0000000000262561
AUTHOR
Enrico Girardi
MOESM2 of Is physician assessment of alcohol consumption useful in predicting risk of severe liver disease among people with HIV and HIV/HCV co-infection?
Additional file 2. Table S2. Patientsâ characteristics stratified by reported and non-reported alcohol consumption.
Impact of hepatitis C virus infection on lifestyle
AIM: To evaluate the impact of the diagnosis of hepatitis C infection on lifestyle habits such as smoking, drinking, sports activity and diet. METHODS: A self-administered, anonymous question-naire was offered to out-patients with HCV infection consecutively attending three clinical centres in Italy. RESULTS: Of the 275 respondents, 62.2% (171) were male. Mean age was 51 (range 20-80) years. Overall, after the diagnosis of hepatitis C, 74.5% of drinkers had modified (giving up or reducing) alcohol consumption, 21.3% of smokers had modified their habits and 32.3% of subjects who reported sports activity had either stopped or reduced frequency of activity or chose a less fatiguing sport. Sixt…
New tools for detecting latent tuberculosis infection: evaluation of RD1-specific long-term response
Abstract Background Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) release assays (IGRAs) were designed to detect latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). However, discrepancies were found between the tuberculin skin test (TST) and IGRAs results that cannot be attributed to prior Bacille Calmètte Guerin vaccinations. The aim of this study was to evaluate tools for improving LTBI diagnosis by analyzing the IFN-γ response to RD1 proteins in prolonged (long-term response) whole blood tests in those subjects resulting negative to assays such as QuantiFERON-TB Gold In tube (QFT-IT). Methods The study population included 106 healthy TST+ individuals with suspected LTBI (recent contact of smear-positive TB and homeless) c…
COVID-19 in people living with HIV: Clinical implications of dynamics of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2.
ABSTRACT Background Little evidence on COVID‐19 in people living with HIV (PLWH) is currently available. Material and Methods We reported clinical and viro‐immunological data of all HIV‐positive patients admitted to our centre with COVID‐19 from March 1 to May 12,2020. Results Overall, five patients were included: all were virologically‐suppressed on antiretroviral therapy and CD4+ count was >350 cell/mm3 in all but two patients. Although all patients had evidence of pneumonia on admission, only one developed respiratory failure. SARS‐CoV‐2‐RNA was never detected from nasopharyngeal swabs in two patients, whereas, in the others, viral clearance occurred within a maximum of 43 days. IgG prod…
COVID-19 disease - Temporal analyses of complete blood count parameters over course of illness, and relationship to patient demographics and management outcomes in survivors and non-survivors: a longitudinal descriptive cohort study
Background Detailed temporal analyses of complete (full) blood count (CBC) parameters, their evolution and relationship to patient age, gender, co-morbidities and management outcomes in survivors and non-survivors with COVID-19 disease, could identify prognostic clinical biomarkers. Methods From 29 January 2020 until 28 March 2020, we performed a longitudinal cohort study of COVID-19 inpatients at the Italian National Institute for Infectious Diseases, Rome, Italy. 9 CBC parameters were studied as continuous variables [neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, platelets, mean platelet volume, red blood cell count, haemoglobin concentration, mean red blood cell volume and red blood cell distribu…
Estimating minimum adult HIV prevalence: A cross-sectional study to assess the characteristics of people living with HIV in Italy
In 2012, we conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study to assess the number of people living with HIV linked to care and, among these, the number of people on antiretroviral therapy. The health authority in each of the 20 Italian Regions provided the list of Public Infectious Diseases Clinics providing antiretroviral therapy and monitoring people with HIV infection. We asked every Public Infectious Diseases Clinic to report the number of HIV-positive people diagnosed and linked to care and the number of those on antiretroviral therapy during 2012. In 2012, 94,146 people diagnosed with HIV and linked to care were reported. The majority were males (70.1%), Italians (84.4%), and aged betw…
HIV/HCV co-infection: putting the pieces of the puzzle together
The most relevant consequence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is the exposure of the patient to opportunistic agents. In addition, HIV may also modify the natural history of some non-opportunistic pathogens, which in turn may alter the course of HIV infection.
A whole blood test to measure SARS-CoV-2-specific response in COVID-19 patients
Objectives To examine whether specific T-cell-responses to SARS-CoV-2 peptides can be detected in COVID-19 using a whole-blood experimental setting, which may be further explored as potential diagnostic tool. Methods We evaluated IFN-γ levels after stimulating whole-blood with spike and remainder-antigens peptides megapools (MP) derived from SARS-CoV-2 sequences; IL-1β, IL-1RA, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-9, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-13, IL-15, IL-17A, eotaxin, basic FGF, G-CSF, GM-CSF, IFN-γ, IP-10, MCP-1, MIP-1α, MIP-1β, PDGF, RANTES, TNF-α, VEGF were also evaluated. Results IFN-γ-response to spike and remainder-antigens MPs was significantly increased in 35 COVID-19-patients compare…
Lessons learnt from TB screening in closed immigration centres in Italy
Background Between June 2012 and December 2013 Médecins Sans Frontières launched a pilot project with the aim of testing a strategy for improving timely diagnosis of active pulmonary TB among migrants hosted in four centres of identification and expulsion (CIE) in Italy. Methods This is a descriptive study. For active TB case finding we used an active symptom screening approach among migrants at admission in four CIE's. Here we describe the feasibility and the yield of this programme. Results Overall, 3588 migrants were screened, among whom 87 (2.4%) had a positive questionnaire. Out of 30 migrants referred for further investigations, three were diagnosed as having TB, or 0.1% out of 3588 i…
GRAd-COV2, a gorilla adenovirus-based candidate vaccine against COVID-19, is safe and immunogenic in younger and older adults
International audience; Safe and effective vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are essential for ending the ongoing pandemic. Although impressive progress has been made with several COVID-19 vaccines already approved, it is clear that those developed so far cannot meet the global vaccine demand alone. We describe a COVID-19 vaccine based on a replication-defective gorilla adenovirus expressing the stabilized prefusion severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein named GRAd-COV2. We assessed the safety and immunogenicity of a single-dose regimen of this vaccine in healthy younger and older adults to select the appropriate dose for each age group…
HVR-1 quasispecies modifications occur early and are correlated to initial but not sustained response in HCV-infected patients treated with pegylated- or standard-interferon and ribavirin
Abstract Background/Aims HVR-1 quasispecies composition and evolution were investigated in patients chronically infected with genotype 1b HCV, treated with PEG-IFN α2b or STD-IFN α2b plus RBV. Methods HVR-1 heterogeneity was assessed by calculating nucleotidic complexity, diversity, synonymous (S) and non-synonymous (NS) substitutions at baseline, after 4 weeks of therapy ( T 1) and at follow-up ( T 18). Evolution of viral quasispecies was analysed by constructing phylogenetic trees. Results No correlation of baseline viremia with heterogeneity was observed. Nucleotidic complexity was lower in patients showing early virological response, and tended to be inversely correlated to viral load d…
GRAd-COV2, a gorilla adenovirus based candidate vaccine against COVID-19, is safe and immunogenic in young and older adults
AbstractSafe and effective vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are urgently needed to control the ongoing pandemic. Although impressive progress has been made with several COVID-19 vaccines already approved, it is clear that those developed so far cannot meet the global vaccine demand. We have developed a COVID-19 vaccine based on a replication-defective gorilla adenovirus expressing the stabilized pre-fusion SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein, named GRAd-COV2. We aimed to assess the safety and immunogenicity of a single-dose regimen of this vaccine in healthy younger and older adults to select the appropriate dose for each age group. To this purpose, a phase 1, dose-escalation, open…
MOESM1 of Is physician assessment of alcohol consumption useful in predicting risk of severe liver disease among people with HIV and HIV/HCV co-infection?
Additional file 1. Table S1. List of Ethic Committees that Approved Icona Study.