Hyperferritinemia: A Diagnostic Marker for Disseminated Neonatal Herpes Simplex Virus Infection?

Although the prognosis of neonatal herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection has improved with intravenous acyclovir, the morbidity and mortality of disseminated disease remains high. Transaminitis and thrombocytopenia have been reported to be sensitive markers of neonatal HSV disease; however, early diagnosis remains a challenge due to a lack of specific clinical and laboratory indicators for this disease process. Ferritin, an acute phase reactant known for its use in diagnosing hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, has recently been reported as extremely elevated in neonates with disseminated HSV due to its high inflammatory nature.

Pharmacokinetics and safety of maraviroc in neonates.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate safety and pharmacokinetics of maraviroc administered with standard antiretroviral prophylaxis to HIV-1 exposed infants and to determine the appropriate dose of maraviroc during the first 6 weeks of life.

Design: A phase I, multicentre, open-label study enrolling two sequential cohorts.

Methods: IMPAACT 2007 participants enrolled by day 3 of life and were stratified by exposure to maternal efavirenz.

COVID-19 pneumonia in an infant with a hemodynamically significant ventricular septal defect.

Reports thus far suggest a mild course for acute COVID-19 infection in children; however, its effects in vulnerable paediatric populations, including children with haemodynamically significant congenital heart disease, have rarely been reported. We therefore report on a 4-month-old Hispanic male with a moderate sized conoventricular ventricular septal defect and pulmonary overcirculation who presented with COVID-19-associated pneumonia.

Corrigendum to: 2269. HIV-Positive Individuals Who Report Being in Care Are Less Likely to Be Co-Infected With an STI; an Analysis of "Network Testing," A Service Program Offering HIV and STI Testing Services to Individual at Risk for HIV.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1093/ofid/ofy210.1922.

2269. HIV-Positive Individuals Who Report Being in Care Are Less Likely to Be Co-Infected With an STI; an Analysis of "Network Testing," A Service Program Offering HIV and STI Testing Services to Individual at Risk for HIV.

Background: The prevalence of STIs among people living with HIV (PLWH) has implications for HIV treatment as prevention and community efforts to stop the spread of HIV. We explored the factors associated with HIV/STI co-infection in HIV-positive individuals.

Methods: We analyzed data from our "Network Testing" service program, which was designed to expand HIV/STI testing services to high-risk individuals including gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in Chicago's South side, a high HIV prevalent area.

Vitamin D supplementation decreases immune activation and exhaustion in HIV-1-infected youth.

Background: Heightened immune activation and exhaustion drive HIV disease progression and comorbidities. Vitamin D has pleiotropic immunomodulatory effects, but little is known about the effects of supplementation in HIV. Our study investigates changes in immune activation and exhaustion markers after 12 months of supplementation in virologically suppressed HIV-infected youth with vitamin D insufficiency.

Effects of Vitamin D Supplementation on Bone Mineral Density and Bone Markers in HIV-Infected Youth.

Background: Low bone mineral density (BMD) is a significant comorbidity in HIV. However, studies evaluating vitamin D supplementation on bone health in this population are limited. This study investigates changes in bone health parameters after 12 months of supplementation in HIV-infected youth with vitamin D insufficiency.

Neurocognitive dysfunction in HIV-infected youth: investigating the relationship with immune activation.

Background: HIV-infected individuals are at increased risk of neurocognitive impairment compared to the general population. Studies suggest that, despite combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), HIV infection causes immune activation which results in neural damage; however, few data exist in HIV-infected youth.

Methods: HIV-infected youth 8-26-years-old on cART with virological suppression were prospectively enrolled along with healthy controls.

Arterial stiffness in HIV-infected youth and associations with HIV-related variables.

Children and young adults infected with HIV are at elevated risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, scarce data exist on the utility of non-invasive methods to diagnose subclinical CVD, such as pulse wave velocity (PWV), a non-invasive measure of arterial stiffness. The objectives of this study were to assess the relationship of carotid-femoral PWV with subclinical atherosclerosis measured by carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), compare measurements to healthy controls, and evaluate variables associated with PWV in HIV-infected youth.

Herpes Simplex Virus in the Neonate.

Neonatal herpes simplex virus (HSV) disease is a serious, life-threatening condition that should be considered in neonates with fever, vesicular rash, culture negative sepsis, and/or seizure activity. Because signs and symptoms of neonatal HSV may closely resemble those of bacterial sepsis, a thorough history and appropriate testing are imperative to accurately confirm the diagnosis. Failure to treat vesicular lesions from HSV in the neonate leads to an approximate 75% chance of progression to disseminated disease and/or meningoencephalitis.

Increased Immune Activation and Exhaustion in HIV-infected Youth.

Background: Immune activation and exhaustion drive several comorbidities and disease progression in HIV-infected adults; however, they are not well studied in HIV-infected youth. Thus, this study sought to examine levels of immune activation and exhaustion in this population, investigate associated HIV- and non-HIV-related variables and compare results with a matched healthy control group.

Methods: HIV-infected youth 8-25 years of age on stable antiretroviral therapy with an HIV-1 RNA level <1000 copies/mL were enrolled, along with matched healthy controls.

Efavirenz and ritonavir-boosted lopinavir use exhibited elevated markers of atherosclerosis across age groups in people living with HIV in Ethiopia.

Background: HIV patients on highly-active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) have shown elevated incidence of dyslipidemia, lipodystrophy, and markers of cardiovascular disease. Evidence is beginning to emerge that implicates efavirenz (EFV) as a potential mediator of early on-set cardiovascular disease.

Methods: Pediatric and adult HIV-infected HAART-naïve, EFV-treated, nevirapine (NVP)-treated, and ritonavir-boosted lopinavir (LPV/r)-treated subjects were recruited from Black Lion Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The hippocampus and caudomedial neostriatum show selective responsiveness to conspecific song in the female zebra finch.

The perception of song is vital to the reproductive success of both male and female songbirds. Several neural structures underlying this perception have been identified by examining expression of immediate early genes (IEGs) following the presentation of conspecific or heterospecific song. In the few avian species investigated, areas outside of the circuit for song production contain neurons that are active following song presentation, specifically the caudal hyperstriatum ventrale (cHV) and caudomedial neostriatum (NCM).