Clinical and epidemiology evaluation of Aids-infected patients hospitalized between 2011 and 2016 in the Santos region of Brazil.

Introduction: We assessed the clinical-epidemiological profile of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients in the Santos region (São Paulo state) with the highest AIDS prevalence in Brazil.

Methods: Information was extracted from records of 409 AIDS-infected patients hospitalized between 2011 and 2016.

Results: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was diagnosed in 24.

Low-density lipoprotein and other predictors of response with telaprevir-based therapy in treatment-experienced HCV genotype 1 patients: REALIZE study.

Background & Aims: Predictors of response to treatment with peginterferon plus ribavirin are well established. In these post-hoc analyses of the REALIZE study, we sought to identify predictors of response for telaprevir-based triple therapy.

Methods: Patients from the REALIZE study with baseline data for all predictors evaluated (including baseline disease characteristics and demographics, prior treatment response and baseline laboratory assessments) were included in the post-hoc analyses (n = 465).

Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance does not seem to predict response to telaprevir in chronic hepatitis C in the REALIZE trial.

Unlabelled: Baseline homeostasis model assessment-estimated insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), a marker for insulin resistance, has been associated with poor virologic response to peginterferon alpha/ribavirin (PR) in chronic hepatitis C. We evaluated the association between baseline HOMA-IR and pretreatment factors on sustained virologic response (SVR) to telaprevir (TVR) in genotype 1 patients with hepatitis C and prior peginterferon/ribavirin (PR) treatment failure. Patients were randomized to 12 weeks of TVR (750 mg q8h) plus peginterferon (180 μg/week) and ribavirin (1,000-1,200 mg/day) (with or without a 4-week lead-in) followed by PR, or PR alone (PR48), for 48 weeks.

Response predictors and clinical benefits of hepatitis C retreatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin in HIV/HCV coinfection.

Background: Hepatitis C is a leading cause of mortality among HIV-infected individuals. Therefore, eradication of HCV in this population is a priority. There are scarce data regarding retreatment efficacy of HIV/ HCV coinfected patients.

Limited impact of IL28B genotype on response rates in telaprevir-treated patients with prior treatment failure.

Background & Aims: Nucleotide polymorphisms upstream of the interleukin 28B (IL28B) gene are strongly associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) clearance in treatment-naïve patients treated with peginterferon/ribavirin (PegIFN/RBV). This subanalysis of the REALIZE study evaluated the impact of IL28B polymorphisms on sustained virologic response (SVR) in telaprevir-treated, HCV genotype 1-infected patients with prior PegIFN/RBV treatment failure.

Methods: Treatment-experienced patients were randomized to 12 weeks of telaprevir (750 mg every 8h) with/without a 4-week PegIFN/RBV lead-in, or placebo, each with PegIFN-α-2a (180 μg/week) and ribavirin (1000-1200 mg/day) for 48 weeks overall.

Telaprevir for retreatment of HCV infection.

Background: Up to 60% of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection do not have a sustained virologic response to therapy with peginterferon alfa plus ribavirin.

Methods: In this randomized, phase 3 trial, we evaluated the addition of telaprevir to peginterferon alfa-2a plus ribavirin in patients with HCV genotype 1 infection who had no response or a partial response to previous therapy or who had a relapse after an initial response. A total of 663 patients were assigned to one of three groups: the T12PR48 group, which received telaprevir for 12 weeks and peginterferon plus ribavirin for a total of 48 weeks; the lead-in T12PR48 group, which received 4 weeks of peginterferon plus ribavirin followed by 12 weeks of telaprevir and peginterferon plus ribavirin for a total of 48 weeks; and the control group (PR48), which received peginterferon plus ribavirin for 48 weeks.

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease: an unusual association with acute renal failure.

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease, also known as histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis of unknown etiopathogenesis, is a self-limited disease which frequently appears as feverish lymphadenomegaly, thus creating the need for differential diagnosis with lymphoma, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), infectious mononucleosis, cat-scratch disease, and toxoplasmosis with lymphonodal impairment. However, there are cases in which it may evolve with complications such as aseptic meningitis, cerebellar ataxia, and aseptic myocarditis. We are presenting a case of a 24-year-old man who had an initial picture of arthralgia, evening fever and adenomegaly.

Survey of hepatitis B and C infection control: procedures at manicure and pedicure facilities in São Paulo, Brazil.

Bleeding due to the habit of removing the cuticles of the finger and toes nails, without appropriate sterilization of instruments can be an important factor of contamination by hepatitis B and C viruses. The objectives of this study were to verify the use of standards on biosafety in the routine work of manicurists and/or pedicurists located in São Paulo, Brazil; know the level of information they have about ways of transmission and prevention of hepatitis B and C; evaluate the degree of risk perception for accidental exposure to infectious agents; and to estimate the prevalence of serological markers of hepatitis B and C among them. This was descriptive, cross-sectional study that included a random sample of 100 manicurists and/or pedicurists working in beauty salons.

Histological response study of chronic viral hepatitis C patients treated with interferon alone or combined with ribavirin.

Chronic hepatitis C is often a progressive, fibrotic disease that can lead to cirrhosis and other complications. The recommended therapy is a combination of interferon and ribavirin. Besides its antiviral action, interferon is considered to have antifibrotic activity.

I consensus for the management and treatment of hepatitis B carried out by the Brazilian society of infectious diseases.

This paper reports on the conclusions reached by the Hepatitis Committee of the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases in their I Consensus for the Management and Treatment of Hepatitis B. The subjects considered most relevant or controversial among those discussed by the Consensus Group, which met in the city of São Roque on July 21-23, 2006, are summarized in this report. A systematic review on topics related to hepatitis B was carried out and published in the Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Weight-based combination therapy with peginterferon alpha-2b and ribavirin for naïve, relapser and non-responder patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Combination therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin is considered the new standard therapy for naïve patients with chronic hepatitis C. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of treatment with weight-based peginterferon alpha-2b (1.5 mg/kg per week) plus ribavirin (800-1,200 mg/day) for 48 weeks in naïve, relapser and non-responder (to previous treatment with interferon plus ribavirin) patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Cerebral toxoplasmosis in HIV-positive patients in Brazil: clinical features and predictors of treatment response in the HAART era.

A prospective study of 55 confirmed or presumptive cases of cerebral toxoplasmosis in HIV positive patients in Brazil was performed to describe clinical characteristics and to identify predictive factors for clinical response to the anti-Toxoplasma treatment. Cerebral toxoplasmosis led to the diagnosis of HIV infection in 19 (35%) patients, whereas it was the AIDS defining disease in 41 (75%) patients. Of these, 22 (54%) patients were previously know to be HIV-positive.

Diagnosis of cerebral toxoplasmosis in AIDS patients in Brazil: importance of molecular and immunological methods using peripheral blood samples.

Cerebral toxoplasmosis is the most common cerebral focal lesion in AIDS and still accounts for high morbidity and mortality in Brazil. Its occurrence is more frequent in patients with low CD4(+) T-cell counts. It is directly related to the prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in the population.

Childhood meningitis increases the risk for adult schizophrenia.

Objective: We investigated the hypothesis that a meningitic infection in childhood may increase the risk of a psychiatric disorder in adulthood.

Method: We conducted a follow-up study of 190 individuals affected by a meningitis infection the first 4 years of life, during an epidemic in São Paulo, Brazil, between 1971 and 1974. As a control group, we investigated 156 siblings of the meningitis patients who were not affected by meningitis at childhood.

PCR assay using cerebrospinal fluid for diagnosis of cerebral toxoplasmosis in Brazilian AIDS patients.

Highly active antiretroviral therapy has decreased the incidence of opportunistic infections in the central nervous system in AIDS patients. However, neurological abnormalities still remain important causes of mortality and morbidity in developing countries. In Brazil, cerebral toxoplasmosis is the most common cerebral mass lesion in AIDS patients.

Genotype distribution of the GB virus C in citizens of São Paulo City, Brazil.

There has been several studies worldwide on phylogenetics and genotype distribution of the GB-virus C / Hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV). However, in their great majority, those investigations were based on some epidemiologically linked group, rather than on a representative sampling of the general population. The present is a continuation of the first study in Brazil with such a population; it addresses the GBV-C/HGV phylogenetics and genotype distribution based on samples identified among more than 1,000 individuals of the city of S o Paulo.

Estimated prevalence of immunity to poliomyelitis in the city of São Paulo, Brazil: a population-based survey.

Objectives. Estimate the prevalence of immunity to poliomyelitis (anti-polio antibodies) in the city of São Paulo/Brazil through a population-based survey. Methods.

New prevalence estimate of TT virus (TTV) infection in low- and high-risk population from São Paulo, Brazil.

The prevalence of TT virus (TTV) infection was investigated by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) in low- (blood donors and healthy children/adolescents) and high-risk (hemophiliacs) groups from São Paulo, Brazil. Primers based on the untranslated region (UTR) of the viral genome proved to be much more ubiquitous, leading to much higher frequencies for both groups (>or= 81%) than the earlier N22-PCR directed to the open reading frame 1 (blood donors, 5.5%, and hemophiliacs, 42.

Three cases of infection with hepatitis C virus genotype 5 among Brazilian hepatitis patients.

During the course of routine genotyping of hepatitis C virus isolates by 5' noncoding region sequencing, three samples were found to bear genotype 5-specific nucleotides. A serotyping method was subsequently applied and confirmed the finding. This is the first report of the occurrence of genotype 5 in Brazil.