A report about the experience of COVID-19 active surveillance of homeless, undocumented people, and shelter staff in two cities of Lazio, Italy.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate COVID-19 spread among people experiencing homelessness (PEH), undocumented migrants (UMs), and shelter staff of homeless service sites. Another aim has been to prevent an outbreak among these populations. A San Gallicano Institute's initiative to sustain the health system in helping hard-to-reach populations, very often with no community medical care coverage.

Immunogenicity and Safety of BNT162b2 Homologous Booster Vaccination in People Living with HIV under Effective cART.

Data on COVID-19 boosting vaccination in people living with HIV (PLWH) are scant. We investigated the immunogenicity and safety of the BNT162b2 homologous boosting vaccination. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike antibodies (LIAISON® SARS-CoV-2 S1/S2 IgG test, DiaSorin®), CD4+, CD8+ and viraemia were monitored at T0 (pre-vaccination), T1 (4 weeks after the second dose), T2 (pre-booster) and T3 (4 weeks after the booster dose).

Bictegravir/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide ensures high rates of virological suppression maintenance despite previous resistance in PLWH who optimize treatment in clinical practice.

Objectives: We evaluated virological response and resistance profiles in individuals who were virologically suppressed who switched to bictegravir/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide (B/F/TAF) in real life.

Methods: Survival analysis was used to assess probability of virological rebound (VR). Cumulative major resistance mutations (MRM) and cumulative genotypic susceptibility score (cGSS) were evaluated before the switch.

Unequal Access to Testing and Vaccination Services for the Homeless and Undocumented Population During COVID-19 Pandemic.

To furnish a model to ensure access and use of healthcare services to the undocumented and homeless population. Between March 2020 and October 2021, public and third sector actors in Rome implemented an accessible COVID-19 screening service and vaccination program targeting the homeless and undocumented population. 95.

Author Correction: Features of fragile people with SARS-CoV-2 infection in isolation in a COVID-19 hotel in Rome, Italy.

Correction to: European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences 2022; 26 (7): 2631-2638-DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_202204_28501-PMID: 35442479, published online on 15 April 2022. After publication, at the request of the Italian Ministry of Health, the authors asked to insert the following statement in the Acknowledgments section: "This research was funded by the Italian Ministry of Health (RC 2022)".

Features of fragile people with SARS-CoV-2 infection in isolation in a COVID-19 hotel in Rome, Italy.

Objective: Temporary COVID-19 hotels have been established in Italy to assist the homeless people that test positive for SARS-CoV-2 and require isolation. This observational study aimed to investigate the characteristics of the subjects who were isolated at the Casa tra Noi COVID-19 hotel in Rome between October 2020 and May 2021 and to estimate the duration of SARS-CoV-2 positivity according to their main socio-demographic, behavioural and clinical features.

Subjects And Methods: Socio-demographic data, clinical history, and anamnestic data of guests were collected by the clinicians reviewing the medical documentation and face-to-face interviewing.

COVID-19 detection and spread control: what initiatives in Italy for the homeless population?

In Italy COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact. The homeless live in situations aggravating their poor health conditions and comorbidities. Although homeless people are a fragile category, no dedicated measures by public health departments seem to be applied infrequently to this population.

Rapid Detection of Methicillin-Resistant Directly from Blood for the Diagnosis of Bloodstream Infections: A Mini-Review.

represents a major human pathogen able to cause a number of infections, especially bloodstream infections (BSI). Clinical use of methicillin has led to the emergence of methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and MRSA-BSI have been reported to be associated with high morbidity and mortality. Clinical diagnosis of BSI is based on the results from blood culture that, although considered the gold standard method, is time-consuming.

Comparison of the Allplex Respiratory Panel Assays and the automated Fast Track Diagnostics Respiratory pathogens 21 assay for the diagnosis of pediatric respiratory viral infections.

Acute respiratory tract infections frequently occur in children and represent one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Quick and accurate pathogen detection can lead to a more appropriate use of antimicrobial treatment as well as timely implementation of isolation precautions. In the last decade, several commercial assays have been developed for the simultaneous diagnosis of respiratory pathogens, which substantially vary in formulation and performance characteristics.

Brief Report: L-Selectin (CD62L) Is Downregulated on CD4+ and CD8+ T Lymphocytes of HIV-1-Infected Individuals Naive for ART.

The expression of L-selectin (CD62L) in HIV-1 infection has not been extensively investigated. Here, we measured CD62L expression on T-cell subsets of HIV-1-infected individuals naive for antiretroviral therapy (ART-naive) or receiving therapy (ART), and seronegative control subjects (HIV-neg). We found reduced frequencies of CD62L(+) cells among CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells from ART-naive as compared with ART and HIV-neg groups, particularly within naive and central memory subsets.

Expression and Function of NKG2D Is Impaired in CD8+ T Cells of Chronically HIV-1-Infected Patients Without ART.

Objectives: Increasing line of evidence indicates that the NKG2D-activating receptor plays a relevant role in the effector functions of cytotoxic lymphocytes. In this study, we investigated the expression and function of NKG2D in CD8⁺ T cells from chronically HIV-1-infected patients with or without antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Methods: We measured by flow cytometry the expression of NKG2D on CD8⁺ T-cell subsets of ART-naive and ART patients as well as seronegative healthy subjects (HIV-neg).

Maraviroc as intensification strategy in HIV-1 positive patients with deficient immunological response: an Italian randomized clinical trial.

Background: Immunological non-responders (INRs) lacked CD4 increase despite HIV-viremia suppression on HAART and had an increased risk of disease progression. We assessed immune reconstitution profile upon intensification with maraviroc in INRs.

Methods: We designed a multi-centric, randomized, parallel, open label, phase 4 superiority trial.

The potential impact of routine testing of individuals with HIV indicator diseases in order to prevent late HIV diagnosis.

Background: The aim of our work was to evaluate the potential impact of the European policy of testing for HIV all individuals presenting with an indicator disease, to prevent late diagnosis of HIV. We report on a retrospective analysis among individuals diagnosed with HIV to assess whether a history of certain diseases prior to HIV diagnosis was associated with the chance of presenting late for care, and to estimate the proportion of individuals presenting late who could have been diagnosed earlier if tested when the indicator disease was diagnosed.

Methods: We studied a large cohort of individuals newly diagnosed with HIV infection in 13 counselling and testing sites in the Lazio Region, Italy (01/01/2004-30/04/2009).

Soluble ligands for the NKG2D receptor are released during HIV-1 infection and impair NKG2D expression and cytotoxicity of NK cells.

In humans, the interaction of the natural killer group 2 member D (NKG2D)-activating receptor on natural killer (NK) and CD8(+) T cells with its major histocompatibility complex class I-related chain (MIC) and UL16 binding protein (ULBP) ligands (NKG2DLs) promotes recognition and elimination of stressed cells, such as tumor or infected cells. Here, we investigated the capacity of HIV-1 to modulate NKG2DL expression and escape NGK2D-mediated immunosurveillance. In CD4(+) T lymphocytes, both cell surface expression and release of MICA, MICB, and ULBP2 were up-regulated >2-fold by HIV-1 infection.

Impact of pre-therapy viral load on virological response to modern first-line HAART.

Background: We tested whether pre-HAART viraemia affects the achievement and maintenance of virological success in HIV-1-infected patients starting modern first-line therapies.

Methods: A total of 1,430 patients starting their first HAART (genotype-tailored) in 2008 (median; IQR: 2006-2009) were grouped according to levels of pre-HAART viraemia (≤ 30,000, 30,001-100,000, 100,001-300,000, 300,001-500,000 and > 500,000 copies/ml). The impact of pre-therapy viraemia on the time to virological success (viraemia ≤ 50 copies/ml) and on the time to virological rebound (first of two consecutive viraemia values > 50 copies/ml after virological success) were evaluated by Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression analyses.

HIV coreceptor tropism in paired plasma, peripheral blood mononuclear cell, and cerebrospinal fluid isolates from antiretroviral-naïve subjects.

A survey of HIV coreceptor usage in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and plasma samples from naïve seropositive patients was conducted. One hundred patients were enrolled in this study. Of the 100 patients, 36 had a primary or recent infection (P-RI), 31 had an early chronic infection (>350 CD4 cells) (ECI), and 33 had a late chronic infection (LCI).

HIV-1 dual/mixed tropic isolates show different genetic and phenotypic characteristics and response to maraviroc in vitro.

Dual/mixed-tropic HIV-1 strains are predominant in a significative proportion of patients, though few information is available regarding the genetic characteristics, quasispecies composition, and susceptibility against CCR5-antagonists of the primary-isolates. For this reason, we investigated in deep details, both phenotypically and genotypically, the characteristics of 54 HIV-1 primary-isolates obtained from HIV-infected patients. Tropism was assessed by multiple-cycles phenotypic-assay on U87MG-CD4(+)-CCR5(+)-/CXCR4(+)-expressing cells.

Switching of inferred tropism caused by HIV during interruption of antiretroviral therapy.

After interruption of highly active antiretroviral therapy, 15 out of 53 patients with the X4 HIV strain had a significantly larger decrease in CD4(+) T cell count (P = 0.001) and shorter length of treatment interruption (P = 0.02) than patients with the R5 strain.

Prognostic factors of long-term CD4+count-guided interruption of antiretroviral treatment.

Aim of the study was to determine predictors of the duration of antiretroviral treatment interruption in patients infected with HIV. This pilot prospective, open-label, multicenter trial comprised 62 HIV-seropositive subjects who decided voluntarily to interrupt therapy after two or more years of successful HAART. The primary end-point was the time to patients being free of therapy before reaching a CD4+ cell count < or =350/microl.

HIV-1 residual viremia and proviral DNA in patients with suppressed plasma viral load (<400 HIV-RNA cp/ml) during different antiretroviral regimens.

Low levels of plasma viremia (below 50 copies/ml of HIV-1 RNA) can be detected in the majority of HIV+ subjects successfully treated with HAART. Aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of different antiretroviral regimens on this residual viremia and on proviral HIV-1 DNA in HAART-treated subjects with plasma HIV RNA <400 cp/ml and no history of virological failure. To this purpose, a cross-sectional analysis of 319 HIV-positive patients on HAART with plasma HIV RNA <400 cp/ml was performed.

Cellular HIV-1 DNA quantitation in patients during simplification therapy with protease inhibitor-sparing regimens.

Simplified regimens containing protease-inhibitors (PI)-sparing combinations were used in patients with virological suppression after prolonged highly active antiretroviral therapy. This study evaluated the total HIV-1 DNA quantitation as a predictor of long-term success for PI-sparing simplified therapy. Sixty-two patients were enrolled in a prospective non-randomized cohort.