Diversification of -harbouring plasmids among carbapenemase-producing , 11 years after a large outbreak in a general hospital in the Netherlands.

Genes encoding OXA-48-like carbapenem-hydrolyzing enzymes are often located on plasmids and are abundant among carbapenemase-producing (CPE) worldwide. After a large plasmid-mediated outbreak in 2011, routine screening of patients at risk of CPE carriage on admission and every 7 days during hospitalization was implemented in a large hospital in the Netherlands. The objective of this study was to investigate the dynamics of the hospitals' 2011 outbreak-associated plasmid among CPE collected from 2011 to 2021.

Invasive aspergillosis in patients admitted to the intensive care unit with severe influenza: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis typically occurs in an immunocompromised host. For almost a century, influenza has been known to set up for bacterial superinfections, but recently patients with severe influenza were also reported to develop invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. We aimed to measure the incidence of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis over several seasons in patients with influenza pneumonia in the intensive care unit (ICU) and to assess whether influenza was an independent risk factor for invasive pulmonary aspergillosis.

The performance of the Alere HIV combo point-of-care test on stored serum samples; useful for detection of early HIV-1 infections?

Introduction: The Alere HIV-1/2 Antigen/Antibody Combo point-of-care test is a commercially available 4th-generation rapid test for the diagnosis of HIV infection, including acute infection. We evaluated the sensitivity of this test in samples from patients with acute, recent or chronic HIV-1 infection.

Methods: A validation of the test was performed using 89 HIV-positive serum samples collected in 2008-2016, that were stored at -20°C.

Predicting the extinction of HIV-2 in rural Guinea-Bissau.

Objective: This article predicts the future epidemiology of HIV-2 in Caió, a rural region of Guinea Bissau; and investigates whether HIV-2, which has halved in prevalence between 1990 and 2007 and is now almost absent in young adults in Caió, can persist as an infection of the elderly.

Design: A mathematical model of the spread of HIV-2 was tailored to the epidemic in Caió, a village in Guinea-Bissau.

Methods: An age-stratified difference equation model of HIV-2 transmission was fitted to age-stratified HIV-2 incidence and prevalence data from surveys conducted in Caió in 1990, 1997 and 2007.

Mortality rates in people dually infected with HIV-1/2 and those infected with either HIV-1 or HIV-2: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: As compared to HIV-1 infection, HIV-2 is less transmissible, disease progression is slower, and the mortality risk is lower. It has been suggested that HIV-2 infection inhibits the progression of HIV-1 in individuals dually infected by HIV-1 and HIV-2 (HIV-D). We examined whether the mortality rates in dually infected individuals differ from those in persons infected with either HIV-1 or HIV-2.

Correlates of T-cell-mediated viral control and phenotype of CD8(+) T cells in HIV-2, a naturally contained human retroviral infection.

While a significant proportion of HIV-2-infected individuals are asymptomatic and maintain undetectable viral loads (controllers), 15% to 20% progress to AIDS and are predicted by detectable viremia. Identifying immune correlates that distinguish these 2 groups should provide insights into how a potentially pathogenic retrovirus can be naturally controlled. We performed a detailed study of HIV-2-specific cellular responses in a unique community cohort in Guinea-Bissau followed for over 2 decades.

Molecular epidemiology of endemic human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 in a rural community in Guinea-Bissau.

Background: Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 (HTLV-1) infection causes lethal adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) and severely debilitating HTLV-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) in up to 5% of infected adults. HTLV-1 is endemic in parts of Africa and the highest prevalence in West Africa (5%) has been reported in Caio, a rural area in the North-West of Guinea-Bissau. It is not known which HTLV-1 variants are present in this community.

Clinical predictors cannot replace biological predictors in HIV-2 infection in a community setting in West Africa.

Objective: To identify clinical predictors of mortality in HIV-2-infected individuals that may be used in place of CD4 count or plasma viral load (PVL) to guide treatment management in resource-limited settings.

Methods: A prospective community cohort study of HIV-infected and HIV-negative individuals in a rural area of Guinea-Bissau has been ongoing since 1989. In 2003 participants were invited for a clinical examination and blood tests.

HTLV-1 and HIV-2 infection are associated with increased mortality in a rural West African community.

Background: Survival of people with HIV-2 and HTLV-1 infection is better than that of HIV-1 infected people, but long-term follow-up data are rare. We compared mortality rates of HIV-1, HIV-2, and HTLV-1 infected subjects with those of retrovirus-uninfected people in a rural community in Guinea-Bissau.

Methods: In 1990, 1997 and 2007, adult residents (aged ≥15 years) were interviewed, a blood sample was drawn and retroviral status was determined.

Maternal proviral load and vertical transmission of human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 in Guinea-Bissau.

The relative importance of routes of transmission of human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) in Guinea-Bissau is largely unknown; vertical transmission is thought to be important, but there are very few existing data. We aimed to examine factors associated with transmission in mothers and children in Guinea-Bissau, where HTLV-1 is endemic (prevalence of 5% in the adult population). A cross-sectional survey was performed among mothers and their children (aged <15 years) in a rural community in Guinea-Bissau.

HIV-1 subtype distribution in the Gambia and the significant presence of CRF49_cpx, a novel circulating recombinant form.

Background: Detailed local HIV-1 sequence data are essential for monitoring the HIV epidemic, for maintaining sensitive sequence-based diagnostics, and to aid in designing vaccines.

Results: Reported here are full envelope sequences derived from 38 randomly selected HIV-1 infections identified at a Gambian clinic between 1991 and 2009. Special care was taken to generate sequences from circulating viral RNA as uncloned products, either by limiting dilution or single genome amplification polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

HTLV-1 in rural Guinea-Bissau: prevalence, incidence and a continued association with HIV between 1990 and 2007.

Background: HTLV-1 is endemic in Guinea-Bissau, and the highest prevalence in the adult population (5.2%) was observed in a rural area, Caió, in 1990. HIV-1 and HIV-2 are both prevalent in this area as well.

Influence of HLA class I and HLA-KIR compound genotypes on HIV-2 infection and markers of disease progression in a Manjako community in West Africa.

Overall, the time to AIDS after HIV-2 infection is longer than with HIV-1, and many individuals infected with HIV-2 virus remain healthy throughout their lives. Multiple HLA and KIR gene products have been implicated in the control of HIV-1, but the effect of variation at these loci on HIV-2 disease is unknown. We show here for the first time that HLA-B*1503 is associated significantly with poor prognosis after HIV-2 infection and that HLA-B*0801 is associated with susceptibility to infection.

Undetectable plasma viral load predicts normal survival in HIV-2-infected people in a West African village.

Background: There have been no previous studies of the long-term survival and temporal changes in plasma viral load among HIV-2 infected subjects.

Methods: 133 HIV-2 infected and 158 HIV-uninfected subjects from a rural area in North-west Guinea-Bissau, West Africa were enrolled into a prospective cohort study in 1991 and followed-up to mid-2009. Data were collected on four occasions during that period on HIV antibodies, CD4% and HIV-2 plasma viral load.

Two distinct epidemics: the rise of HIV-1 and decline of HIV-2 infection between 1990 and 2007 in rural Guinea-Bissau.

Objectives: To assess changes in HIV incidence and prevalence in Caió, a rural area of Guinea-Bissau, between 1990 and 2007.

Design: Three cross-sectional community surveys.

Methods: In 1990, 1997, and 2007, surveys were conducted among adults.

Presence of a multidrug-resistance mutation in an HIV-2 variant infecting a treatment-naive individual in Caio, Guinea Bissau.

We report the possible transmission of drug-resistant human immunodeficiency virus type 2. A 66-year-old woman from rural Guinea Bissau who had no obvious antiretroviral exposure was found to harbor a variant with the multidrug-resistance mutation Q151M. Finding this mutation among a drug-naive population presents an important public health issue that needs to be addressed for treatment to be effective.

Bleomycin has antiviral properties against drug-resistant HIV strains and sensitises virus to currently used antiviral agents.

In this study we performed phenotypic assays to assess involvement of the cancer chemotherapeutic agent bleomycin (BLM) in replication inhibition of mutant HIV-1 viral strains. Three clinically relevant mutant HIV variants, including one containing the Q151M mutation conferring multinucleoside resistance, were equally as sensitive to BLM as the wild-type HXB2 strain. Long-term incubation of BLM with a wild-type HIV(Ba-L) strain did not alter the sensitivity of the strain to BLM (IC(50) of BLM 0.