Antiretroviral therapy among patients with HIV in Almaty, Kazakhstan: the implication for HIV-associated tuberculosis control.

INTRODUCTION: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is an effective preventive strategy against tuberculosis (TB) in people living with HIV (PLWH). In Kazakhstan, according to the revised HIV treatment guideline (2017), ART should be initiated immediately after HIV diagnosis established, regardless of CD4+ count. AIM: To evaluate the impact of early initiation of ART on TB infection in PLWH registered in the Center of Prevention and Control of AIDS, Almaty, Kazakhstan, between 2008 and 2018. METHODOLOGY: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using the data of 4,053 patients from electronic HIV case management system (2008-2018) (EHCMS). RESULTS: The study revealed low rates (12.6%) of rapid ART (≤ 1 month after HIV diagnosis). Patients in the rapid ART initiation group were less likely to develop TB compared with those who started treatment >1 month after the HIV detection (odds ratio 1.6; 95% confidence interval [1.1, 2.2]; p = 0.00799). Interestingly, the risk for developing TB among patients receiving ART ≥ 1 month after HIV diagnosis was significantly higher compared with those not taking any treatment. The latter was explained by several confounding not addressed during the analysis, since ART was prescribed to patients with primarily deeper immunodeficiency, while the patients not receiving ART were less immunocompromised. CONCLUSION: Despite the recently changed HIV treatment guideline in Kazakhstan, ART is still initiated based on the disease severity. In 2018, the initiation of ART during the first month after HIV diagnosis increased by 50%. However, it is necessary to reduce the time to initiation of ART for all patients.

Change in TB diagnostic profile after introduction of GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay in National TB Program of Armenia, 2013-2017.

INTRODUCTION: In 2013, the National Tuberculosis (TB) Program of Armenia introduced GeneXpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) assay to address World Health Organization (WHO) target of 80% (2020) of notified new and relapse TB cases to be tested with WHO recommended rapid diagnostic methods. This study aimed to assess the change in laboratory diagnostic profile of Mycobacterium tuberculosis after introduction of the Xpert assay from 2013 to 2017. METHODOLOGY: Retrospective cohort analysis of all presumptive TB patients' records retrieved from the National Reference Laboratory database was performed. RESULTS: This study showed increased trend of Xpert coverage for suspected TB cases from 25% in 2013 to 86% in 2017 which is in line with WHO TB global strategy's target of 80% in 2020. In 4.7% cases, Xpert tested positive while microscopy showed negative results. There was also an improved detection of Rifampicin resistance with increased concordance from 99.1% to 99.4% and decreased discordance from 6.7% to 1.4% between culture and Xpert results. CONCLUSION: Armenia has achieved the 2020 target; in terms of utilizing the GeneXpert it is on track to achieve the End TB strategy target of 100% by 2025. The next step of this research will be assessment of the impact of GeneXpert and other TB tests utilization on the treatment outcomes in Armenia.

Hepatitis A Infections Among Food Handlers in the United States, 1993-2011.

We reviewed news reports of hepatitis A virus (HAV)-infected food handlers in the United States from 1993 to 2011 using the LexisNexis® search engine. Using U.S. news reports, we identified 192 HAV-infected food handlers who worked while infectious; of these HAV-infected individuals, 34 (18%) transmitted HAV to restaurant patrons. News reports of HAV-infected food handlers declined from 1993 to 2011. This analysis suggests that universal childhood vaccination contributed to the decrease in reports of HAV-infected food handlers, but mandatory vaccination of this group is unlikely to be cost-effective.

Compliance with postexposure screening and treatment of latent tuberculosis infection among healthcare workers in a tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Controlling tuberculosis (TB) infection among occupationally exposed healthcare workers (HCWs) may be challenging. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed clinical records of HCWs who were exposed to patients diagnosed with infectious TB at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between 2008 and 2010. The collected data included baseline tuberculin skin test (TST) status, potential predictors of TST positivity, postexposure diagnosis of latent TB infection (LTBI), and postexposure compliance with LTBI therapy. RESULTS: Thirteen patients were diagnosed with infectious pulmonary TB during the study period. A total of 298 HCWs met our definition for exposure. Exposed HCWs tended to be female (62.9%), non-Saudi (83.9%), nurses (68.6%), or respiratory therapists (24.0%) working in critical care locations (72.8%). Baseline (preemployment) TST documentation existed for 41.3% (123/298). Among those with documented baseline TSTs, 51.2% (63/123) were positive, representing 21.1% (63/298) of all HCWs. Only 48.9% (115/235) of exposed HCWs who had negative or unknown preexposure TST status had their TST tested after exposure. Approximately 46.1% (53/115) of them were diagnosed with postexposure LTBI, and 92.5% (49/53) of them were prescribed LTBI therapy. Among those, 93.9% (46/49) started LTBI therapy; however, 82.6% (38/46) failed to complete the recommended course. CONCLUSIONS: We found low rates of baseline TST documentation and postexposure screening among exposed HCWs. Compliance with initiating postexposure isoniazid prophylaxis among HCWs was fair, but only a small fraction of those who started prophylaxis completed the recommended course of therapy. These findings suggest substantial opportunities to implement administrative measures to enhance LTBI management among HCWs.