Factors associated with HIV viremia in transgender women and transvestites in five Brazilian capitals, 2019-2021: a multicenter study.

Objective: To analyze factors associated with detectable HIV viremia among transgender women/transvestites (TWT) in five Brazilian capitals.

Methods: : This was a cross-sectional study using data from a sample of TWT with HIV-positive serology and detectable viral load (VL), between 2019 and 2021. The dependent and independent variables were, respectively: viral load measurement, socioeconomic/demographic characteristics; alcohol/drug use; and self-perceived mental health.

Transmitted Antiretroviral Drug Resistance to Integrase Strand Transfer Inhibitors Class in São Paulo Metropolitan Area, Brazil.

A newer integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI) cabotegravir was recently approved for both therapy and prophylaxis and can play an essential role in the fight against AIDS. It shares similar resistance profile to dolutegravir, the cornerstone of Brazilian antiretroviral (ARV) treatment, with about 600 thousand people living with HIV in Brazil currently on regimens that contain this INSTI. Health services in the São Paulo metropolitan area are responsible for a large proportion of ARV dispensation in the country.

Lamivudine-based two-drug regimens with dolutegravir or protease inhibitor: Virological suppression in spite of previous therapy failure or renal dysfunction.

Background: Two-Drug Regimens (2DR) have proven effective in clinical trials but real-world data, especially in resource-limited settings, is limited.

Objectives: To evaluate viral suppression of lamivudine-based 2DR, with dolutegravir or ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitor (lopinavir/r, atazanavir/r or darunavir/r), among all cases regardless of selection criteria.

Patients And Methods: A retrospective study, conducted in an HIV clinic in the metropolitan area of São Paulo, Brazil.

Safety and immunogenicity of an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (CoronaVac) in inadvertently vaccinated healthy children.

Twenty-seven children aged seven months to 5 years were inadvertently vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine, the CoronaVac (Sinovac, China), an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, in two different cities of Sao Paulo State, Brazil. After the event, these children were monitored by local pediatricians and serum samples were collected at the first visit and 30 days after vaccination and tested for SARS-CoV-2 S1 serology with Ortho total IgG anti-S1 protein and Cpass, an ACE2 receptor binding domain inhibition assay. Only one child had a mild symptom after vaccination, with no other adverse events documented up to the 30 days follow-up.

A simple algorithm for selecting cases to investigate acute and early HIV infections in low- and middle-income countries.

We documented the outcome of an over 10-year (2011-2021) effort to diagnose acute and early HIV infections (AEHI) in an Infectious Diseases Outpatient Clinic with limited resources. Of a total of 132, 119 HIV-RNA tests were performed from 2017 to 2020, 12 cases were identified, using a simple algorithm: risk exposure of 6 weeks or less before the visit and/or symptoms compatible with acute retroviral syndrome 7-30 days after exposure and/or undetermined 3rd generation rapid diagnostic test or serology. AEHI diagnoses varied from 2.

Inhibition of receptor-binding domain-ACE2 interaction after two doses of Sinovac's CoronaVac or AstraZeneca/Oxford's AZD1222 SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.

Practical laboratory proxies that correlate to vaccine efficacy may facilitate trials, identify nonresponders, and inform about boosting strategies. Among clinical and laboratory markers, assays that evaluate antibodies that inhibit receptor-binding domain (RBD) ligation to angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 receptor (receptor-binding inhibition [RBI]) may provide a surrogate for viral neutralization assays. We evaluated RBI before and after a median of 34 days (interquartile range [IQR]: 33-40) of the second dose of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Sinovac's CoronaVac (CN) or AstraZeneca/Oxford's AZD1222 (AZ) vaccines in 166 individuals.

High Prevalence of Drug Resistance Mutations Among Patients Failing First-Line Antiretroviral Therapy and Predictors of Virological Response 24 Weeks After Switch to Second-Line Therapy in São Paulo State, Brazil.

Universal antiretroviral treatment with sustained viral suppression benefits patients and reduces HIV transmission. Effectiveness of therapy may be limited by antiretroviral drug resistance. Information on the resistance profile at treatment failure and its impact on antiretroviral drugs may subsidize subsequent treatment strategies.

Discrepancies of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase resistance interpretation of insertions and deletions between two genotypic algorithms.

Background: Bioinformatics algorithms have been developed for the interpretation of resistance from sequence submission, which supports clinical decision making. This study evaluated divergences of the interpretation of the genotyping in two commonly used algorithms, using sequences with indels of reverse transcriptase genes.

Methods: Sequences were obtained from virus RNA of patients failing highly active antiretroviral therapy from 2004 to 2011.