Infections in Heart and Lung Transplant Recipients.

Patients undergoing thoracic organ transplantation procedures involving the heart or lung are at increased risk for developing a wide variety of infections due to their underlying immunosuppression and/or other factors. Lung transplant recipients are at high risk for developing infections caused by bacteria, viruses, and opportunistic fungi, whereas heart transplant recipients are at risk for developing infections caused by these same microorganisms, as well as parasitic infections, including toxoplasmosis and New World trypanosomiasis. This review will highlight the various infections that thoracic organ transplant recipients may develop following their procedures.

Perceptions of Long-Acting Injectable Antiretroviral Treatment Regimens in a United States Urban Academic Medical Center.

Patient acceptance of long-acting injectable antiretroviral (LAI-ARV) HIV-1 regimens will determine uptake. Although previous literature reports high satisfaction, these data stem from clinical trials subject to selection bias. This cross-sectional survey from the HIV practices of an urban academic medical center assessed perceptions and preferences using Likert scales toward overall acceptability, proposed frequencies, injection-site reaction durations, and distribution venue. 59% of surveys were completed resulting 202 respondents. 60% were male, 72% black, and the median age was 49 (IQR 36-58). 93% reported a once daily tablet frequency, 69% reported single tablet regimens, and 59% reported missing zero doses in the prior 30 days. Patients self-categorized as likely (57%) or unlikely (43%) to accept LAI-ARV. Both decreasing frequencies between injections and durations of injection-site reactions resulted higher acceptability scores. 57% of respondents preferred receiving an injectable from their clinician's office over other potential options. These data demonstrate positive LAI-ARV acceptance potential.

Ibalizumab.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Antiretroviral options for patients infected with multiclass resistant HIV-1 warrant the development of new agents with unique mechanisms of action and modes of delivery. Here we review one such agent, ibalizumab, a parenteral CD4 postattachment inhibitor that has demonstrated efficacy as part of combination antiretroviral therapy in the treatment of HIV-1. RECENT FINDINGS: In a phase III clinical trial in HIV-infected participants with multiclass antiretroviral drug resistance, the intravenous administration of ibalizumab led to declines in plasma HIV-1 RNA more than 0.5 log in 83% of participants at 1 week. An optimized background antiretroviral regimen was then added, and plasma HIV-1 RNA became less than 50 copies/ml in 43% of participants at 24 weeks. Adverse effects of ibalizumab were uncommon and generally low grade. Ibalizumab was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration on March 16, 2018, under the trade name Trogarzo. SUMMARY: Ibalizumab has demonstrated both safety and efficacy in the treatment of HIV-1 infection. Its primary use will be in the setting of multidrug resistant virus as part of combination antiretroviral therapy. Further enhancements of ibalizumab to prolong its clearance and broaden its activity are in development.

Delayed recognition of a pseudo-outbreak of Mycobacterium terrae.

Pseudo-outbreaks of mycobacteria are difficult to recognize because of long incubation periods for growth and species identification. We report our experience with one clinical microbiology laboratory that isolated a species of nontuberculous mycobacteria from 14 patient specimens. These specimens came from 12 patients at 2 hospitals over a 6-day period and included 6 different fluids or tissues. Because of the delay between mycobacterial specimen submission and growth in culture, the outbreak was not noted until more than a month later. Initial species determination by a reference laboratory indicated that these isolates were Mycobacterium fortuitum. One patient received treatment for presumed M fortuitum brain infection, and it was not effective in changing her clinical course. The isolates were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for identification and typing by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The CDC determined that the isolates were an identical strain of M terrae, thus confirming a pseudo-outbreak. Combining pseudo-outbreak isolates with those correctly identified initially as M terrae during the 6-day period in question, there were 22 samples from 20 patients with M terrae. Since the pseudo-outbreak, the number of cultures of M terrae in the clinical laboratory has returned to baseline levels without any specific intervention.

AIDS related opportunistic infections, going but not gone.

It is now more than two decades since the AIDS epidemic began with a cluster of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) in a community of homosexual men. Since then, many other infections have been characterized as opportunistic infections secondary to HIV infection. These include, but are not limited to, infections with Toxoplasma gondii, Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC), and Cryptococcus neoformans. Over the last two decades, there have been dramatic improvements in diagnosis, prevention and treatment of all these infections. As a result, in North America and Western Europe the rates of opportunistic infections secondary to AIDS have decreased substantially. We will review these common opportunistic infections below.

Antiretroviral therapy 2010 update: current practices and controversies.

Over the past four years, significant advances have been made in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) therapy. In addition to the release of two new classes of antiretrovirals, our understanding of the older antiretrovirals continues to improve. Multiple combination pills have been brought to market, simplifying the regimens for patient ease. New controversies have arisen, notably the role of antiretrovirals in the chronic inflammatory state that HIV infection produces, which may lead to excess cardiac, renal, and hepatic mortality. The optimum time to initiate antiretroviral therapy remains unknown but clinicians are treating HIV infection earlier in its course. In this article, we review these and other new issues relating to the care of the HIV patient.