No booster dose for yellow fever vaccination: what are the consequences for the activity of vaccination in travel clinics?

In April 2013, the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunization stated that a single dose of yellow fever (YF) vaccine is sufficient in the general population to confer a lifelong protection against YF. When the period of validity of the International Certificate of Vaccination (ICV) will be extended to a lifetime in June 2016, no booster dose will be needed. The objective of this prospective study was to determine the potential impact of the SAGE recommendations on the vaccination activity of our travel clinics. We showed that among 1,037 subjects seen in our three travel clinics for a YF vaccination in 2013, about 32.3% went for a booster dose that is no longer useful according to the SAGE. A drop in vaccination activity has to be expected by travel clinics in the next years, and changes in daily exercise have to be anticipated, as YF vaccination is a large part of the regular work of many healthcare providers specialized in travel medicine.

Effect of early syphilis infection on plasma viral load and CD4 cell count in human immunodeficiency virus-infected men: results from the FHDH-ANRS CO4 cohort.

BACKGROUND: Concomitant syphilis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is increasingly frequent in industrialized countries. METHODS: From a large hospital cohort of HIV-infected patients followed up in the Paris area between 1998 and 2006, we examined the effect of early syphilis on plasma HIV-1 RNA levels and CD4 cell counts. We compared 282 HIV-1-infected men diagnosed as having incident primary or secondary syphilis with 1233 syphilis-free men matched for age (±5 years), sexual orientation, participating center, length of follow-up (±6 months), and immunologic and virologic status before the date of syphilis diagnosis (index date). Increase in viral load (VL) (plasma HIV-1 RNA) of at least 0.5 log or a rise to greater than 500 copies/mL in patients with previously controlled VL during the 6 months after the index date was analyzed, as were CD4 cell count variations and CD4 slope after the index date. RESULTS: During the 6 months after the index date, VL increase was observed in 77 men with syphilis (27.3%) and in 205 syphilis-free men (16.6%) (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.87; 95% CI, 1.40-2.49). Even in men with a VL of less than 500 copies/mL undergoing antiretroviral therapy, syphilis was associated with a higher risk of VL increase (aOR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.02-2.26). The CD4 cell count decreased significantly (mean, -28/µL) compared with the syphilis-free group during the syphilis episode (P = .001) but returned to previous levels thereafter. CONCLUSIONS: In HIV-infected men, syphilis was associated with a slight and transient decrease in the CD4 cell count and with an increase in VL, which implies that syphilis may increase the risk of HIV transmission, even in patients receiving antiretroviral therapy and with a VL of less than 500 copies/mL.