Publications by authors named "Cruz S Sebastiao"

Article Synopsis
  • The introduction of antiretroviral therapy (ART) over the past 20 years has not eliminated challenges in adherence among people living with HIV, despite initiatives promoting "Test and Treat" and rapid ART start.
  • A review of 16 out of 2415 articles on ART adherence in sub-Saharan Africa from 2016 to 2023 showed adherence rates varied widely (43% to 84%) across different regions, with self-reporting often being unreliable.
  • Key barriers to ART adherence included comorbidities, lack of motivation, socioeconomic challenges, and side effects, underscoring the need for solutions to improve compliance and overall access to treatment.
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Article Synopsis
  • - The study addresses the ongoing challenge of HIV-1 infections in Africa, highlighting the rise of drug-resistance mutations (DRMs) due to inadequate testing and treatment adherence, necessitating improved surveillance methods.
  • - Researchers aim to develop a cost-effective third-generation sequencing protocol to monitor HIV-1 in Portuguese-speaking African Countries, involving a multicentric study with approximately 600 newly diagnosed patients.
  • - By implementing this low-cost surveillance method, the study hopes to enhance drug resistance monitoring, understand the spread of resistant strains, and build research capacities in Africa, ultimately improving the fight against HIV infection.
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Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) remains a public health concern. Blood donors screened for HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) along with aspartate transaminase (AST)/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) could play a key in providing safe blood products. We investigated the features related to HBV infection among rejected blood donors in Luanda, Angola.

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Introduction: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) continue to occur at high levels. According to the WHO, each year there are an estimated 374 million new infections with syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and trichomoniasis. STIs are associated with an increased risk of acquiring HIV infection.

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The surveillance of drug resistance in the HIV-1 naïve population remains critical to optimizing the effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy (ART), mainly in the era of integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI) regimens. Currently, there is no data regarding resistance to INSTI in Angola since Dolutegravir-DTG was included in the first-line ART regimen. Herein, we investigated the HIV-1 genetic diversity and pretreatment drug resistance (PDR) profile against nucleoside/tide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), protease inhibitors (PIs), and INSTIs, using a next-generation sequencing (NGS) approach with MinION, established to track and survey DRMs in Angola.

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Background: The impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Africa is still unclear. In comparison to Europe and North America, morbidity and death rates are lower. Several factors have been proposed, including geographical variation in virus impact, environmental factors, differences in age distribution, and the impact of infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV infection and tuberculosis.

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Background: Molecular epidemiology techniques allow us to track the HIV-1 transmission dynamics. Herein, we combined genetic, clinical and epidemiological data collected during routine clinical treatment to evaluate the dynamics and characteristics of transmission clusters of the most prevalent HIV-1 subtypes in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted with 2,518 persons living with HIV (PLWH) from 53 cities in São Paulo state between Jan 2004 to Feb 2015.

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Introduction: Introduction: Malaria continues to be the leading cause of hospitalization and death in Angola, a country in sub- Saharan Africa. In 2023, in the first quarter, 2,744,682 cases were registered, and of these 2,673 patients died due to malaria disease. Previous studies have shown that the ABO blood group can affect the progression of malaria to severe conditions after P.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study examines drug resistance patterns in HIV-1 patients in Portugal, focusing on both transmitted drug resistance (TDR) and acquired drug resistance (ADR) among a sample of 1,050 cases.
  • Findings reveal that about 20% of the patients had drug resistance mutations, with TDR at 12.6% and ADR at 41.1%, particularly noting several specific mutations prevalent in both ART-naive and experienced patients.
  • The research also identifies risk factors associated with higher rates of drug resistance, including age over 50, origin from Portuguese-speaking African countries, specific HIV-1 subtypes, and low CD4 counts, while men and patients with high viral loads showed lower chances of resistance mutations.
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Background: In Angola, COVID-19 cases have been reported in all provinces, resulting in >105,000 cases and >1900 deaths. However, no detailed genomic surveillance into the introduction and spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been conducted in Angola. We aimed to investigate the emergence and epidemic progression during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Angola.

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Background And Aims: SARS-CoV-2 infection is a public health concern. Several aspects related to the pattern of infection remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the blood pressure pattern among blood donors exposed to SARS-CoV-2 in Luanda, Angola, a sub-Saharan African country.

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Background And Aims: Hypertension is a public health concern, mainly in resource-limited countries. We investigated the characteristics and risk factors related to high blood pressure in healthy blood donors from, Luanda, the capital city of Angola.

Methods: This was a retrospective study that included 343 healthy donors from December 2019 to September 2020.

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Background And Aims: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is a public health concern. Until 2021, more than 2 million cumulative deaths were reported worldwide. Herein, we investigated the immune profile of healthcare professionals 6 months after vaccination or exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in Angola.

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Background: Infection due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is associated with clinical features of diverse severity. Few studies investigated the severity and mortality predictors of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Africa. Herein, we investigated the clinical features of severity and mortality among COVID-19 patients in Luanda, Angola.

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Background: Malaria is a public health problem, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In Angola, it is the leading cause of death, morbidity, and absenteeism from work and school.

Objective: To evaluate the social and clinical factors associated with resistance to in-hospital treatment.

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Background: The global emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has challenged healthcare and rapidly spread over the globe. Early detection of new infections is crucial in the control of emerging diseases. Evidence of early recorded COVID-19 cases outside China has been documented in various countries.

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Tuberculosis (TB) is a major cause of illness and public health concern, especially in resource-limited countries. This study analyzed the characteristics related to anti-TB drug resistance. Moreover, we examined the evidence-based indications for the treatment of active TB in Angola.

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SARS-CoV-2 emerged in China in December 2019, creating a massive public health concern. Although previous studies have identified SARS-CoV-2 in pregnant women, the possibility of transmission to newborns remains uncertain. Herein, we investigated SARS-CoV-2 infection and risk factors among parturients and newborns.

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Background: SARS-CoV-2 emerged in China and spread throughout the world due to its rapid transmission. The exposure rate in the healthy population is unknown, mainly in resource-limited countries. Herein, we estimated the seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and risk factors among blood donors in Luanda, the capital city of Angola.

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Co-epidemics happening simultaneously can generate a burden on healthcare systems. The co-occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 with vector-borne diseases (VBD), such as malaria and dengue in resource-limited settings represents an additional challenge to the healthcare systems. Herein, we assessed the coinfection rate between SARS-CoV-2 and VBD to highlight the need to carry out an accurate diagnosis and promote timely measures for these infections in Luanda, the capital city of Angola.

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The increase in HIV infection and drug-resistant strains is an important public health concern, especially in resource-limited settings. However, the identification of factors related to the propagation of infectious diseases represents a crucial target offering an opportunity to reduce health care costs as well as deepening the focus on preventing infection in high-risk groups. In this study, we investigate the factors related to drug resistance among HIV-infected pregnant women in Luanda, the capital city of Angola.

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This study aimed to investigate the characteristics related to SARS-CoV-2 in Luanda, Angola. A total of 622 individuals were screened for SARS-CoV-2 from January to September 2020. Chi-square and logistic regression were used to identify the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and SARS-CoV-2.

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HIV-1 genetic diversity and drug resistance mutations (DRMs) remain a public health concern mainly in low- and middle-income countries. In this review, we estimated the HIV-1 molecular evolution over the past 40 years (1980-2019) in Angola to help guide affordable strategies for HIV-1 epidemic surveillance. We searched for studies written in English or Portuguese on HIV-1 diversity and DRMs carried out in Angola and published between 1980 and 2019.

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