A cost-consequence analysis of hepatitis B screening in an immigrant population

Introduction. Prevalence of infection with HIV-1 non-B subtypes in Italy has been reported to raise, due to increased migration flows and travels. HIV-1 variants show different biological and immunological properties that impact on disease progression rate, response to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and sensitivity of diagnostic tests with important implications for public health. Therefore, a constant surveillance of the dynamics of HIV variants in Italy should be a high public health priority. Organization of surveillance studies requires building up a platform constituted of a network of clinical centers, laboratories and institutional agencies, able to properly collect samples for the investigation of HIV subtypes heterogeneity and to provide a database with reliable demographic, clinical, immunological and virological data. Aim. We here report our experience in building up such a platform, co-ordinated by the National AIDS Center of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, taking advantage of a pilot study aimed at evaluating HIV subtypes diversity in populations of HIV-infected migrant people in Italy. Materials and methods. Four hundred and thirty four HIV-infected migrants were enrolled in 9 Italian clinical centers located throughout the Italian territory. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for sample collection were provided by the National AIDS Center to each clinical center. In addition, clinical centers were required to fill up a case report form (crf) for each patient, which included demographic, clinical, immunological and virological information. Results. All centers properly collected and stored samples from each enrolled individual. Overall, the required information was correctly provided for more than 90% of the patients. However, some fields of the crf, particularly those including information on the last HIV-negative antibody test and presence of co-infections, were properly filled up in less than 80% of the enrolled migrants. Centers from Northern and Central Italy showed a better tendency to report correct information in the crf than centers from the South. These results provide evidence that procedures for establishing a platform for the surveillance of HIV subtype heterogeneity are affordable by all the components of the network and lay the ground for the organization of a broader HIV subtypes surveillance in Italy

A cost-consequence analysis of hepatitis B screening in an immigrant population

International audienc

A cost-consequence analysis of hepatitis B screening in an immigrant population

International audienc

A cost-consequence analysis of hepatitis B screening in an immigrant population

none9Screening for HBV among groups at risk, such as migrant populations, has proved to be a cost-effective strategy. With a view to advising local policy-makers, the cost-consequences of HBV screening was assessed using a modeling approach.noneBuja, Alessandra; Martines, Diego; Lobello, Salvatore; Vinelli, Angela; Bardelle, Giorgia; Lopatriello, Stefania; De Lazzari, Franca; Perrier, Lionel; Baldo, VincenzoBuja, Alessandra; Martines, Diego; Lobello, Salvatore; Vinelli, Angela; Bardelle, Giorgia; Lopatriello, Stefania; DE LAZZARI, Franca; Perrier, Lionel; Baldo, Vincenz

Estimation of bulky lymph nodes by power Doppler ultrasound scanning in patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma: a prospective study.

The accuracy of standard methods in estimating bulky lesions requires validation. We used clinical/computed tomography (CT) evaluation and power Doppler ultrasound (US) to detect bulky disease in 137 consecutive Hodgkin's lymphoma patients, and analyzed the prognostic relevance of each method. Bulky disease was detected by clinical/CT evaluation in 47% of the patients and by power Doppler US in 20%. After treatment, at multivariate analysis power Doppler US-selected bulky disease was the parameter that best correlated with freedom from treatment failure (p<0.001). Power Doppler US, a readily available imaging technique, provides a better prognostic classification by detecting true bulky disease more accurately

Efficacy and safety of oral DAAs HCV therapy in the elderly

Effectiveness and safety of oral DAAs therapy in patients over 70