Real-world effectiveness of the CoronaVac vaccine in a retrospective population-based cohort in four Colombian cities (2021-2022).

Objectives: The National Vaccination Plan against SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 was launched by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection on 14 February 2021. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the CoronaVac in preventing the three clinical outcomes of infection, hospitalisation, or death, in a real-world scenario.

Design: This was a population-based retrospective dynamic cohort study using a multivariate Cox model to calculate hazard ratios to estimate vaccine effectiveness from 17 February 2021 to 30 June 2022.

CD8T-cell response to mutated HLA-B*35-restricted Gag HY9 and HA9 epitopes from HIV-1 variants from Medellin, Colombia.

The HLA-B*35 alleles have been associated with a slow or rapid progression of HIV-1 infection. However, the mechanisms related to HIV-1 progression have yet to be entirely understood. Several reports indicate that the binding affinity between the HLA-I molecule and peptides could be associated with an increased CD8 T-cell response.

Implementation of an integrated care strategy for child contacts of tuberculosis patients: a quasi-experimental study protocol.

Background: Childhood tuberculosis continues to be a major public health problem. Although the visibility of the epidemic in this population group has increased, further research is needed.

Objective: To design, implement and evaluate an integrated care strategy for children under five years old who are household contacts of bacteriologically confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Medellín and the Metropolitan Area.

Functional Profile of CD8 T-Cells in Response to HLA-A*02:01-Restricted Mutated Epitopes Derived from the Gag Protein of Circulating HIV-1 Strains from Medellín, Colombia.

CD8 T-cells play a crucial role in the control of HIV replication. HIV-specific CD8 T-cell responses rapidly expand since the acute phase of the infection, and it has been observed that HIV controllers harbor CD8 T-cells with potent anti-HIV capacity. The development of CD8 T-cell-based vaccine against HIV-1 has focused on searching for immunodominant epitopes.

The Usefulness of Antigen Testing in Predicting Contagiousness in COVID-19.

Increasing the diagnostic capacity for COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 infection) is required to improve case detection, reduce COVID-19 expansion, and boost the world economy. Rapid antigen detection tests are less expensive and easier to implement, but their diagnostic performance has been questioned compared to reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR). Here, we evaluate the performance of the Standard Q COVID-19 antigen test for diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 infection and predicting contagiousness compared to RT-PCR and viral culture, respectively.

COVID-19 and VIH.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the main risk factors associated with the progression to severe disease or death have been typically advanced age, diabetes mellitus, obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, and chronic pneumopathy. Because of their immunosuppression status, persons with HIV were also expected to have a higher susceptibility to infection or a poor clinical evolution. So far, this has not been confirmed to happen, giving way to hypotheses about the role of immunosuppression or the use of antiretrovirals, which could explain this paradox.

Zidovudine/Lamivudine vs. Abacavir/Lamivudine vs. Tenofovir/Emtricitabine in fixed-dose combinations as initial treatment for HIV patients: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Introduction: Initial treatment of the HIV is based on the use of three drugs, two of which are nucleoside analog reverse-transcriptase inhibitors. There are three combinations of these drugs which have been approved by different guidelines, each with divergent results in terms of efficacy and safety.

Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of these three combinations.