Early Antiretroviral Therapy in AIDS Patients Presenting With Encephalitis Is Associated With More Sequelae but Not Increased Mortality.

Background: Evidence on the optimal time to initiate antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the presence of toxoplasmic encephalitis (TE) is scarce. We compared the impact of early vs. delayed ART initiation on mortality and neurologic complications at discharge in a Brazilian population co-infected with HIV and TE.

Short-Course of Methylprednisolone Improves Respiratory Functional Parameters After 120 Days in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients (Metcovid Trial): A Randomized Clinical Trial.

The use of corticosteroids may help control the cytokine storm occurring in acute respiratory failure due to the severe form of COVID-19. We evaluated the postacute effect of corticosteroids used during the acute phase, such as impairment in pulmonary function parameters, on day 120 (D120)-follow-up, in participants who survived over 28 days. This is a parallel, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled phase IIb clinical trial carried out between April 18 and October 9, 2020, conducted in hospitalized patients with clinical-radiological suspicion of COVID-19, aged 18 years or older, with SpO ≤ 94% on room air or requiring supplementary oxygen, or under invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) in a referral center in Manaus, Western Brazilian Amazon.

Confirmed Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis and COVID-19: the value of postmortem findings to support antemortem management.

We present postmortem evidence of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) in a patient with severe COVID-19. Autopsies of COVID-19 confirmed cases were performed. The patient died despite antimicrobials, mechanical ventilation, and vasopressor support.

Transfusion-transmitted malaria in endemic zone: epidemiological profile of blood donors at the Fundação HEMOAM and use of rapid diagnostic tests for malaria screening in Manaus.

Objective: With 99% of the cases in Brazil, malaria is endemic in the Amazon region. Transfusion-transmitted malaria, an important risk in endemic areas, has been reported. The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiological profile of blood donor candidates at the Fundação de Hematologia e Hemoterapia do Amazonas and evaluate the efficacy of rapid diagnostic tests used for malaria screening of blood donors within endemic regions.