Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
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The role of human adenoviruses (HAdVs) in chronic respiratory disease pathogenesis is recognized. However, no studies have performed molecular sequencing of HAdVs from the lower airways of children with chronic endobronchial suppuration. We thus examined the major HAdV genotypes/species, and relationships to bacterial coinfection, in children with protracted bacterial bronchitis (PBB) and mild bronchiectasis (BE). ⋯ HAdV-C is the major HAdV species detected in the lower airways of children with PBB and BE. Younger age appears to be an important risk factor for HAdV(+) of the lower airways and influences the likelihood of bacterial coinfection.
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The concept of "treatment as prevention" has emerged as a means to curb the global HIV epidemic. There is, however, still ongoing debate about the evidence on when to start antiretroviral therapy in resource-poor settings. ⋯ In this article, we highlight the societal and individual advantages of treatment as prevention in resource-poor settings. We argue that the available evidence renders the discussion on when to start antiretroviral therapy unnecessary and that, instead, efforts should be aimed at offering treatment as soon as possible.
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The role of viral infections in the etiology of severe community-acquired pneumonia (SCAP) was prospectively evaluated from 2008 to 2012 at a university-level intensive care unit. ⋯ Viral findings were demonstrated in almost half of the SCAP patients. Clinical characteristics were similar between the pure bacterial and mixed bacterial-viral infections groups. The frequency of viral detection depends on the availability of PCR techniques and lower respiratory specimens.
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We have the tools at our disposal to significantly bend AIDS-related morbidity and mortality curves and reduce human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) incidence. It is thus essential to redouble our efforts to reach the goal of placing 15 million people on life-saving and -enhancing antiretroviral therapy (ART) by 2015. In reaching this milestone, we can write a new chapter in the history of global health, demonstrating that a robust, multidimensional response can succeed against a complex pandemic that presents as many social and political challenges as it does medical ones. This milestone is also critical to advance our ultimate goal of ending AIDS by maximizing the therapeutic and preventive effects of ART, which translates into a world in which AIDS-related deaths and new HIV infections are exceedingly rare.