UNASSIGNED: One of the modes of transmission of HIV infection in India is from mother-to-child. In 2014, Prevention of Parent-to-child Transmission (PPTCT) guidelines of HIV in India were implemented which included shifting from Option A to Option B and B+. The aim of the present study was to evaluate health and cost related outcomes after implementation of these new guidelines.
UNASSIGNED: A decision analytical model was used to compare the PPTCT Option A with the new WHO Option of B and B+. Transmissions in serodiscordant couples and infants at 18 months were considered as health outcomes. The estimation of the cost for PPTCT services and HIV treatment was done using Costing Tool for Elimination Initiatives (CTEI) developed by National Center for Global Health and Medicine (NCGM).
UNASSIGNED: The reduction in transmission rates in HIV infants was 33%. In serodiscordant couples the reduction in risk of HIV transmission from Option A to Option B and B+ was 72% and 87%, respectively. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) per quality adjusted life years (QALY) gained by averting infant infection, and for both infant and partner was US$ 238 and US$ 181 for Option B and US$ 1265 and US$ 947 for Option B+, respectively.
UNASSIGNED: It was found that Options B and B+ are more cost-effective as compared to option A. This effectiveness further increases when prevention of partner infections in Option B and B+ is taken into account.

According to evidence-based guidelines, vaccines against measles and varicella are generally recommended to susceptible HIV-positive patients, as long as they are not severely immunocompromised. However, routine screening to determine serologic status is not recommended. We conducted a seroprevalence study of anti-measles and anti-Varicella-Zoster virus (VZV) antibodies in adults living with HIV (PLWHA) consulting at Avicenne University Hospital in a Parisian suburb. Sera were collected in years 2018-2020 and tested by commercial immunoassays in 268 patients. Most of the patients were born in Sub-Saharan Africa (55 %) and only 23 % in Europe. Measles and varicella seropositivity were present respectively in 91.4 % and 96.2 % of patients. One patient in ten was seronegative to at least one of tested diseases. In the univariate analysis, only younger age (p = 0.027) was associated with a higher risk of measles seronegativity, while shorter time since arrival in France (p < 0.001) and shorter time since HIV discovery (p = 0.007) were associated with a higher risk of VZV seronegativity. In multivariate analysis no association was found. This study highlights the absence of specific risk factors for VZV and measles seronegativity in PLWHA and supports the importance of routine screening, in order to increase immunization rates and reduce risk of complications.

Almost half of new diagnoses of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection are made late, leading to increased morbidity and mortality, greater spread of infection, and higher public health care costs. Emergency services care for many patients who share behaviors associated with HIV transmission risk who arrive in clinical situations that are associated with HIV infection. A strategy to increase the rates of early diagnosis by promoting serology for HIV when caring for patients with certain clinical profiles might therefore be the key to improvement. This approach is hardly used at present, however, unless the result of serology would change the management of the acute complaint that led to the visit. These recommendations based on evidence from a search and review of recent publications were developed by a group of experts appointed by the Spanish Society of Emergency Medicine (SEMES). The resulting statement aims to support decision-making by emergency physicians and promote HIV screening and referral to appropriate specialists for follow-up in patients with certain conditions (sexually transmitted infections, herpes zoster, community-acquired pneumonia) or reporting certain scenarios (practice of chemsex, need for post-exposure prophylaxis). These 6 settings were selected because they are often seen in emergency departments and are common in patients with HIV-positive tests. The recommendations address when to order serology for HIV and how to manage the referral process. Included are decision-making tools for emergency physicians.
Casi la mitad de los nuevos diagnósticos de infección por el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH) se realizan de forma tardía, lo cual provoca un aumento en la morbimortalidad, una mayor expansión de la epidemia y un incremento en los costes sanitarios públicos. En los servicios de urgencias se atiende a muchos de los pacientes que presentan situaciones indicadoras de infección por VIH o que comparten su misma vía de transmisión. Por lo tanto, pueden ser clave en una estrategia que mejore las tasas de diagnóstico precoz mediante la promoción de la solicitud de serologías frente al VIH durante la atención de determinados perfiles clínicos. Sin embargo, esto en la actualidad se produce escasamente a no ser que el resultado de la serología vaya a modificar el manejo del proceso agudo que ha motivado la consulta en urgencias. Las presentes recomendaciones se han desarrollado por un grupo de expertos designados por la Sociedad Española de Medicina de Urgencias y Emergencias (SEMES) en base a la identificación y revisión de la evidencia científica más reciente. El objetivo de este documento es dar soporte a los médicos de urgencias en la toma de decisiones, promoviendo el cribado del VIH y la derivación de los pacientes al especialista adecuado para su seguimiento posterior en seis entidades clínicas seleccionadas por su elevada prevalencia en pacientes VIH positivos y la alta frecuencia con la que son atendidas en urgencias: 1) infecciones de transmisión sexual; 2) profilaxis post exposición; 3) herpes zoster; 4) práctica del chemsex; 5) neumonía adquirida en la comunidad, y 6) síndrome mononucleósico. Las recomendaciones incluyen indicaciones sobre en qué pacientes debe realizarse una serología, el proceso de derivación y herramientas para ayudar a los médicos de urgencias en la toma de decisiones.

BACKGROUND: HIV continues to be the main determinant morbidity with high mortality rates in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a high number of patients being late presenters with advanced HIV. Clinical management of advanced HIV patients is thus complex and requires strict adherence to updated, empirical and simplified guidelines. The current study investigated the impact of the implementation of a new clinical guideline on the management of advanced HIV in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
METHODS: A retrospective analysis of routine clinical data of advanced HIV patients was conducted for the periods; February 2016 to March 2017, before implementation of new guidelines, and November 2017 to July 2018, after the implementation of new guidelines. Eligible patients were patients with CD4 < 200 cell/μl and presenting with at least 1 of 4 opportunistic infections. Patient files were reviewed by a medical doctor and a committee of 3 other doctors for congruence. Statistical significance was set at 0.05%.
RESULTS: Two hundred four and Two hundred thirty-one patients were eligible for inclusion before and after the implementation of new guidelines respectively. Sex and age distributions were similar for both periods, and median CD4 were 36 & 52 cell/μl, before and after the new guidelines implementation, respectively. 40.7% of patients had at least 1 missed/incorrect diagnosis before the new guidelines compared to 30% after new guidelines, p < 0.05. Clinical diagnosis for TB and toxoplasmosis were also much improved after the implementation of new guidelines. In addition, only 63% of patients had CD4 count test results before the new guidelines compared to 99% of patients after new guidelines. Death odds after the implementation of new guidelines were significantly lower than before new guidelines in a multivariate regression model that included patients CD4 count and 10 other covariates, p < 0.05.
CONCLUSIONS: Simplification and implementation of a new and improved HIV clinical guideline coupled with the installation of laboratory equipment and point of care tests potentially helped reduce incorrect diagnosis and improve clinical outcomes of patients with advanced HIV. Regulating authorities should consider developing simplified versions of guidelines followed by the provision of basic diagnostic equipment to health centers.

BACKGROUND: Although human papillomavirus (HPV) routine vaccination programmes have been implemented around the world and recommendations have been expanded to include other high-risk individuals, current recommendations often differ between countries in Europe, as well as worldwide.
OBJECTIVE: To find and summarise the best available evidence of HPV vaccination in high-risk patients aiding clinicians and public health workers in the day-to-day vaccine decisions relating to HPV in Spain.
METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of the immunogenicity, safety and efficacy/effectiveness of HPV vaccination in high-risk populations between January 2006 and June 2016. HPV vaccination recommendations were established with levels of evidence according to the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system.
RESULTS: A strong recommendation about HPV vaccination was made in the following groups: HIV infected patients aged 9-26 years; men who have sex with men aged 9-26 years; women with precancerous cervical lesions; patients with congenital bone marrow failure syndrome; women who have received a solid organ transplant or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation aged 9-26 years; and patients diagnosed with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis.
CONCLUSIONS: Data concerning non-routine HPV vaccination in populations with a high risk of HPV infection and associated lesions were scarce. We have developed a document to evaluate and establish evidence-based guidelines on HPV vaccination in high-risk populations in Spain, based on best available scientific evidence.

This article lays out the research priorities for Mycoplasma genitalium research agreed upon by the participants in a 2016 National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases-funded Technical Consultation focused on this organism. The state of current knowledge concerning the microbiology, epidemiology, clinical manifestations of infection, treatment, and public health significance of M. genitalium reviewed at the meeting is described in detail in the individual articles included in this supplemental edition of the Journal of Infectious Diseases. Here we summarize the points made in these articles most relevant to the formulation of the research priorities listed in this article. The most important recommendation resulting from this Technical Consultation is the initiation of clinical trials designed to determine definitively whether screening for and treatment of M. genitalium infections in women and their sexual partners improve reproductive health in women and/or prevent human immunodeficiency virus transmission.

Patients with HIV infection have a higher cardiovascular risk than the general population. The identification of patients with high CVR, the implementation of preventive measures and the control of modifiable risk factors, especially in patients on antiretroviral therapy should be part of the management of HIV infection. This document updates the recommendations published in 2014, mainly regarding lipid, glucose, arterial hypertension alterations and cardiovascular risk (CVR). The objective of metabolic monitoring is A1C ≤7%, similar to that of non-infected population, individualising by age, life expectancy, comorbidities, hypoglycaemia risk and costs. Cardiovascular risk should be calculated in all HIV patients with a risk calculator available for clinical use, even though we recommend the use of REGICOR tables as we are treating the Spanish population. Proper measurement of blood pressure should be a routine practice in the care of patients with HIV infection. The aim of this document is to provide tools for the diagnosis and appropriate treatment of the main metabolic alterations to serve as a reference to professionals who care for people with HIV infection.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is recommended for all patients infected by HIV-1. The objective of ART is to achieve an undetectable plasma viral load (PVL). Initial ART should be based on a combination of 3 drugs, including 2 nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (tenofovir in either of its two formulations plus emtricitabine or abacavir plus lamivudine) and another drug from a different family. Four of the recommended regimens, all of which have an integrase inhibitor as the third drug (dolutegravir, elvitegravir boosted with cobicistat or raltegravir), are considered preferential, whereas a further 3 regimens (based on elvitegravir/cobicistat, rilpivirine, or darunavir boosted with cobicistat or ritonavir) are considered alternatives. We present the reasons and criteria for switching ART in patients with an undetectable PVL and in those who present virological failure, in which case salvage ART should include 3 (or at least 2) drugs that are fully active against HIV. We also update the criteria for ART in specific situations (acute infection, HIV-2 infection, pregnancy) and comorbidities (tuberculosis or other opportunistic infections, kidney disease, liver disease and cancer).

Osteoporosis has become an emerging comorbid condition in people living with HIV (PLWH). The increase in survival and the progressive aging of PLWH will make this complication more frequent in the near future. In addition to the traditional risk factors affecting the general population, factors directly or indirectly associated with HIV infection, including antiretroviral therapy, can increase the risk of osteoporosis. The present article is an executive summary of the document that updates the previous recommendations on the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis in PLWH. This document is intended for all professionals who work in clinical practice in the field of HIV infection.

OBJECTIVE: This consensus document is an update of combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) guidelines and recommendations for HIV-1 infected adult patients.
METHODS: To formulate these recommendations, a panel composed of members of the AIDS Study Group and the AIDS National Plan (GeSIDA/Plan Nacional sobre el Sida) reviewed the efficacy and safety advances in clinical trials, and cohort and pharmacokinetic studies published in medical journals (PubMed and Embase) or presented in medical scientific meetings. The strength of the recommendations, and the evidence that supports them, are based on modified criteria of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
RESULTS: In this update, cART is recommended for all patients infected by type 1 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1). The strength and level of the recommendation depends on the CD4+T-lymphocyte count, the presence of opportunistic diseases or comorbid conditions, age, and prevention of transmission of HIV. The objective of cART is to achieve an undetectable plasma viral load. Initial cART should always comprise a combination of 3 drugs, including 2 nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, and a third drug from a different family. Three out of the ten recommended regimes are regarded as preferential (all of them with an integrase inhibitor as the third drug), and the other seven (based on a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, a ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitor, or an integrase inhibitor) as alternatives. This update presents the causes and criteria for switching cART in patients with undetectable plasma viral load, and in cases of virological failure where rescue cART should comprise 3 (or at least 2) drugs that are fully active against the virus. An update is also provided for the specific criteria for cART in special situations (acute infection, HIV-2 infection, and pregnancy) and with comorbid conditions (tuberculosis or other opportunistic infections, kidney disease, liver disease, and cancer).
CONCLUSIONS: These new guidelines update previous recommendations related to cART (when to begin and what drugs should be used), how to monitor and what to do in case of viral failure or drug adverse reactions. cART specific criteria in comorbid patients and special situations are equally updated.