Surveillance of human immunodeficiency virus suggests that younger men who have sex with men are at higher risk of infection, European Union, 2003 to 2012.

In 2012, newly reported human immunodeficiency virus diagnoses in the European Union /European Economic Area remained stable at around 30,000 cases. Since 2003, cases in men who have sex with men (MSM) aged 20 to 29 years-old doubled, while the proportion of late presenters in this group remained stable. Persistent declines occurred among older MSM age groups, particularly that between 30 and 39 years-old. Interventions targeting younger MSM are needed to prevent a resurgence of the epidemic in Europe.

Increase of new HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men in Poland, 2000 to 2011.

Re-emergence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM) has been observed in countries of western Europe, North America and Australia since the mid-1990s. We aimed to describe the trends in notification rate of HIV infection among MSM in Poland in order to provide evidence for further public health action. We performed a descriptive analysis of 2000­11 surveillance data, accounting for missing information on transmission category through multiple imputations. There were 9,286 new HIV diagnoses in Poland in 2000­11, ranging from 546 to 1,095 per year. A total of 6,896 cases were male, 1,943 female. For 5,615 (60.5%) new diagnoses, the transmission category was not reported; among the rest, MSM constituted 24.1% (n=885/3,671). The rate of new HIV diagnoses among MSM per million men increased from 2.5 in 2000 to 33.8 in 2011; in the Mazowieckie region, which includes Warsaw, it rose from 2.2 to 88.8, when adjusting for missing data on transmission category. Our results suggest the need for enhanced, comprehensive prevention among MSM, especially in regions where the increasing rate of new HIV diagnoses suggests ongoing transmission.

Did public health travel advice reach EURO 2012 football fans? A social network survey.

We posted a survey on the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA)'s EURO 2012 Facebook profile to evaluate whether public health travel advice, specifically on the importance of measles vaccination,reached fans attending EURO 2012. Responses suggested that these messages were missed by 77% of fans. Social networks could serve as innovative platforms to conduct surveys, enabling rapid access to target populations at low cost and could be of use during upcoming mass gatherings such as the Olympics.

Laboratory-based surveillance of Campylobacter and Salmonella infection and the importance of denominator data.

Laboratory data are the cornerstone in surveillance of infectious disease. We investigated whether changes in reported incidence of Campylobacter and Salmonella infection might be explained by changes in stool sampling rates. Data were extracted from a national database on 585 843 patient stool samples tested by microbiology laboratories in Wales between 1998 and 2008. Salmonella incidence fell from 43 to 19 episodes/100 000 population but Campylobacter incidence after declining from 111/100 000 in 1998 to 84/100 000 in 2003 rose to 119/100 000 in 2008. The proportion of the population sampled rose from 2·0% in 1998 to 2·8% in 2008, mostly due to increases in samples from hospital patients and older adults. The proportion of positive samples declined for both Salmonella and Campylobacter from 3·1% to 1·1% and from 8·9% to 7·5%, respectively. The decline in Salmonella incidence is so substantial that it is not masked even by increased stool sampling, but the recent rise in Campylobacter incidence may be a surveillance artefact largely due to the increase in stool sampling in older people.

Comparison of two doses of intravenous immunoglobulin after allogeneic bone marrow transplants.

Intravenous immunoglobulin has been used after bone marrow transplants to prevent infections and acute graft-versus-host disease. However, the minimum dose required for protection is unknown. This may have significant economic implications. A multicenter randomized clinical trial compared the impact of two intravenous immunoglobulin doses on systemic infections and acute graft-versus-host disease in transplant recipients. Either 250 mg/kg or 500 mg/kg was given weekly from day -8 to day +111. Multivariate analysis was used to assess the effect of dose and other risk factors on event-free survival, systemic infection, and acute graft-versus-host disease. The two-dose cohorts had similar event-free survival and infection frequencies. The higher dose was associated with less acute graft-versus-host disease (P = 0.03).

Lysis of neuroblastoma cell lines by human natural killer cells activated by interleukin-2 and interleukin-12.

Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial, solid tumor in children. Despite intensive chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation, the 5-year projected survival rate is 20% to 25%. In vitro studies have shown enhanced natural killer cell (NK) lysis of tumor cells after exposure of NK cells to interleukin-2 (IL-2). In vivo studies have demonstrated similar immunologic effects but have also revealed severe toxicities associated with the use of IL-2. IL-12 is a newly described cytokine that has several properties, including the ability to act synergistically with IL-2 in generating lymphokine-activated killer cells (LAK) against known tumor targets. We investigated the role of IL-12 in the generation of peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) lysis of neuroblastoma cell lines. PBMC were activated with IL-12 alone and in combination with IL-2. Whereas IL-12 alone produced only modest enhancement of NK cell cytotoxicity, the combination of IL-2 and IL-12 was most effective in activating NK cell lysis of neuroblastoma cell lines. Further, we showed that large granular lymphocytes were the effector cells involved in target cell lysis. Finally, the CD18 molecule was shown to be critical in the lysis of neuroblastoma cells by activated PBMC.