Treatment of hepatitis B with lamivudine and tenofovir in HIV/HBV-coinfected patients: factors associated with response.

As therapy for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection evolves, optimizing hepatitis B virus (HBV) treatment and identifying factors that impact its response in the HIV/HBV-coinfected population is critical. We identified retrospectively 45 HBV/HIV-coinfected patients with detectable HBV DNA by the Bayer VERSANT HBV 3.0 bDNA assay (limit of quantification 2000 copies/mL) at baseline and/or year 1 of therapy.

Role of the laboratory in diagnosis of influenza during seasonal epidemics and potential pandemics.

Laboratory diagnosis of influenza is critical to its treatment and surveillance. With the emergence of novel and highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses, the role of the laboratory has been further extended to include isolation and subtyping of the virus to monitor its appearance and facilitate appropriate vaccine development. Recent progress in enhancing testing for influenza promises to both improve the management of patients with influenza and decrease associated health care costs.

Epidemiology of pandemic influenza: use of surveillance and modeling for pandemic preparedness.

Along with continual enhancement of current influenza surveillance programs, pandemic preparedness also involves application of current surveillance techniques to past pandemics to identify their viruses and patterns, as well as estimation of the potential burden of future pandemics. Although mortality surveillance has been in place in selected locations for more than a century, the recent development of molecular diagnostics has shed new light on the origin and structure of the viruses responsible for the past 3 pandemics, allowing for comparisons with new viruses identified through ongoing viral surveillance. Models previously used to estimate hospitalizations and mortality associated with past epidemics and pandemics have evolved to estimate the burden and required surge capacity of future pandemics of different severities.

Epidemiology of seasonal influenza: use of surveillance data and statistical models to estimate the burden of disease.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) uses a 7-component national surveillance system for influenza that includes virologic, influenza-like illness, hospitalization, and mortality data. In addition, some states and health organizations collect additional influenza surveillance data that complement the CDC's surveillance system. Current surveillance data from these programs, together with national hospitalization and mortality data, have been used in statistical models to estimate the annual burden of disease associated with influenza in the United States for many years.

Accurate model predicting sustained response at week 4 of therapy with pegylated interferon with ribavirin in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Current models used to predict response to peginterferon plus ribavirin treatment, based on viral decline during the first 12 weeks of therapy, have focused on creating an early stopping rule to avoid unnecessary prolongation of therapy. We developed a multivariate model that predicted sustained virological response and nonresponse at baseline and during the first 12 weeks of therapy using collected data from 186 unselected patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with peginterferon plus ribavirin. This model employed ordinal regression with similarity least squares technology to assign the probability of a given outcome.