Identifying risk factors for blood culture negative infective endocarditis: An international ID-IRI study.

Background: Blood culture-negative endocarditis (BCNE) is a diagnostic challenge, therefore our objective was to pinpoint high-risk cohorts for BCNE.

Methods: The study included adult patients with definite endocarditis. Data were collected via the Infectious Diseases International Research Initiative (ID-IRI).

Factors affecting mortality in COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis: An international ID-IRI study.

Background: This study aimed to identify factors that influence the mortality rate of patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA).

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, data from 23 centers across 15 countries, spanning the period of March 2020 to December 2021, were retrospectively collected. The study population comprised patients who developed invasive pulmonary aspergillosis while being treated for COVID-19 in the intensive care unit.

HIV-related immune activation attenuates polyfunctional IgG and memory B-cell responses to Tdap immunization during pregnancy.

Background: Maternal pertussis vaccination with Tdap vaccine is recommended to protect newborns from severe postnatal infection. HIV-exposed uninfected (HEU) infants have a higher incidence of pertussis infection and may particularly benefit from maternal immunization. The impact of HIV infection on the quality of IgG and memory B cell (MBC) responses to Tdap vaccination in pregnant women (PW) living with HIV (PWH) is unknown.

Clinical characteristics of women with HIV in the RESPOND cohort: A descriptive analysis and comparison to men.

Background: Women with HIV are globally underrepresented in clinical research. Existing studies often focus on reproductive outcomes, seldom focus on older women, and are often underpowered to assess sex/gender differences. We describe CD4, HIV viral load (VL), clinical characteristics, comorbidity burden, and use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) among women with HIV in the RESPOND study and compare them with those of the men in RESPOND.

Failure of artemether-lumefantrine therapy in travellers returning to Belgium with Plasmodium falciparum malaria: an observational case series with genomic analysis.

Background: Failure of artemisinin-based combination therapy is increasingly reported in patients with Plasmodium falciparum malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. We aimed to describe the clinical and genomic characteristics of recent cases of P. falciparum malaria failing artemether-lumefantrine in Belgium.

Antibiotic Use in Patients Undergoing Complex Clean-Contaminated Head and Neck Surgery: A Prospective Study.

Aims And Objectives: Oncological surgery of the upper aerodigestive tract is a complex procedure and often includes neck dissection and flap reconstruction. It can be complicated by severe surgical site infection (SSI) leading to flap necrosis, delayed wound healing, and increasing mortality and morbidity. The purpose of this study is to perform a systematic descriptive analysis and to evaluate the effect of our adapted antibiotic regimen strategy on postoperative outcomes.

The recent natural history of human papillomavirus cervical infection in women living with HIV: A scoping review of meta-analyses and systematic reviews and the construction of a hypothetical model.

Background: Women with HIV are more often infected with human papillomavirus (HPV) and are more prone to develop precancerous cervical lesions (squamous intraepithelial lesions, SIL) and invasive cervical cancer (ICC) than HIV-negative women.

Objective: This scoping-review analyses the impact of HIV on HPV prevalence, incidence and evolution to SIL and ICC.

Methods: We selected all PubMed systematic reviews and meta-analyses published between January 2000 and July 2021 reporting data about HPV, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), SIL and ICC prevalence, incidence and evolution in women with HIV.

Early Antiretroviral Therapy Not Associated With Higher Cryptococcal Meningitis Mortality in People With Human Immunodeficiency Virus in High-Income Countries: An International Collaborative Cohort Study.

Background: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from low- and middle-income settings suggested that early initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) leads to higher mortality rates among people with HIV (PWH) who present with cryptococcal meningitis (CM). There is limited information about the impact of ART timing on mortality rates in similar people in high-income settings.

Methods: Data on ART-naive PWH with CM diagnosed from 1994 to 2012 from Europe/North America were pooled from the COHERE, NA-ACCORD, and CNICS HIV cohort collaborations.

HPV genotyping in biopsies of HSIL and invasive cervical cancers in women living with HIV: A cohort- and a nested -case control study.

Objective: To characterize HPV genotype distribution in HSIL and ICC- biopsies, of WLWH, in Europe, as compared to HIV-negative women.

Design: Cohort- and nested -case control study.

Method: We characterized HPV genotype distribution by performing PCR on HSIL and ICC biopsies from WLWH (n = 170); 85 cases were compared to 85 HIV-negative matched controls.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Procalcitonin upon Emergency Department Admission during SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic.

Introduction: Procalcitonin is a marker for bacterial diseases and has been used to guide antibiotic prescription. Procalcitonin accuracy, measured at admission, in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), is unknown in the current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic.

Objectives: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of procalcitonin to assess the need for antibiotic treatment in patients with CAP presenting to the emergency department during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

Disseminated histoplasmosis diagnosed by cross-reactivity with the Aspergillus galactomannan antigen in an HIV-positive patient.

Invasive histoplasmosis is the most common AIDS-defining event in endemic regions such as South America. In non-endemic regions, less familiar to the diagnosis, invasive histoplasmosis can be mistakenly diagnosed as miliary tuberculosis leading to a high mortality rate. Here we present the case of an invasive histoplasmosis mistakenly diagnosed as tuberculosis.

Multimodal imaging features of transient perivascular inflammation of the carotid artery (TIPIC) syndrome in a patient with Covid-19.

We report the case of a 38-year-old man with transient perivascular inflammation of the carotid artery syndrome that occurred in the course of covid-19. We describe for the first-time multimodal imaging features of the perivascular changes surrounding the carotid artery, and long-term follow-up by ultrasound. The imaging features observed on ultrasound, angiography-CT, MRI and FDG-Pet scan support the hypothesis of the inflammatory nature of the perivascular tissue thickening.

Tenofovir Alafenamide Plasma Concentrations Are Reduced in Pregnant Women Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV): Data From the PANNA Network.

Background: Tenofovir alafenamide (TAF), a prodrug of tenofovir (TFV), is included in the majority of the recommended first-line antiretroviral regimens for patients living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), but there are limited data on TAF use in pregnant women. We aimed to examine the plasma pharmacokinetics of TAF and TFV in pregnant women from Europe.

Methods: Pregnant women living with HIV were included from treatment centers across Europe, and intensive pharmacokinetic sampling in the third trimester and postpartum was performed.

CD4/CD8 Ratio and the Risk of Kaposi Sarcoma or Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in the Context of Efficiently Treated Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection: A Collaborative Analysis of 20 European Cohort Studies.

Background: A persistently low CD4/CD8 ratio has been reported to inversely correlate with the risk of non-AIDS defining cancer in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV; PLWH) efficiently treated by combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). We evaluated the impact of the CD4/CD8 ratio on the risk of Kaposi sarcoma (KS) or non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), still among the most frequent cancers in treated PLWH.

Methods: PLWH from the Collaboration of Observational HIV Epidemiological Research Europe (COHERE) were included if they achieved virological control (viral load ≤ 500 copies/mL) within 9 months following cART and without previous KS/LNH diagnosis.

Should the management of high grade cervical squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) be different in HIV-positive women?

Background: This study compares the management and outcome of high grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) in HIV-positive and -negative women and identifies risk factors for treatment failure.

Methods: This retrospective, controlled study includes 146 HIV-positive women, matched for HSIL, age and year of diagnosis, with 146 HIV-negative women. Differences were analysed using parametric and non-parametric tests and Kaplan-Meier survival curves.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae fungemia: Risk factors, outcome and links with S. boulardii-containing probiotic administration.

Unlabelled: Saccharomyces cerevisiae fungemia: risk factors, outcome and links with S. boulardii-containing probiotic administration.

Objective: The aim of our study was to review cases of S.

An autonomous debating system.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is defined as the ability of machines to perform tasks that are usually associated with intelligent beings. Argument and debate are fundamental capabilities of human intelligence, essential for a wide range of human activities, and common to all human societies. The development of computational argumentation technologies is therefore an important emerging discipline in AI research.

Efficacy and safety of oral corticosteroids and olfactory training in the management of COVID-19-related loss of smell.

Purpose: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, an increasing number of patients are afflicted by olfactory loss, a now well-recognized symptom of the disease. Though many patients seem to recover their sense of smell after a few weeks, a certain proportion of them seem to develop long-lasting olfactory disorder. Yet, as of October 2020, there is no recommended standardized treatment to reduce the risk of developing long-term olfactory disorder.

Model informed dosing of hydroxycholoroquine in COVID-19 patients: Learnings from the recent experience, remaining uncertainties and gaps.

Aims: In the absence of a commonly agreed dosing protocol based on pharmacokinetic (PK) considerations, the dose and treatment duration for hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in COVID-19 disease currently vary across national guidelines and clinical study protocols. We have used a model-based approach to explore the relative impact of alternative dosing regimens proposed in different dosing protocols for hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19.

Methods: We compared different PK exposures using Monte Carlo simulations based on a previously published population pharmacokinetic model in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, externally validated using both independent data in lupus erythematous patients and recent data in French COVID-19 patients.

Clinically Significant Lower Elvitegravir Exposure During the Third Trimester of Pregnant Patients Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus: Data From the Pharmacokinetics of ANtiretroviral agents in HIV-infected pregNAnt women (PANNA) Network.

This phase 4 study investigated the influence of pregnancy on the pharmacokinetics of elvitegravir/cobicistat in 14 women with human immunodeficiency virus type 1. The results support the recommendation against elvitegravir/cobicistat use during pregnancy, as the elvitegravir concentration at the end of the dosing interval (Ctrough) was reduced by 77%, with 85% of pregnant women having a Ctrough below the effective concentration (EC90). Clinical Trials Registration.

Clinical Management of Argentine Hemorrhagic Fever using Ribavirin and Favipiravir, Belgium, 2020.

We report a case of Argentine hemorrhagic fever diagnosed in a woman in Belgium who traveled from a disease-endemic area. Patient management included supportive care and combination therapy with ribavirin and favipiravir. Of 137 potential contacts, including friends, relatives, and healthcare and laboratory workers, none showed development of clinical symptoms of this disease.

The Effect of Pregnancy on the Pharmacokinetics of Total and Unbound Dolutegravir and Its Main Metabolite in Women Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

Background: Pharmacokinetic and efficacy data on dolutegravir in pregnant women living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are still limited but needed to support its use as one of the preferred antiretroviral agents.

Methods: Within the multicenter Pharmacokinetics of ANtiretroviral agents in HIV-infected pregNAnt women (PANNA) study, pregnant women living with HIV and using dolutegravir once daily (50 mg, with food) underwent 24-hour pharmacokinetic profiling in their third trimester and postpartum. Dolutegravir exposure in the third trimester was considered adequate if geometric mean unbound, pharmacologically active, minimal plasma concentrations (Cmin, unbound) and ≥90% of individual Cmin, unbound levels were >0.