The Lancet infectious diseases
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Cryptococcal immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) may present as a clinical worsening or new presentation of cryptococcal disease after initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART), and is thought to be caused by recovery of cryptococcus-specific immune responses. We have reviewed reports of cryptococcal IRIS and have developed a consensus case definition specifically for paradoxical crytopcoccal IRIS in patients with HIV-1 and known cryptococcal disease before ART, and a separate definition for incident cryptococcosis developed during ART (termed ART-associated cryptococcosis), for which a proportion of cases are likely to be unmasking cryptococcal IRIS. These structured case definitions are intended to aid design of future clinical, epidemiological, and immunopathological studies of cryptococcal IRIS, to standardise diagnostic criteria, and to facilitate comparisons between studies. As for definitions of tuberculosis-associated IRIS, definitions for cryptococcal IRIS should be regarded as preliminary until further insights into the immunopathology of IRIS permit their refinement.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Effectiveness of five artemisinin combination regimens with or without primaquine in uncomplicated falciparum malaria: an open-label randomised trial.
Artemisinin-combination therapy (ACT) is recommended as first-line treatment of falciparum malaria throughout the world, and fixed-dose combinations are preferred by WHO; whether a single gametocytocidal dose of primaquine should be added is unknown. We aimed to compare effectiveness of four fixed-dose ACTs and a loose tablet combination of artesunate and mefloquine, and assess the addition of a single gametocytocidal dose of primaquine. ⋯ Médecins sans Frontières (Holland) and the Wellcome Trust Mahidol University Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Programme.
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Multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis are generally thought to have high mortality rates. However, many cases can be treated with the right combination and rational use of available antituberculosis drugs. This Review describes the evidence available for each drug and discusses the basis for recommendations for the treatment of patients with MDR and XDR tuberculosis. ⋯ The fourth group are called the second-line drugs and should be used in the following order: thioamides, cycloserine, then aminosalicylic acid. The fifth group includes drugs that are not very effective or for which there are sparse clinical data. Drugs in group five should be used in the following order: clofazimine, amoxicillin with clavulanate, linezolid, carbapenems, thioacetazone, then clarithromycin.
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Review Meta Analysis
Community-acquired bloodstream infections in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Data on the prevalence and causes of community-acquired bloodstream infections in Africa are scarce. We searched three databases for studies that prospectively studied patients admitted to hospital with at least a blood culture, and found 22 eligible studies describing 58 296 patients, of whom 2051 (13.5%) of 15 166 adults and 3527 (8.2%) of 43 130 children had bloodstream infections. 1643 (29.1%) non-malaria bloodstream infections were due to Salmonella enterica (58.4% of these non-typhoidal Salmonella), the most prevalent isolate overall and in adults, and 1031 (18.3% overall) were due to Streptococcus pneumoniae, the most common isolate in children. Other common isolates included Staphylococcus aureus (531 infections; 9.5%) and Escherichia coli (412; 7.3%). ⋯ Where recorded, patients with bloodstream infections had an in-hospital case fatality of 18.1%. Our results show that bloodstream infections are common and associated with high mortality. Improved clinical microbiology services and reassessment of empirical treatment guidelines that account for the epidemiology of bloodstream infections might contribute to better outcomes.