Implementation of Mass Drug Administration for Lymphatic Filariasis in Madagascar: The Progress, Effectiveness and Financial Savings of Integrating into an Existing Polio Campaign.

Introduction: This paper presents (a) the progress made towards achieving the 2023 Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) Mass Drug Administration (MDA) campaign goals, (b) the estimated financial savings resulting from integrating LF MDA into Polio immunization campaigns, and (c) the best practices, challenges, and recommendations.

Methods: In 2023, 21,336,057 people in 83 districts were affected by LF and required Preventive Chemotherapy (PC). The National NTD Control Programme (NTDCP) conducted three phases of LF MDA campaigns in those districts.

Vaccine-derived poliovirus serotype 2 outbreaks and response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2017-2021.

Vaccine-derived polioviruses (VDPVs) can emerge from Sabin strain poliovirus serotypes 1, 2, and 3 contained in oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) after prolonged person-to-person transmission where population vaccination immunity against polioviruses is suboptimal. VDPVs can cause paralysis indistinguishable from wild polioviruses and outbreaks when community circulation ensues. VDPV serotype 2 outbreaks (cVDPV2) have been documented in The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since 2005.

Establishment of CDC Global Rapid Response Team to Ensure Global Health Security.

The 2014-2016 Ebola virus disease epidemic in West Africa highlighted challenges faced by the global response to a large public health emergency. Consequently, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention established the Global Rapid Response Team (GRRT) to strengthen emergency response capacity to global health threats, thereby ensuring global health security. Dedicated GRRT staff can be rapidly mobilized for extended missions, improving partner coordination and the continuity of response operations.

Mortality Risk After AIDS-Defining Opportunistic Illness Among HIV-Infected Persons--San Francisco, 1981-2012.

Objective: To examine whether improved human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment was associated with better survival after diagnosis of AIDS-defining opportunistic illnesses (AIDS-OIs) and how survival differed by AIDS-OI.

Design: We used HIV surveillance data to conduct a survival analysis.

Methods: We estimated survival probabilities after first AIDS-OI diagnosis among adult patients with AIDS in San Francisco during 3 treatment eras: 1981-1986; 1987-1996; and 1997-2012.

Community-based electronic data collections for HIV prevention research with black/African-American men in the rural, Southern USA.

In Florida, the HIV case rate among black men is five times that of white men; tailored HIV prevention interventions are lacking. Historical concerns regarding trust with public health venues and sharing sensitive information make face-to-face data collection with some rural, southern black men challenging. We evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of using audio computer-assisted self-interviews (ACASIs) by local community-based organization members to collect HIV-related information from black men in rural settings.

Humoral immune responses to Pneumocystis jirovecii antigens in HIV-infected and uninfected young children with pneumocystis pneumonia.

Background: Humoral immune responses in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected and uninfected children with Pneumocystis pneumonia (PcP) are poorly understood.

Methods: Consecutive children hospitalized with acute pneumonia, tachypnea, and hypoxia in South Africa were investigated for PcP, which was diagnosed by real-time polymerase chain reaction on lower respiratory tract specimens. Serum antibody responses to recombinant fragments of the carboxyl terminus of Pneumocystis jirovecii major surface glycoprotein (MsgC) were analyzed.

Publication track records as a metric of clinical research training effectiveness.

Clinical research training programs exist across the country, but no quantitative studies have been performed to evaluate the effectiveness of these programs. The goal of this study was to evaluate the success of the clinical research training program at the University of Cincinnati by comparing the publication histories of pediatric fellows who graduated from the clinical and translational research Master of Science (MS) degree programs between 1995 and 2011 with fellows who did not pursue an MS degree. Among 296 pediatric fellows, 44 of 54 graduates (81%) published at least 1 first-authored paper, as compared with 149 of 242 (62%) fellows who did not obtain an MS degree (P < 0.

Ambient air pollution associated with suppressed serologic responses to Pneumocystis jirovecii in a prospective cohort of HIV-infected patients with Pneumocystis pneumonia.

Background: Ambient air pollution (AAP) may be associated with increased risk for Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP). The mechanisms underlying this association remain uncertain.

Objectives: To determine if real-life exposures to AAP are associated with suppressed IgM antibody responses to P.

Antibody responses against Pneumocystis jirovecii in health care workers over time.

In a previous cross-sectional study, we showed that clinical staff working in a hospital had significantly higher antibody levels than nonclinical staff to Pneumocystis jirovecii. We conducted a longitudinal study, described here, to determine whether occupation and self-reported exposure to a patient with P. jirovecii pneumonia were associated with antibody levels to P.

Serologic responses to recombinant Pneumocystis jirovecii major surface glycoprotein among Ugandan patients with respiratory symptoms.

Background: Little is known about the serologic responses to Pneumocystis jirovecii major surface glycoprotein (Msg) antigen in African cohorts, or the IgM responses to Msg in HIV-positive and HIV-negative persons with respiratory symptoms.

Methods: We conducted a prospective study of 550 patients, both HIV-positive (n = 467) and HIV-negative (n = 83), hospitalized with cough ≥2 weeks in Kampala, Uganda, to evaluate the association between HIV status, CD4 cell count, and other clinical predictors and antibody responses to P. jirovecii.

Environmental risk factors for Pneumocystis pneumonia hospitalizations in HIV patients.

Background: Pneumocystis pneumonia (PcP) is the second leading cause of morbidity and mortality in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients in the United States. Although the host risk factors for the development of PcP are well established, the environmental (climatological, air pollution) risk factors are poorly understood. The major goal of this study was to determine the environmental risk factors for admissions of HIV-positive patients with PcP to a single medical center.

Serologic responses to pneumocystis proteins in HIV patients with and without Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia.

Background: Immune responses to Pneumocystis jirovecii are not well understood in HIV infection, but antibody responses to proteins may be useful as a marker of Pneumocystis risk or presence of Pneumocystis pneumonia (PcP).

Design: Retrospective analysis of a prospective cohort.

Methods: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays of antibodies to recombinant Pneumocystis proteins of major surface glycoprotein fragments (MsgC1, C3, C8, and C9) and of antibody titers to recombinant kexin protein (KEX1) were performed on 3 sequential serum samples up to 18 months before and 3 samples after first AIDS-defining illness from Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study participants and compared between those who had PcP or a non-PcP AIDS-defining illness.

Decreased serum antibody responses to recombinant pneumocystis antigens in HIV-infected and uninfected current smokers.

Serologic studies can provide important insights into the epidemiology and transmission of Pneumocystis jirovecii. Exposure to P. jirovecii can be assessed by serum antibody responses to recombinant antigens from the major surface glycoprotein (MsgC), although factors that influence the magnitude of the antibody response are incompletely understood.

Serum antibody levels to the Pneumocystis jirovecii major surface glycoprotein in the diagnosis of P. jirovecii pneumonia in HIV+ patients.

Background: Pneumocystis jirovecii remains an important cause of fatal pneumonia (Pneumocystis pneumonia or PcP) in HIV+ patients and other immunocompromised hosts. Despite many previous attempts, a clinically useful serologic test for P. jirovecii infection has never been developed.

Seroepidemiological study of Pneumocystis jirovecii infection in healthy infants in Chile using recombinant fragments of the P. jirovecii major surface glycoprotein.

Objectives: To characterize the seroepidemiological features of Pneumocystis jirovecii infection in healthy Chilean children using overlapping fragments (A, B, C) of the P. jirovecii major surface glycoprotein (Msg).

Methods: Serum antibodies to MsgA, MsgB, and MsgC were measured every 2 months by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 45 Chilean infants from about age 2 months to 2 years.

Long-term serologic responses to the Pneumocystis jirovecii major surface glycoprotein in HIV-positive individuals with and without P. jirovecii infection.

Background: The immune responses to Pneumocystis jirovecii major surface glycoprotein (Msg) in individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection are poorly understood.

Methods: We examined the sequential serologic responses to recombinant Msg carboxyl terminus fragments (MsgC1, MsgC3, MsgC8, and MsgC9) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in a cohort of individuals with HIV infection for the 5.5 years before death and autopsy.