Dysglycaemia in Ebola virus disease: a retrospective analysis from the 2018 to 2020 outbreak.

Background: Ebola virus disease (EVD) is associated with multisystem organ failure and high mortality. Severe hypoglycaemia is common, life-threatening, and correctable in critically ill patients, but glucose monitoring may be limited in EVD treatment units.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of patients admitted to EVD treatment units in Butembo and Katwa, Eastern DRC.

Rhabdomyolysis, Acute Kidney Injury, and Mortality in Ebola Virus Disease: Retrospective Analysis of Cases From the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2019.

Background: Skeletal muscle injury in Ebola virus disease (EVD) has been reported, but its association with morbidity and mortality remains poorly defined.

Methods: This retrospective study included patients admitted to 2 EVD treatment units over an 8-month period in 2019 during an EVD epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Results: An overall 333 patients (median age, 30 years; 58% female) had at least 1 creatine kinase (CK) measurement (n = 2229; median, 5/patient [IQR, 1-11]).

Flawed reports can harm: the case of supervised consumption services in Alberta.

Supervised consumption services have been scaled up within Canada and internationally as an ethical imperative in the context of a public health emergency. A large body of peer-reviewed evidence demonstrates that these services prevent poisoning deaths, reduce infectious disease transmission risk behaviour, and facilitate clients' connections to other health and social services. In 2019, the Alberta government commissioned a review of the socioeconomic impacts of seven supervised consumption services in the province.

Exploring the Evidence for the Paradigms of Recovery and Social Work Converging in Mental Health Service Delivery Worldwide: Reflections from an Irish Case Study.

Recovery within mental health service delivery is no longer a new consideration in the Western world. However, it is well-documented how challenging its implementation and translation to practice and reality have been in contemporary mental health systems. In conjunction with this, mental health social work is continuously being challenged and debated in relation to its role, responsibilities, and identity in service delivery.

Neutrophils promote T-cell activation through the regulated release of CD44-bound Galectin-9 from the cell surface during HIV infection.

The interaction of neutrophils with T cells has been the subject of debate and controversies. Previous studies have suggested that neutrophils may suppress or activate T cells. Despite these studies, the interaction between neutrophils and T cells has remained a largely unexplored field.

Pregnancy Among HIV-Serodiscordant Couples: Case Report of Vertical Transmission and Retrospective Case Series.

Background: HIV transmission during pregnancy and breastfeeding among serodiscordant heterosexual couples represents an ongoing barrier to the elimination of vertical transmission of HIV-1 infection in Canada.

Objective: To report a case of vertical HIV transmission during breastfeeding and examine the prevalence of risk factors for HIV transmission in the pregnancy and postpartum periods among serodiscordant couples where the male partner is HIV positive and female partner HIV negative.

Methods: Case report and retrospective chart review of HIV-serodiscordant pregnant couples over an eight-year period in Edmonton, Canada.

Selective Upregulation of CTLA-4 on CD8+ T Cells Restricted by HLA-B*35Px Renders them to an Exhausted Phenotype in HIV-1 infection.

HLA-B*35Px is associated with HIV-1 disease rapid progression to AIDS. However, the mechanism(s) underlying this deleterious effect of this HLA allele on HIV-1 infection outcome has not fully understood. CD8+ T cells play a crucial role to control the viral replication but impaired CD8+ T cells represent a major hallmark of HIV-1 infection.

Galectin-9 and VISTA Expression Define Terminally Exhausted T Cells in HIV-1 Infection.

We report significant upregulation of Galectin-9 (Gal-9) and VISTA on both CD4 and CD8 T cells in HIV-infected human patients. Gal-9 and VISTA expression was associated with impaired T cells effector functions. Although Gal-9 was coexpressed with other coinhibitory receptors such as TIGIT, CD160, CD39, and VISTA, it was simultaneously coexpressed with PD-1.

An atypical case of Whipple's disease presenting as fever of unknown origin: A brief review.

A 59-year-old woman with epilepsy was admitted to hospital with a 6-year history of fever of unknown origin (FUO). Computed tomography (CT) showed extensive low-attenuation mesenteric and retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy. Investigations for malignancy and infection were negative, including two separate excisional biopsies of lymph nodes.

CD71 Erythroid Cells Exacerbate HIV-1 Susceptibility, Mediate -Infection, and Harbor Infective Viral Particles.

CD71 erythroid cells (CECs) have a wide range of immunomodulatory properties. Here, we show that CECs are expanded in the peripheral blood of HIV patients, with a positive correlation between their frequency and the plasma viral load. CECs from HIV patients and human cord blood/placenta exacerbate HIV-1 infection/replication when cocultured with CD4 T cells, and that preexposure of CD4 T cells to CECs enhances their permissibility to HIV infection.

Galectin-9 Expression Defines a Subpopulation of NK Cells with Impaired Cytotoxic Effector Molecules but Enhanced IFN-γ Production, Dichotomous to TIGIT, in HIV-1 Infection.

NK cell functions are tightly regulated by the balance between the inhibitory and stimulatory surface receptors. We investigated the surface expression of galectin-9 (Gal-9) and its function in NK cells from HIV-infected individuals on antiretroviral therapy, long-term nonprogressors, and progressors compared with healthy controls. We also measured the expression of TIGIT and TIM-3 on different NK cell subpopulations and compared their functionality to Gal-9 NK cells.

A pilot study of seroprevalence in occupationally exposed individuals in the Peace River region of Alberta and British Columbia.

A pilot seroprevalence study was performed among asymptomatic occupationally exposed individuals in June, 2016 in the Peace River region of Alberta and British Columbia. Five of 40 subjects - 3 of 24 small ruminant producers, 1 of 14 abattoir workers, and 1 of 2 veterinarians had evidence of exposure. More systematic surveillance and more active promotion of biosecure husbandry methods should be considered.

Burden of malaria is higher among children in an internal displacement camp compared to a neighbouring village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Background: In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), violent conflict has caused the displacement of millions of people into camps where they are exposed to poor living conditions and high rates of infectious diseases. Malaria, in particular, is a major cause of mortality in children under five; however, the burden of disease in displacement camps has not previously been described.

Methods: Two cross-sectional surveys were performed.

A Step toward Tuberculosis Elimination in a Low-Incidence Country: Successful Diagnosis and Treatment of Latent Tuberculosis Infection in a Refugee Clinic.

Objectives. Approximately 65 percent of tuberculosis (TB) cases in Canada each year occur from reactivation in foreign-born individuals. Refugees are at high risk after immigration.

Elevated prevalence of malnutrition and malaria among school-aged children and adolescents in war-ravaged South Sudan.

Emerging as a sovereign state from decades of civil war, the Republic of South Sudan now faces poverty, a lack of health care infrastructure, a high burden of infectious diseases and a widespread food insecurity. School-aged children and youth, in particular, represent a high-risk demographic for malnutrition and infectious diseases. We screened 109 school-aged children and youth for nutritional status and malaria antigenaemia in Akuak Rak, South Sudan, and found a large proportion of underweight (77/109 = 73%) and prevalent malaria (44/109 = 40%).

Delayed Hemolysis After Parenteral Artesunate Therapy for Severe Malaria in Two Returning Canadian Travelers.

Delayed hemolysis after parenteral artesunate has been described in Europe and Asia, but until recently had not been reported in patients receiving the artesunate product used in the United States and Canada. We report two cases of severe delayed hemolysis after the treatment with intravenous artesunate in Canada.

Screening and Treating UN Peacekeepers to Prevent the Introduction of Artemisinin-Resistant Malaria into Africa.

Stan Houston and Adam Houston highlight how deployment of UN peacekeepers has the potential to introduce artemisinin-resistant malaria into Africa.

Antiretroviral treatment outcomes among foreign-born and Aboriginal peoples living with HIV/AIDS in northern Alberta.

Objective: The HIV/AIDS epidemic disproportionately involves socially vulnerable populations. Since 2001, the proportion of foreign-born patients served by the Northern Alberta HIV Program has increased. Our study aimed to evaluate antiretroviral therapy (ART) outcomes among HIV-infected foreign-born patients in northern Alberta, Canada, prescribed once-daily ART.

Prevalence and correlates of HIV and hepatitis B virus coinfection in Northern Alberta.

Background: HIV and hepatitis B virus (HBV) share transmission routes, and coinfection is associated with higher morbidity and mortality. To date, no Canadian studies have examined HIV-HBV coinfection.

Objectives: To examine the prevalence and correlates of HIV and HBV coinfections in Northern Alberta.