Simultaneous diagnosis of severe imported Plasmodium falciparum malaria and HIV: report of three cases.

The increasing number of travellers to and from areas where considerable overlap between high malaria transmission and elevated prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection exists, augment the probability that returning travellers to non-endemic countries might present with both infections. The presence of such co-infection can increase the severity of malaria episodes and also can change the progression of HIV infection. This article describes three travellers returning from malaria-endemic areas that had simultaneous diagnosis of severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria and HIV infection. Despite the severe forms of malaria and HIV co-infection, all patients responded successfully to anti-malarial treatment. Malaria and HIV interact with one another, with HIV infection increasing parasite burden, clinical severity and risk of complications of malaria; malaria seems to create an immunological interaction favourable to HIV spread and replication, with impact in progression to AIDS. The presence of malaria and HIV co-infection also poses other challenges related to treatment response, level of care and possible interactions of drugs. The authors recommend that all patients with fever returning from malaria endemic areas should be screened both for malaria and HIV infection.

Nonemergent craniotomy surgical site infection: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: The incidence of surgical site infection after craniotomy (SSI-CRAN) varies widely and is associated with major consequences. The aim of this study is to estimate the SSI-CRAN rate at the neurosurgery department of a tertiary center and to establish its risk factors. Methods: All consecutive adult patients who underwent elective craniotomy for tumor resection at a tertiary center from January 2018 to October 2019 were retrospectively assessed. Demographic, clinical, and surgical data were collected. The main outcome of our study was the development of SSI within 30days postsurgery, as defined by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control guidelines. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to establish risk factors for SSI-CRAN. Results: From the 271 patients enrolled in this study, 15 (5.5%) developed SSI-CRAN within 30days postsurgery, 11 (73.3%) of which were organ-space. The most common causative microorganisms isolated were gram-positive cocci, particularly Staphylococcus epidermidis (n = 4, 66.7%). In the univariate analysis, absence of normothermia and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak were associated with SSI-CRAN. In the multivariate analysis, normothermia was the only protective factor and CSF leak was the only independent risk factor for SSI-CRAN. Conclusion: The cumulative incidence of SSI-CRAN within 30days postsurgery was 5.5%. CSF leak and the absence of normothermia were the only independent risk factors for SSI-CRAN. The data provided in this study should be considered in the design of preventive strategies aimed to reduce the incidence of SSI.

How can Multi-Professional Education Support Better Stewardship?

Antimicrobial stewardship is widely accepted as an efficient strategy to combat the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. Education is one of the cornerstones of successful antimicrobial stewardship programs. There is also general agreement that antimicrobial stewardship is a team effort that must involve the whole continuum of healthcare workers. Providing adequate education for all different professionals although challenging is deemed crucial to achieve good results. This paper reviews the different strategies available to educate the multiple healthcare workers, discusses how education can improve antimicrobial stewardship programs and outlines some of the challenges faced and research gaps that need to be addressed in order to improve education in this field.

Hepatitis C and leptospirosis: simultaneous acute infections or recurrence of occult hepatitis C.

People who inject drugs are vulnerable to several infections. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of a simultaneous diagnosis of leptospirosis and acute infection or recurrence of occult hepatitis C in an HIV-infected drug user. We report a case of a 47-year-old Caucasian man with HIV infection, on antiretroviral therapy, and with a history of hepatitis C (positive anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HCV RNA persistently negative) who was admitted with febrile acute hepatitis. He was a former injecting drug user, on opioid substitution therapy, who relapsed to injection drug use 3 weeks prior to admission. Work up revealed positive HCV RNA and Leptospira DNA in his urine. Four weeks later he had an undetectable HCV load, and also at 6 months of follow-up. This case highlights the presence of two concomitant infectious aetiologies of acute hepatitis in an HIV-infected drug user.

Prozone-like phenomenon in travellers with fatal malaria: report of two cases.

Malaria diagnosis remains a concern in non-endemic countries, with rapid diagnosis being crucial to improve patients' outcome. Rapid diagnostic tests have high sensitivity but they also have flaws and false-negative results that might jeopardize malaria diagnosis. Some false-negative results might relate to a prozone-like effect. The authors describe two patients with false-negative rapid diagnostic tests in which a prozone-like effect might have been involved. The authors highlight that these tests should not be used without accompanying light microscopy observation of blood films and discuss potential benefits of using rapid diagnostic tests with more than one specific antigen for Plasmodium falciparum.

Characterization of HIV-1 subtypes in a Portuguese cohort.

INTRODUCTION: Distribution of HIV-1 subtypes is variable around the world, with the most common subtype in western Europe being subtype B. The aim our study was to describe the prevalence of different HIV-1 subtypes in newly diagnosed patients and identify demographic and epidemiological characteristics related with different subtypes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective single-centre study of patients newly diagnosed with HIV-1 infection between 2006 and 2012. Epidemiological data was gathered and genotyping was performed in each patient identified. Demographic and epidemiological characteristics were compared between patients with subtype B and other subtypes. Continuous variables were summarized by mean and standard deviation whereas categorical variables were presented as proportions. Comparison of groups was performed using the Chi square, Fisher exact test and Student T test. Statistical significance was assumed when p<0.05. RESULTS: In the period of the study, 624 patients newly diagnosed with HIV-1 infection were submitted to genotypic testing but information about subtype was available only for 592 patients. General characteristics of the patients are summarized in Table 1. The distribution of the identified subtypes was the following: 286 (48.3%) patients had subtype B, 157 (26.5%) had subtype G, 54 (9.1%) had subtype C, 36 (6.1%) had subtype A, 32 (5.4%) had subtype F and 25 (4.2%) had CRF's. Patients with subtype B were more commonly male (p=0.001) and younger (p<0.0001) than those with subtypes other than B. Subtype B was more common in MSM patients, while non-B subtypes were more common in heterosexual patients and in injecting drug users (p=0.001). CD4-cell count, viral load and AIDS at presentation were not significantly different between subtypes. Resistance associated mutations were significantly more common in patients with non-B subtypes (15.4% vs 9.8%; p=0.048). CONCLUSIONS: The most commonly identified subtype was B in accordance with previous reports from other western European countries. However, in our cohort the proportion of non-B subtypes is higher than that reported for other European countries, probably reflecting the influence of strong bonds with Portuguese speaking African countries. Knowledge about HIV subtypes distribution may help understanding transmission dynamics and can be an important tool in the design of preventive measures.

Primary drug resistance at diagnosis of HIV-1 infection: a Portuguese cohort.

INTRODUCTION: Presence of viral mutations conferring resistance to antiretroviral drugs has potential impact on success of antiretroviral therapy (ART). The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of resistance-associated mutations in HIV-infected patients without prior ART in a Portuguese cohort. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective single-centre study of patients newly diagnosed with HIV-1 infection between 2006 and 2012. Resistance genotyping was obtained with HIV TRUGENE(®) and Viroseq(®) tests and the analysis of drug resistance was based on the Stanford University HIV Drug Resistance Database. Epidemiological data was also gathered. Continuous variables were summarized by mean and standard deviation, whereas categorical variables were presented as proportions. Comparison of proportions was performed with Chi square and Fisher exact test while means were compared with Student test. Statistical significance was assumed when p<0.05. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 21.0(®). RESULTS: Resistance testing was performed in 624 patients. General characteristics of the patients are summarized in Table 1. Mutations were found in 291 (46.6%) patients but resistance-associated mutations were present in 79 (12.7%) patients. Resistances to different drug classes were the following: NNRTIs-resistance in 42 (6.7%) patients; NRTIs-resistance in 19 (3.0%) patients; PIs-resistance in 30 (4.8%) patients. Only 10 (1.6%) patients presented simultaneous resistance-associated mutations to more than one class of drugs. There were no statistical significant differences between the years at which HIV-1 was diagnosed. Also no significant difference in the distribution of the parameters age, sex, CD4-cell count, and viral load, between groups with and without resistance was identified. Resistance-associated mutations were significantly more common in patients with non-B HIV-1 subtypes (15.4% vs 9.8%; p=0.048) and in those presenting with AIDS (18.2% vs 11.1%; p=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of resistance-associated mutations identified in this study was similar to those reported in similar studies from Western Europe. Knowledge about the epidemiology of primary resistance in our country is important in order to improve HIV care.