Clinical impact of HSV-1 detection in the lower respiratory tract from hospitalized adult patients

AbstractThe occurrence and clinical impact of herpes simplex virus (HSV) were evaluated in 342 bronchoalveolar lavage specimens from 237 patients. HSV-1 and HSV-2 were detected in 32.1% and <1% of patients, respectively. A significant difference of HSV-1 prevalence and load was found in relation to admission to intensive care unit, mechanical ventilation and mortality within 28 days; in particular, a viral load ≥105 copies/mL bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was significantly associated with critical features. No association was found with immune status or other characteristics. Nine of 21 (42.9%) cases of ventilator-associated pneumonia were positive for HSV-1, with poor outcome in six

Prevalence and follow-up of occult HCV infection in an Italian population free of clinically detectable infectious liver disease.

BACKGROUND: Occult hepatitis C virus infection (OCI) is a recently described phenomenon characterized by undetectable levels of HCV-RNA in serum/plasma by current laboratory assays, with identifiable levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and/or liver tissue by molecular tests with enhanced sensitivity. Previous results from our group showed an OCI prevalence of 3.3% in a population unselected for hepatic disease. The present study aimed to evaluate OCI prevalence in a larger cohort of infectious liver disease-free (ILDF) subjects. Clinical follow-up of OCI subjects was performed to investigate the natural history of the infection. METHODS AND FINDINGS: 439 subjects referred to a Turin Blood Bank for phlebotomy therapy were recruited. They included 314 ILDF subjects, 40 HCV-positive subjects and 85 HBV-positive subjects, of whom 7 were active HBV carriers. Six subjects (4/314 ILDF subjects [1.27%] and 2/7 active HBV carriers [28%]) were positive for HCV-RNA in PBMCs, but negative for serological and virological markers of HCV, indicating OCI. HCV genotypes were determined in the PBMCs of 3/6 OCI subjects two had type 1b; the other had type 2a/2c. OCI subjects were followed up for at least 2 years. After 12 months only one OCI persisted, showing a low HCV viral load (3.73×10(1) UI/ml). By the end of follow-up all OCI subjects were negative for HCV. No seroconversion, alteration of liver enzyme levels, or reduction of liver synthesis occurred during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated the existence of OCI in ILDF subjects, and suggested a high OCI prevalence among active HBV carriers. Follow-up suggested that OCI could be transient, with a trend toward the decrease of HCV viral load to levels undetectable by conventional methods after 12-18 months. Confirmation studies with a longer follow-up period are needed for identification of the OCI clearance or recurrence rates, and to characterize the viruses involved

The lack of cytomegalovirus-specific cellular immune response may contribute to the onset of organ infection and disease in lung transplant recipients

Cellular immune response has been demonstrated to play a role in the control of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) replication in organ transplant recipients. Herein, HCMV-specific T-cell response and association to the onset of organ infection/disease were prospectively evaluated by EliSPOT assay in a population of 46 lung transplant (LT) recipients at 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months post-transplantation. According to our centre's practice, a combined prolonged antiviral prophylaxis (HCMV-IG for 12 months and ganciclovir or valganciclovir for 3 weeks from postoperative day 21) was given to all LT recipients. HCMV-DNA was concomitantly detected on bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and whole blood by real-time PCR. Approximately one third of patients resulted HCMV persistently non-responder; the rate of HCMV infection, as evaluated by HCMV-DNA positivity, tended to be higher in non-responders. Mean viral load on BAL was significantly higher in non-responders vs other patients (

Artigo acadêmico: a construção de significados interpessoais Academic article: interpersonal meanings construction

O presente artigo tem por objetivo central analisar como, na área de Linguística, os(as) autores(as) de exemplares do gênero textual artigo acadêmico constroem significados interpessoais de posicionamento avaliativo ao produzirem seus textos. Como delimitação desse objetivo central, esta pesquisa busca mapear e analisar os adjuntos modais (HALLIDAY, 1994) realizados por advérbios simples que, de forma mais relevante, constroem os significados interpessoais de posicionamento e avaliação do(a) pesquisador (a)-autor(a) na produção de exemplares do gênero artigo acadêmico na área de Linguística e, ainda, verificar comparativamente como esses adjuntos modais se apresentam em exemplares de artigos experimentais, artigos teóricos e artigos de revisão de literatura.<br>The present article aims to analyze how the authors of academic textual genre article, in Linguistics field, construct interpersonal meanings of an evaluative positioning to produce their texts. As delimitation of this major goal, this research aims to outline and to analyze the modal adjuncts (HALLIDAY, 1994) performed by simple adverbs that, on a relevant way, build the interpersonal meanings of positioning and evaluation from author researcher on production of academic genre article example, in the Linguistics field. Another aim of this article is to examine relatively how these modal adjuncts appear in some journals of experimental articles, theoretical articles and literature review articles