Sociodemographic, Clinical, and Behavioral Factors Associated with Sexual Transmitted Infection among HIV-1 Positive Migrants in Portugal: Are There Differences between Sexes?

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.

Determinants of HIV late presentation among men who have sex with men in Portugal (2014-2019): who's being left behind?

Introduction: HIV late presentation (LP) remains excessive in Europe. We aimed to analyze the factors associated with late presentation in the MSM population newly diagnosed with HIV in Portugal between 2014 and 2019.

Methods: We included 391 newly HIV-1 diagnosed Men who have Sex with Men (MSM), from the BESTHOPE project, in 17 countrywide Portuguese hospitals.

HIV-1-Transmitted Drug Resistance and Transmission Clusters in Newly Diagnosed Patients in Portugal Between 2014 and 2019.

Objective: To describe and analyze transmitted drug resistance (TDR) between 2014 and 2019 in newly infected patients with HIV-1 in Portugal and to characterize its transmission networks.

Methods: Clinical, socioepidemiological, and risk behavior data were collected from 820 newly diagnosed patients in Portugal between September 2014 and December 2019. The sequences obtained from drug resistance testing were used for subtyping, TDR determination, and transmission cluster (TC) analyses.

Travel-associated human trichinellosis in Portugal.

Trichinellosis is an emerging or re-emerging foodborne parasitic zoonotic disease caused by nematodes of the genus . It represents a global food safety problem and a public health hazard. This case report aims to describe the first case of human trichinellosis in Portugal since the creation of the European Union surveillance system.

Correction to the article "Implementing an Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Study in a Hospital Context in Portugal: The EVA Hospital Project", Published on Acta Med Port 2021 Jan;34(1):20-27.

On page 23, Figure 1, where it reads: "Controls 157 2015-2016 season = 47" (area circled in the image bellow) It should read: (see new Figure 1 on pag. 62). On page 25, Table 2, third line of the last column, under "p-value", where it reads: 1 (see Table 2 in page 63) It should read: 1.

Implementing an Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Study in a Hospital Context in Portugal: The EVA Hospital Project.

Introduction: The project 'Integrated Monitoring of Vaccines in Europe' aimed to measure seasonal influenza vaccine effectiveness against hospitalised adults, aged 65 years and over, with influenza. We describe the protocol implementation in Portugal.

Material And Methods: We implemented a test-negative design, targeting community-dwelling patients aged 65 years old and over hospitalised with severe acute respiratory illness.

Community-acquired meningitis and spondylodiscitis in an adult patient with discoid lupus erythematosus.

Acute bacterial meningitis has a high impact on adult mortality worldwide. Community-acquired meningitis (CA-ECM) is a rare and poorly described condition and the available knowledge is based on low evidence research, mainly from case reports. We describe a case of CA-ECM in Portugal in an adult patient with discoid lupus erythematosus under immunomodulatory therapy.

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, a rare post-malaria neurological complication: Case report and review of the literature.

There are four neurological complications that can occur after malaria treatment at a time when the patient is aparasitaemic: delayed cerebellar ataxia, acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, post-malaria neurological syndrome and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM). The authors describe a case of a 54-year-old male who presented with encephalopathy and generalized seizures forty-three days after complete recovery from acute malaria by Plasmodium falciparum. Diagnosis of post-malaria ADEM was made based on the acute onset of the neurological symptoms, characteristic findings in magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and prompt response to steroid therapy.

Epstein-Barr virus hemorrhagic meningoencephalitis: case report and review of the literature.

Neurologic complications related to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in immunocompetent adults are rare and most commonly self-limited. However, severe cases have been previously reported in the literature. We describe a case of meningoencephalitis with frontal bilateral hemorrhage in a non-immunocompromised adult following an EBV infection of the central nervous system confirmed by the presence of EBV-DNA in the cerebrospinal fluid.

Impact of HIV infection on cardiac deformation.

Aim: The aim of this study was to detect abnormalities in left ventricular myocardial function due to HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infection without established cardiovascular disease.

Methods: An echocardiogram was performed in 50 asymptomatic HIV-infected patients (age 41 ± 6 years, 64% male) and in 20 healthy individuals. Conventional echocardiography and pulsed tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) were performed according to the guidelines.

HIV-2 integrase polymorphisms and longitudinal genotypic analysis of HIV-2 infected patients failing a raltegravir-containing regimen.

To characterize the HIV-2 integrase gene polymorphisms and the pathways to resistance of HIV-2 patients failing a raltegravir-containing regimen, we studied 63 integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTI)-naïve patients, and 10 heavily pretreated patients exhibiting virological failure while receiving a salvage raltegravir-containing regimen. All patients were infected by HIV-2 group A. 61.

Direct treatment costs of HIV/AIDS in Portugal.

Objective: To analyze the direct medical costs of HIV/AIDS in Portugal from the perspective of the National Health Service.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of medical records was conducted for 150 patients from five specialized centers in Portugal in 2008. Data on utilization of medical resources during 12 months and patients' characteristics were collected.

Enteric mucosa integrity in the presence of a preserved innate interleukin 22 compartment in HIV type 1-treated individuals.

Background: Interleukin 22 (IL-22) is emerging as a key cytokine for gut epithelial homeostasis and mucosal repair. Gut disruption is a hallmark of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Here, we investigated IL-22 production and gut mucosal integrity in HIV type 1 (HIV-1)-infected individuals receiving long-term antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Host- and microbe-related risk factors for and pathophysiology of fatal Rickettsia conorii infection in Portuguese patients.

Background: The pathophysiologic mechanisms that determine the severity of Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) and the host-related and microbe-related risk factors for a fatal outcome are incompletely understood.

Methods: This prospective study used univariate and multivariate analyses to determine the risk factors for a fatal outcome for 140 patients with Rickettsia conorii infection admitted to 13 Portuguese hospitals during 1994-2006 with documented identification of the rickettsial strain causing their infection.

Results: A total of 71 patients (51%) were infected with the Malish strain of Rickettsia conorii, and 69 (49%) were infected with the Israeli spotted fever (ISF) strain.

Intralesional expression of mRNA of interferon- gamma , tumor necrosis factor- alpha , interleukin-10, nitric oxide synthase, indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase, and RANTES is a major immune effector in Mediterranean spotted fever rickettsiosis.

Background: The mechanisms of immunity to Rickettsia conorii that have been elucidated in mouse models have not been evaluated in human tissues.

Methods: In this study, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to determine the levels of expression of inflammatory and immune mediators in skin-biopsy samples collected from 23 untreated patients with Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF).

Results: In all 23 patients, the levels of intralesional expression of mRNA of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)- alpha , interferon (IFN)- gamma , interleukin (IL)-10, RANTES, and indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), an enzyme involved in limiting rickettsial growth by tryptophan degradation, were higher than those in control subjects; 6 of the 23 patients had high levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), a source of microbicidal nitric oxide.

The presence of eschars, but not greater severity, in Portuguese patients infected with Israeli spotted fever.

In Portugal, Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) is caused by R. conorii Malish and Israeli spotted fever (ISF) strains. It has been suggested that the ISF strain isolated from patients with MSF causes different clinical manifestations compared to those caused by Malish strain, namely the absence of eschar and greater severity.