Cost-effectiveness analysis of the nine-valent HPV vaccine in Italy.

Background: In Italy HPV vaccination with the quadrivalent vaccine (Gardasil) is offered actively and free of charge to girls aged 12 since 2007. A nine-valent vaccine (Gardasil 9) received the European market authorization in 2015 to protect, with only 2 doses, against around 90% of all HPV positive cancers, over 80% of high-grade precancerous lesions and 90% of genital warts caused by HPV types 6/11.

Methods: A dynamic transmission model simulating the natural history of HPV-infections was calibrated to the Italian setting and used to estimate costs and QALYs associated with vaccination strategies.

Phylogenetic Tools for Generalized HIV-1 Epidemics: Findings from the PANGEA-HIV Methods Comparison.

Viral phylogenetic methods contribute to understanding how HIV spreads in populations, and thereby help guide the design of prevention interventions. So far, most analyses have been applied to well-sampled concentrated HIV-1 epidemics in wealthy countries. To direct the use of phylogenetic tools to where the impact of HIV-1 is greatest, the Phylogenetics And Networks for Generalized HIV Epidemics in Africa (PANGEA-HIV) consortium generates full-genome viral sequences from across sub-Saharan Africa.

Effects of memory on the shapes of simple outbreak trees.

Genomic tools, including phylogenetic trees derived from sequence data, are increasingly used to understand outbreaks of infectious diseases. One challenge is to link phylogenetic trees to patterns of transmission. Particularly in bacteria that cause chronic infections, this inference is affected by variable infectious periods and infectivity over time.

Magnitude and sources of bias in the detection of mixed strain M. tuberculosis infection.

High resolution tests for genetic variation reveal that individuals may simultaneously host more than one distinct strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Previous studies find that this phenomenon, which we will refer to as "mixed infection", may affect the outcomes of treatment for infected individuals and may influence the impact of population-level interventions against tuberculosis. In areas where the incidence of TB is high, mixed infections have been found in nearly 20% of patients; these studies may underestimate the actual prevalence of mixed infection given that tests may not be sufficiently sensitive for detecting minority strains.