and CCL24 levels in HIV-positive patients grouped according to extreme phenotypes of progression to AIDS, and at different stages of HIV infection. HIV-positive individuals with extreme phenotypes of AIDS progression (n=58) at different clinical stages (chronic individuals, both pre-HAART and under-HAART) and HIV-negative controls (n=20) were evaluated. Additionally, HIV-positive individuals that initiated HAART with >350CD4T-cells/mm were compared with those who initiated treatment with <350CD4T-cells/mm.

Virologic outcomes in early antiretroviral treatment: HPTN 052.

Introduction: The HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 052 trial demonstrated that early antiretroviral therapy (ART) prevented 93% of HIV transmission events in serodiscordant couples. Some linked infections were observed shortly after ART initiation or after virologic failure.

Objective: To evaluate factors associated with time to viral suppression and virologic failure in participants who initiated ART in HPTN 052.

Raltegravir for the treatment of patients co-infected with HIV and tuberculosis (ANRS 12 180 Reflate TB): a multicentre, phase 2, non-comparative, open-label, randomised trial.

Background: Concurrent treatment of HIV and tuberculosis is complicated by drug interactions. We explored the safety and efficacy of raltegravir as an alternative to efavirenz for patients co-infected with HIV and tuberculosis.

Methods: We did a multicentre, phase 2, non-comparative, open-label, randomised trial at eight sites in Brazil and France.

HIV testing of male partners of pregnant women in Porto Alegre, Brazil: a potential strategy for reduction of HIV seroconversion during pregnancy.

Pregnant women have a significantly higher risk of HIV acquisition during gestation than their non-pregnant counterparts due to behavioral and biological factors. Acute seroconversion during gestation results in increased HIV mother-to-child transmission rates and has been identified as a major public health challenge. In order to address potential HIV seroconversion in our pregnant patients, we conducted a prospective cohort study to evaluate the acceptability of offering HIV testing to sexual partners of HIV-negative pregnant women receiving antenatal care at two hospitals in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Immune restoration in human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C virus coinfected patients after highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Objective: To evaluate the influence of hepatitis C virus on immunological and virological responses after highly active antiretroviral therapy initiation in human immunodeficiency virus/hepatitis C virus coinfected patients compared to monoinfected human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients.

Methods: The study enrolled 65 human immunodeficiency virus-1-infected subjects who initiated highly active antiretroviral therapy and attended follow-up visits over 48 weeks from 2008 to 2010. They were grouped based on hepatitis C virus-RNA results.

Risk-taking behavior for HIV acquisition during pregnancy in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Recent studies suggest that acquisition of HIV-1 infection during pregnancy and breastfeeding is associated with a high risk of HIV mother-to-child transmission. This study evaluates risk factors associated with HIV acquisition during pregnancy in women delivering at a large metropolitan medical facility located in the south of Brazil. From February to August 2009, our group conducted a cross-sectional study assessing women's risk for HIV acquisition by administering an oral survey to peripartum women.

Treatment of severe chromoblastomycosis with itraconazole and 5-flucytosine association.

Chromoblastomycosis is a chronic human melanized fungi infection of the subcutaneous tissue caused by traumatic inoculation of a specific group of dematiaceous fungi through the skin, often found in barefooted agricultural workers, in tropical and subtropical climate countries. We report the case of a male patient presenting a slow-growing pruriginous lesion on the limbs for 20 years, mistreated over that time, which was diagnosed and successfully treated as chromoblastomycosis. Besides the prevalence of this disease, treatment is still a clinical challenge.

[Evaluation of APRI score in liver disease following the introduction of antiretroviral therapy in HIV and HCV coinfected versus HIV monoinfected patients].

Introduction: The impact of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on hepatic fibrosis progression in HIV and hepatitis C virus coinfected patients is not completely understood. Noninvasive hepatic fibrosis markers show great promise in determining liver fibrosis staging and monitoring disease progression.

Methods: Twenty-four patients divided equally into two groups: 12 HIV-monoinfected and 12 with HIV/HCV coinfected patients, were followed from July 2008 to August 2009, after initiating HAART, with clinical, epidemiological and laboratorial assessments every 3 months and calculation of the aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI).

HIV rapid testing as a key strategy for prevention of mother-to-child transmission in Brazil.

Objective: To assess the feasibility of HIV rapid testing for pregnant women at maternity hospital admission and of subsequent interventions to reduce perinatal HIV transmission.

Methods: Study based on a convenience sample of women unaware of their HIV serostatus when they were admitted to delivery in public maternity hospitals in Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre, Brazil, between March 2000 and April 2002. Women were counseled and tested using the Determine HIV1/2 Rapid Test.

Enterococcus gallinarum meningitis in an immunocompetent host: a case report.

We describe a rare case of a 53-year-old man with a long history of alcohol abuse, with Enterococcus gallinarum meningitis, an organism that rarely causes human infection and is primarily found in the gastrointestinal tract of poultry. The patient improved with high-dose ampicillin and gentamicin therapy. To our knowledge, this is the first Brazilian reported case of E.

Sexual transmission of HIV-1 among serodiscordant couples in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil.

Background: A cohort of 93 heterosexual HIV serodiscordant couples with no prior antiretroviral use were identified in a large referral center from February 2000 to January 2006 in southern Brazil.

Methods: Review of clinic records retrospectively identified 56 cases of untreated index cases whereas 37 couples were identified prospectively. Demographics, medical, and laboratory data were obtained.

[Evaluation of the cellular immunity in patients coinfected by the hepatitis C virus and the human immunodeficiency virus].

Background: The immune activation provoked by the hepatitis C virus can be deleterious in patients with human immunodeficiency virus, favouring the destruction of CD4 cells. By the other side, the immune restoration observed after the onset of antiretroviral therapy can be partially obscured in patients with the hepatitis C virus.

Aim: The objective of the present study was to evaluate the impact of coinfection by hepatitis C virus and the human immunodeficiency virus in the cellular immunity.

Impact of human immunodeficiency virus infection in patients infected with the hepatitis C virus.

Background/aims: The objective of the present study is to evaluate the impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

Methods: Three different groups of patients were considered: group 1, 385 HCV/HIV coinfected; group 2, 198 HIV monoinfected; and group 3, 311 HCV monoinfected. Demographic and epidemiological data were collected.

[Ambulatorial prevalence of hepatitis B and C markers in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection in a general hospital].

Background: Hepatitis B and C viruses and human immunodeficiency virus share the same route of transmission, and the prevalence of HBV and HCV infection in patients infected with HIV is greater than it is in the general population.

Aim: To determine the prevalence of hepatitis B and C markers in a population of patients with HIV as well as the risk factors involved.

Patients And Methods: From 5,870 registration forms of patients with HIV of an Infectology Unit, 587 were randomly selected.

Retrospective study of 668 cultures for mycobacteria in a reference hospital for AIDS in southern Brazil.

Although AIDS patients in other countries are frequently diagnosed as having atypical mycobacterial infection, in Southern Brazil there is a clinical impression that Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the rule rather than the exception. We made a retrospective review of cultures for mycobacteria at our hospital in order to determine the frequency of atypical mycobacteria and Mycobacterium tuberculosis in hospitalised patients in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Mycobacterium tuberculosis was the most frequent isolate (79.