High prevalence of drug-resistant tuberculosis and other mycobacteria among HIV-infected patients in Brazil: a systematic review

There is a little-noticed trend involving human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients suspected of having tuberculosis: the triple-treatment regimen recommended in Brazil for years has been potentially ineffective in over 30 percent of the cases. This proportion may be attributable to drug resistance (to at least 1 drug) and/or to infection with non-tuberculous mycobacteria. This evidence was not disclosed in official statistics, but arose from a systematic review of a few regional studies in which the diagnosis was reliably confirmed by mycobacterial culture. This paper clarifies that there has long been ample evidence for the potential benefits of a four-drug regimen for co-infected patients in Brazil and it reinforces the need for determining the species and drug susceptibility in all positive cultures from HIV-positive patients.

Doença pneumocócica invasiva em crianças e adolescentes soropositivos para HIV / Invasive pneumococcal disease in HIV seropositive children and adolescents

OBJETIVO: Doença Invasiva Pneumocócica (DPI) afeta crianças principalmente menores de 5 anos, idosos e grupos de risco, especialmente pessoas infectadas pelo vírus da Imunodeficiência Humana (HIV). O objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar as doenças pneumocócicas invasivas (DPI) em crianças e adolescentes infectados pelo vírus da imunodeficiência humana (HIV), de acordo com morbiletalidade, sorotipos, sensibilidade à penicilina e ceftriaxona e distribuição de Streptococcus pneumoniae (Sp) sensíveis e resistentes presentes na vacina antipneumocócica conjugada 7-valente, já licenciada. MÉTODOS: Foram identificados 19 casos de DPI entre pacientes HIV soropositivos com idade entre 1 mês e 20 anos hospitalizados de 1993 a 2000. Os dados foram registrados em fichas padronizadas, contendo informações sobre idade, diagnóstico clínico e evolução, sorotipos e perfil de sensibilidade para penicilina e ceftriaxona das cepas de Sp isoladas em cultura. Sp com concentração inibitória mínima < 0,1 mcg/mL foi considerado sensível à penicilina (SpSPn), e as demais cepas como não sensíveis (SpNSPn). RESULTADOS: Dos 19 casos de DPI em HIV soropositivos, 16 (84 por cento) tinham pneumonia e três (16 por cento), meningite; 13 (68 por cento) ocorreram em crianças menores de 2 anos e 16 (84 por cento) em menores de 5 anos. A letalidade foi de 10 por cento. Dos 13 casos em menores de 2 anos, sete (54 por cento) foram SpNSPn e 10 (77 por cento) foram causados por sorotipos contemplados na vacina antipneumocócica conjugada 7-valente. Foram isolados 10 sorotipos, sendo mais freqüentes o 14, 6B e 23F, todos sensíveis à ceftriaxona. Dos três casos de meningite, dois foram causados por SpNSPn. CONCLUSÃO: A maioria das DPI ocorreu em menores de 2 anos de idade; 77 por cento das cepas e 86 por cento dos sorotipos de SpNSPn estão contemplados pela vacina antipneumocócica conjugada 7-valente.

OBJECTIVE: Invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) primarily affects children less than 5 years old, the elderly and certain at-risk groups; especially people infected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The objective of this study was to analyze invasive pneumococcal diseases (IPD) in children and adolescents infected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), with relation to morbidity, the case fatality ratio, pneumococcus serotypes, susceptibility to penicillin and ceftriaxone and to the proportion of susceptible and resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (Sp) included in the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine that has already been licensed. METHODS: A total of 19 cases of IPD were identified among HIV seropositive patients aged from 1 month to 20 years and hospitalized between 1993 and 2000. Data were recorded on standardized charts containing information on age, clinical diagnosis and progression, serotypes and the susceptibility to penicillin and ceftriaxone of the Sp strains identified in cultures. When the minimum inhibitory concentration was < 0.1 mcg/mL, Sp were defined as susceptible to penicillin (SpSPn), and all other strains were defined as not susceptible (SpNSPn). RESULTS: Of the 19 HIV seropositive cases with IPD, 16 (84 percent) had pneumonia and three (16 percent), had meningitis; 13 (68 percent) cases were children less than 2 years old and 16 (84 percent) were less than 5 years old. The case fatality ratio was 10 percent. Seven (54 percent) of the 13 cases less than 2 years old were SpNSPn and 10 (77 percent) were caused by serotypes covered by the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. From the 10 isolated serotypes the most frequent were 14, 6B and 23F, all them susceptible to ceftriaxone. From the three patients with meningitis, two were caused by SpNSPn. CONCLUSION: In this study most of the IPD occurred in children less than 2 years old; 77 percent of the strains and 86 percent of the serotypes of SpNSPn...

Reactivity pattens of HIV-1 positive sera with a gp41 synthetic peptide

Antibodies to a HIV-1 gp41 synthetic peptide (LGIWGCSGKLIC) have been detected in 100 percent (100/100) of serum samples from HIV-1 positive patients. The determination of the endpoint titer showed that sera from CDC clinical stage IV patients had significantly lower values than groups II and III.