Outreach nurses critical for delivery of HIV care to women in western Victoria.

Women living with HIV in regional Victoria face barriers accessing care. We evaluated the care cascade and outreach nurse support required for women attending our service between 2005 and 2020. A total of 33 women attended; 97% (32/33) were on antiretroviral therapy; 67% (22/33) retained in care, 27% (9/33) transferred and 6% (2/33) lost to follow up. Of women retained in care, 95% (21/22) were on antiretroviral therapy and 91% (20/22) had virological suppression. A total of 91% (30/33) required outreach nurse care (median care episodes 100/woman; IQR 44-179) - most frequently (87%; 26/30) liaising with pharmacies and prescribers. Outreach nurses are critical in achieving UNAIDS targets for women in western Victoria.

Missed Opportunities: A Retrospective Study of Hepatitis C Testing in Hospital Inpatients.

Increasing testing is key to achieving hepatitis C elimination. This retrospective study aimed to assess the testing cascade of patients at a regional hospital in Victoria, Australia, who inject drugs or are living with hepatitis C, to identify missed opportunities for hepatitis C care. Adult hospital inpatients and emergency department (ED) attendees from 2018 to 2021 with indications for intravenous drug use (IDU) or hepatitis C on their discharge or ED summary were included. Data sources: hospital admissions, pathology, hospital pharmacy, and outpatients. We assessed progression through the testing cascade and performed logistic regression analysis for predictors of hepatitis C care, including testing and treatment. Of 79,923 adults admitted, 1345 (1.7%) had IDU-coded separations and 628 (0.8%) had hepatitis C-coded separations (N = 1892). Hepatitis C virus (HCV) status at the end of the study was unknown for 1569 (82.9%). ED admissions were associated with increased odds of not providing hepatitis C care (odds ratio 3.29, 95% confidence interval 2.42-4.48). More than 2% of inpatients at our hospital have an indication for testing, however, most are not being tested despite their hospital contact. As we work toward HCV elimination in our region, we need to incorporate testing and linkage strategies within hospital departments with a higher prevalence of people at risk of infection.

Leave No-One Behind: A Retrospective Study of Hepatitis C Testing and Linkage to Care for Hospital Inpatients.

Hospital admissions are a missed opportunity to engage people living with hepatitis C virus (HCV) into care. This study aimed to describe the proportion of hospital inpatients and emergency department (ED) patients identified with hepatitis C who were subsequently linked to care and treatment at a metropolitan health service in Melbourne, Australia. Data were collected retrospectively from hospital databases (admissions, notifiable diseases, and pharmacy) for all adults admitted or attending the ED with separation coding indicating hepatitis C infection from March 2016 to March 2019. There were 2149 patients with at least one separation with hepatitis C coding. 15.4% (331/2149) had a documented antibody test, 4.6% (99/2149) had a documented RNA test, and 8.3% (179/2149) had a DAA prescription dispensed by hospital pharmacy. Antibody positivity was 95.2% (315/331) and RNA (when completed) was detected in 37.4% (37/99). Hepatitis specialist units had the highest rate of hepatitis C coded separations and RNA testing (39/88; 44.3%), mental health had the highest rate of antibody testing (70/276; 25.4%). Emergency had the lowest rate of antibody testing (101/1075; 13.7%) and the third highest rate of RNA testing (32/94; 34.1%), but the highest rate of RNA detected (15/32; 46.9%). This study highlights key steps to improve the care cascade. Simplified diagnostic pathways, expansion of hepatitis C care services, and clear in-hospital pathways to link patients to care would be beneficial in this setting. To scale up hepatitis C testing and treatment as part of national elimination strategies, hospital systems need to target interventions to their local data.

Complementary medicine use by people living with HIV in Australia - a national survey.

Little is known about the use of complementary medicines by people living with HIV in Australia since the advent of more effective combination antiretroviral therapy. We conducted an anonymous survey of 1211 adult patients receiving combination antiretroviral therapy from one of eight specialist HIV clinics across Australia, aiming to identify the current patterns of use of ingestible complementary medicines. Data collected included reasons for use, information sources and rates of disclosure of use of complementary medicines to medical practitioners and pharmacists. Ingestible complementary medicine was used by up to 53% of the 1037 patients returning a survey. Complementary medicine was commonly used for general health, to boost immune function and, to a lesser extent, to address co-morbidities. Disclosure of complementary medicines use to doctors was far higher than to pharmacists. Given the potential for interactions, pharmacists should be more aware of patients' complementary medicines use.

A report on the effect of commencing enfuvirtide on peripheral neuropathy.

Enfuvirtide is the first fusion inhibitor approved for use in HIV treatment and is a useful therapeutic option for highly treatment experienced individuals. Passive reporting has associated increased neuropathy rates with enfuvirtide use in some early studies but not others. The aim of this study was to describe any functional or clinical changes consistent with neuropathy among enfuvirtide users. A prospective cohort study of patients commencing or continuing enfuvirtide at a state HIV referral service, including clinical and sensory threshold monitoring, was conducted. A total of 14 patients were studied. All had advanced HIV disease and 13 (93%) had symptoms and/or signs consistent with neuropathy at baseline. Patients who entered the study on enfuvirtide-based therapy remained neurologically stable throughout follow-up. Eleven patients were assessed preand postenfuvirtide. No evidence was found for any clear effect of enfuvirtide on neuropathic symptoms, neuropathic signs, or sensory thresholds at a cohort level (p > 0.3 for all, Wilcoxon signed rank test). However, three (21%) patients experienced worsening of existing neuropathy symptoms (transient in two cases) and two (14%) patients' symptoms improved with enfuvirtide commencement. Breakthrough HIV viremia was associated with worsening symptoms in two patients at 5 and 18 months of enfuvirtide use. This study found no clear effect on peripheral nerves from enfuvirtide. Although limited by a small sample size, this study involved patients who would have been particularly vulnerable to a neurotoxin, with advanced HIV disease and a high rate of baseline neurological abnormalities. We observed no clear evidence of neurotoxicity from enfuvirtide in this population.

Virulent combinations of adhesin and toxin genes in natural populations of Staphylococcus aureus.

Most cases of severe Staphylococcus aureus disease cannot be explained by the action of a single virulence determinant, and it is likely that a number of factors act in combination during the infective process. This study examined the relationship between disease in humans and a large number of putative virulence determinants, both individually and in combination. S. aureus isolates (n = 334) from healthy blood donors and from patients with invasive disease were compared for variation in the presence of 33 putative virulence determinants. After adjusting for the effect of clonality, seven determinants (fnbA, cna, sdrE, sej, eta, hlg, and ica) were significantly more common in invasive isolates. All seven factors contributed independently to virulence. No single factor predominated as the major predictor of virulence, their effects appearing to be cumulative. No combinations of the seven genes were either more or less likely to cause disease than others with the same number of virulence-associated genes. There was evidence of considerable horizontal transfer of genes on a background of clonality. Our findings also suggested that allelic variants of a polymorphic locus can make different contributions to the disease process, further study of which is likely to expand our understanding of staphylococcal disease pathogenesis.