COVID-19 and VIH.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the main risk factors associated with the progression to severe disease or death have been typically advanced age, diabetes mellitus, obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, and chronic pneumopathy. Because of their immunosuppression status, persons with HIV were also expected to have a higher susceptibility to infection or a poor clinical evolution. So far, this has not been confirmed to happen, giving way to hypotheses about the role of immunosuppression or the use of antiretrovirals, which could explain this paradox.

Corticosteroid therapy in TSP/HAM patients: the results from a 10 years open cohort.

Background: The use of corticosteroids for treating tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-1 associated myelopathy (TSP/HAM) has yielded controversial results. We report the use of corticosteroids for the treatment of TSP/HAM in an open cohort.

Methods: The clinical efficacy of long-term, high dose of corticosteroid therapy was studied in thirty-nine TSP/HAM patients.

Presence of tropical spastic paraparesis/human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1-associated myelopathy (TSP/HAM)-like among HIV-1-infected patients.

Unlabelled: Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and human T-cell lymphotropic virus types 1 and 2 (HTLV-1 and -2) are retroviruses that share similar routes of transmission and some individuals may have a dual infection. These co-infected subjects may be at increased risk for tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (TSP/HAM)-like. To study the prevalence of tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (TSP/HAM) among co-infected HIV-1/HTLV-1 subjects.

T CD4+ cells count among patients co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1): high prevalence of tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (TSP/HAM).

Introduction: HIV positive patients co-infected with HTLV-1 may have an increase in their T CD4+ cell counts, thus rendering this parameter useless as an AIDS-defining event.

Objective: To study the effects induced by the co-infection of HIV-1 and HTLV-1 upon CD4+ cells.

Material And Methods: Since 1997, our group has been following a cohort of HTLV-1-infected patients, in order to study the interaction of HTLV-1 with HIV and/or with hepatitis C virus (HCV), as well as HTLV-1-only infected asymptomatic carriers and those with tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-1 associated myelopathy (TSP/HAM).

High production of RANTES and MIP-1alpha in the tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (TSP/HAM).

Human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection is associated with progressive neurological disorders and tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (TSP/HAM). The pathogenesis of TSP/HAM is considered as immune mediated, involving cytotoxic T cell (CTL) responses to a number of viral proteins and notably the regulation protein Tax. T CD8+ cells produce beta-chemokines, which are important in the anti-viral response.

Molecular characterization of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 2 (HTLV-II) from people living in urban areas of Sao Paulo city: evidence of multiple subtypes circulation.

Background: In Brazil, human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I and type II (HTLV-I and HTLV-II) are co-circulating and possess approximately 65% homology, which results in high cross-reactivity in serological tests. Based on the detection of EIA and Western blot (WB) tests, HTLV serodiagnosis yields indeterminate results in high-risk population, with the true determination of HTLV-II prevalence requiring a combined serological and molecular analysis. Molecular analysis of HTLV-II isolates has shown the existence of four distinct subtypes: IIa, IIb, IIc, and IId.

Clinical and epidemiological aspects of HTLV-II infection in São Paulo, Brazil: presence of tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-associated myelopathy (TSP/HAM) simile diagnosis in HIV-1-co-infected subjects.

In this study, the epidemiological and clinical features observed in solely HTLV-II-infected individuals were compared to those in patients co-infected with HIV-1. A total of 380 subjects attended at the HTLV Out-Patient Clinic in the Institute of Infectious Diseases "Emilio Ribas" (IIER), São Paulo, Brazil, were evaluated every 3-6 months for the last seven years by infectious disease specialists and neurologists. Using a testing algorithm that employs the enzyme immuno assay, Western Blot and polymerase chain reaction, it was found that 201 (53%) were HTLV-I positive and 50 (13%) were infected with HTLV-II.