Could prophylactic antivirals reduce dengue incidence in a high-prevalence endemic area?

Prophylactic drugs against dengue are currently under development. In this study, we explored how such prophylactic approaches might affect dengue cases in four communes of Nha Trang City, Vietnam. A community level dengue transmission survey indicated high levels of previous exposure to dengue (89.

Efficacy and Safety of an Ad26.RSV.preF-RSV preF Protein Vaccine in Older Adults.

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) can cause serious lower respiratory tract disease in older adults, but no licensed RSV vaccine currently exists. An adenovirus serotype 26 RSV vector encoding a prefusion F (preF) protein (Ad26.RSV.

Case-area targeted interventions (CATI) for reactive dengue control: Modelling effectiveness of vector control and prophylactic drugs in Singapore.

Background: Targeting interventions to areas that have recently experienced cases of disease is one strategy to contain outbreaks of infectious disease. Such case-area targeted interventions (CATI) have become an increasingly popular approach for dengue control but there is little evidence to suggest how precisely targeted or how recent cases need to be, to mount an effective response. The growing interest in the development of prophylactic and therapeutic drugs for dengue has also given new relevance for CATI strategies to interrupt transmission or deliver early treatment.

Prevention of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in Healthy Adults by a Single Immunization of Ad26.RSV.preF in a Human Challenge Study.

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a significant cause of severe lower respiratory tract disease in children and older adults, but has no approved vaccine. This study assessed the potential of Ad26.RSV.

Diagnostic Accuracy of the INSHI Consensus Case Definition for the Diagnosis of Paradoxical Tuberculosis-IRIS.

Background: The diagnosis of paradoxical tuberculosis-associated immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (TB-IRIS) relies on characteristic clinical features synthesized as the International Network for the Study of HIV-associated IRIS (INSHI) case definition. There is no confirmatory laboratory test.

Setting: Site B HIV-TB clinic in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, South Africa.

Determinants for progression from asymptomatic infection to symptomatic visceral leishmaniasis: A cohort study.

Background: Asymptomatic Leishmania donovani infections outnumber clinical presentations, however the predictors for development of active disease are not well known. We aimed to identify serological, immunological and genetic markers for progression from L. donovani infection to clinical Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL).

Four artemisinin-based treatments in African pregnant women with malaria.

Background: Information regarding the safety and efficacy of artemisinin combination treatments for malaria in pregnant women is limited, particularly among women who live in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: We conducted a multicenter, randomized, open-label trial of treatments for malaria in pregnant women in four African countries. A total of 3428 pregnant women in the second or third trimester who had falciparum malaria (at any parasite density and regardless of symptoms) were treated with artemether-lumefantrine, amodiaquine-artesunate, mefloquine-artesunate, or dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine.

Four Artemisinin-Based Treatments in African Pregnant Women with Malaria.

Background: Information regarding the safety and efficacy of artemisinin combination treatments for malaria in pregnant women is limited, particularly among women who live in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: We conducted a multicenter, randomized, open-label trial of treatments for malaria in pregnant women in four African countries. A total of 3428 pregnant women in the second or third trimester who had falciparum malaria (at any parasite density and regardless of symptoms) were treated with artemether-lumefantrine, amodiaquine-artesunate, mefloquine-artesunate, or dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine.

Reasons for Missing Antiretroviral Therapy: Results from a Multi-Country Study in Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

Objectives: To identify the reasons patients miss taking their antiretroviral therapy (ART) and the proportion who miss their ART because of symptoms; and to explore the association between symptoms and incomplete adherence.

Methods: Secondary analysis of data collected during a cross-sectional study that examined ART adherence among adults from 18 purposefully selected sites in Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. We interviewed 250 systematically selected patients per facility (≥ 18 years) on reasons for missing ART and symptoms they had experienced (using the HIV Symptom Index).

Design and analysis considerations in the Ebola_Tx trial evaluating convalescent plasma in the treatment of Ebola virus disease in Guinea during the 2014-2015 outbreak.

The Ebola virus disease outbreak in 2014-2015 led to a huge caseload with a high case fatality rate. No specific treatments were available beyond supportive care for conditions such as dehydration and shock. Evaluation of treatment with convalescent plasma from Ebola survivors was identified as a priority.

Lower Levels of Antiretroviral Therapy Enrollment Among Men with HIV Compared with Women - 12 Countries, 2002-2013.

Equitable access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for men and women with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is a principle endorsed by most countries and funding bodies, including the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) Relief (PEPFAR) (1).

A DNA tool for early detection of vaginal dysbiosis in African women.

A next-generation diagnostic tool for bacterial vaginosis, consisting of quantitative and/or qualitative molecular criteria, has not yet been identified. The optimal diagnostic tool should not only diagnose bacterial vaginosis in diverse populations, but should also detect early signs of transition to dysbiosis. We evaluated a tool based on log10-transformed qPCR data for Lactobacillus crispatus, Lactobacillus iners, Lactobacillus jensenii, Lactobacillus gasseri, Lactobacillus vaginalis, Lactobacillus genus, Atopobium vaginae and Gardnerella vaginalis in vaginal specimens of 426 African women to detect dysbiosis and predict transition to dysbiosis.

Determinants of Weight Evolution Among HIV-Positive Patients Initiating Antiretroviral Treatment in Low-Resource Settings.

Background: In resource-limited settings, clinical parameters, including body weight changes, are used to monitor clinical response. Therefore, we studied body weight changes in patients on antiretroviral treatment (ART) in different regions of the world.

Methods: Data were extracted from the "International Epidemiologic Databases to Evaluate AIDS," a network of ART programmes that prospectively collects routine clinical data.

A general framework for comparative Bayesian meta-analysis of diagnostic studies.

Background: Selecting the most effective diagnostic method is essential for patient management and public health interventions. This requires evidence of the relative performance of alternative tests or diagnostic algorithms. Consequently, there is a need for diagnostic test accuracy meta-analyses allowing the comparison of the accuracy of two or more competing tests.

Arsenic, antimony, and Leishmania: has arsenic contamination of drinking water in India led to treatment- resistant kala-azar?

Background: In Bihar state, India, the cure rate of antimonial compounds (eg, sodium stibogluconate) in the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) has fallen from more than 85% to less than 50%. This reduction has been attributed to long-term, widespread misuse of antimonial drugs within the Indian private health-care system. We aimed to test the hypothesis that exposure to arsenic in drinking water in this region has resulted in antimony-resistant Leishmania parasites.

Diagnostic accuracy of rK28-based immunochromatographic rapid diagnostic tests for visceral leishmaniasis: a prospective clinical cohort study in Sudan.

Background: Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) based on rK39 antigen showed suboptimal sensitivity in East Africa. A prospective clinical cohort study in Sudan was designed to validate a novel rK28-based RDT for Leishmania donovani VL.

Methods: Patients (n=285) suspected of VL by residency, fever for ≥2 weeks, splenomegaly with no prior reported VL, and negative for malaria were consecutively enrolled at three Sudanese sites in 2012-2013 and informed consent obtained.

Trypanosome infection in dromedary camels in Eastern Ethiopia: Prevalence, relative performance of diagnostic tools and host related risk factors.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Chifra and Dewe districts of Afar region, Eastern Ethiopia, to determine the prevalence, agreement between diagnostic tests and host related risk factors of trypanosome infection in camel. An overall prevalence of 2%, 24.1%, 21.

Correlates of the molecular vaginal microbiota composition of African women.

Background: Sociodemographic, behavioral and clinical correlates of the vaginal microbiome (VMB) as characterized by molecular methods have not been adequately studied. VMB dominated by bacteria other than lactobacilli may cause inflammation, which may facilitate HIV acquisition and other adverse reproductive health outcomes.

Methods: We characterized the VMB of women in Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa and Tanzania (KRST) using a 16S rDNA phylogenetic microarray.

The ring plus project: safety and acceptability of vaginal rings that protect women from unintended pregnancy.

Background: Research is ongoing to develop multipurpose vaginal rings to be used continuously for contraception and to prevent Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection. Contraceptive vaginal rings (CVRs) are available in a number of countries and are most of the time used intermittently i.e.

The significance of Lactobacillus crispatus and L. vaginalis for vaginal health and the negative effect of recent sex: a cross-sectional descriptive study across groups of African women.

Background: Women in sub-Saharan Africa are vulnerable to acquiring HIV infection and reproductive tract infections. Bacterial vaginosis (BV), a disruption of the vaginal microbiota, has been shown to be strongly associated with HIV infection. Risk factors related to potentially protective or harmful microbiota species are not known.

Prevalence and incidence estimation of HSV-2 by two IgG ELISA methods among South African women at high risk of HIV.

Introduction: Previous comparison studies of the Kalon and HerpeSelect 2 ELISA IgG assays on sub-Saharan samples have found differences in the sensitivity and specificity of these assays. Using longitudinal samples from an HIV prevention study, we compared both assays and determined the HSV-2 prevalence and incidence in a South African young female population at elevated risk of acquiring HIV.

Methods: Samples at baseline were tested in both assays using the manufacturers' guidelines (cut-off > 1.

Cross-Sectional Analysis of Selected Genital Tract Immunological Markers and Molecular Vaginal Microbiota in Sub-Saharan African Women, with Relevance to HIV Risk and Prevention.

Data on immune mediators in the genital tract and the factors that modulate them in sub-Saharan women are limited. Cervicovaginal lavage (CVL) samples from 430 sexually active women from Kenya, South Africa, and Rwanda were analyzed for 12 soluble immune mediators using Bio-Plex and Meso Scale Discovery multiplex platforms, as well as single enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Ten bacterial species were quantified in vaginal swab samples.