Influenza immunisation in HIV-Infected person

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Recommendations pertaining to the use of viral vaccines: Influenza 2013

Here we provide recommendations for the use of viral vaccines in anticipation of the 2013 Southern Hemisphere influenza season. For a review of the 2012 influenza season, please refer to the website of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases of the National Health Laboratory Service (http://www.nicd.ac.za)

Surveillance of respiratory viruses

Respiratory virus isolates made at the National Institute for Virology from 1982 to 1991 were studied. An active virus surveillance programme, 'viral watch', which recruits throat swab specimens from a network of monitoring centres - mainly in the Witwatersrand and Vereeniging area with one centre in Middelburg - that represent a cross-section of the population, provided 68% of the specimens and 74% of the isolates, with an isolation rate of 25,5%. This was significantly higher than that of routine specimens (17,7%). Of the 966 isolates, influenza viruses accounted for 527 (54,7%), para-influenza for 122 (12,6%), respiratory syncytial virus for 34 (3,4%) and adenovirus for 106 (11,0%). Influenza viruses showed a definite seasonal peak between June and August whereas the other viruses, although they showed a winter predominance, were isolated throughout the year. An active virus surveillance programme is particularly valuable in monitoring respiratory virus epidemiology in the population

Incidence of respiratory viruses in peruvian children with acute respiratory infections

Acute respiratory infections are responsible for high morbi-mortality in Peruvian children. However, the etiological agents are poorly identified. This study, conducted during the pandemic outbreak of H1N1 influenza in 2009, aims to determine the main etiological agents responsible for acute respiratory infections in children from Lima, Peru. Nasopharyngeal swabs collected from 717 children with acute respiratory infections between January 2009 and December 2010 were analyzed by multiplex RT-PCR for 13 respiratory viruses: influenza A, B, and C virus; parainfluenza virus (PIV) 1, 2, 3, and 4; and human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) A and B, among others. Samples were also tested with direct fluorescent-antibodies (DFA) for six respiratory viruses. RT-PCR and DFA detected respiratory viruses in 240 (33.5%) and 85 (11.9%) cases, respectively. The most common etiological agents were RSV-A (15.3%), followed by influenza A (4.6%), PIV-1 (3.6%), and PIV-2 (1.8%). The viruses identified by DFA corresponded to RSV (5.9%) and influenza A (1.8%). Therefore, respiratory syncytial viruses (RSV) were found to be the most common etiology of acute respiratory infections. The authors suggest that active surveillance be conducted to identify the causative agents and improve clinical management, especially in the context of possible circulation of pandemic viruses. J. Med. Virol. 87:917-924, 2015. (c) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Should pregnant urban South African women be screened for hepatitis B?

The prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in the South African urban obstetric population, which consists of white, black, coloured and Asian patients from different socio-economic, cultural and geographical backgrounds, is unknown. Routine screening performed in 3 469 urban pregnant women revealed that 42 patients were HBV surface antigen-positive (a prevalence of 1,21%). Only 2 patients (4,6%) were hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive (0,06% of the entire cohort), whereas the remaining 40 were identified as hepatitis B e antibody-positive. Despite a significant increase in the numbers of black patients, there has not been an accompanying increase in the number of HBV carriers. Replicative infection was equally distributed among white and black pregnant women

Rubella in South Africa: An impending Greek tragedy?

Background. The incidence of congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) is unknown in South Africa. There is evidence that it may be significant and largely undetected, particularly in the upper socio-economic group. This may be due to incomplete routine administration of MMR vaccine in infancy and a build-up of susceptible females reaching the childbearing age group who could be exposed to the extensive reservoir of virus in the unimmunised public sector of the population.Objective. To assess the extent of the immunity gap to rubella by testing for protective IgG antibodies and the incidence of rubella infection by testing for IgM antibodies in sera. The data obtained would also be used to model the extent of CRS.Design. Residual laboratory serum specimens from public and private laboratories were serologically tested for rubella IgG antibodies to investigate the immunity gap in the population and IgM antibodies in sera collected from the measles rashlike illness surveillance programme. Modelling exercises calculated the force of infection and the predicted incidence of CRS in South Africa.Results. The serological immunity gap was significantly greater in the private sector specimens compared with the public sector – 10.7% versus 5.4%, respectively. In most years rubella caused much more rash-like illness than measles, with a significant number (5.1 - 9.6%) of rubella-positive IgM specimens occurring in women of childbearing age.Conclusion. Modelling of the data suggests that the extent of CRS may be grossly underestimated in South Africa. Approximately 654 cases are calculated to occur every year. It is suggested that selective immunisation of girls before puberty should be instituted together with a routine rubella immunisation programme of infants to forestall a possible future outbreak of CRS, as occurred in Greece in 1993

Viral hepatitis B - an overview

Worldwide the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is responsible for a large proportion of all forms of liver disease and is probably the most frequent cause of chronic viral disease in man. The economic and human cost of HBV is further exacerbated by its association with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), one of the ten most common malignant human tumours

Breast cancer imaging in South Africa in 2018

No abstract available