Longitudinal patterns of penile human papillomavirus detection among Ugandan men: A prospective sampling study.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a highly prevalent sexually transmitted infection, yet data on HPV dynamics in African male populations remain limited. We conducted a prospective study of 300 human immunodeficiency virus-negative, sexually active Ugandan men enrolled at circumcision and followed every 6 weeks for 6 months. Penile swabs were collected by clinical staff, and HPV DNA was detected using the Roche polymerase chain reaction-based linear array assay at six time points.

Red Cell Transfusion in Acute Myocardial Infarction: AABB International Clinical Practice Guidelines.

Description: Optimal transfusion strategies for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are uncertain. The aim of this guideline is to provide recommendations for red blood cell transfusion in patients with AMI.

Methods: These guidelines are based on evidence from randomized controlled trials of patients presenting with AMI and assigned to 2 different transfusion strategies (restrictive or liberal) based on hemoglobin concentrations or hematocrit levels before receipt of a transfusion.

Development and validation of HIV SMRTcap for the characterization of HIV-1 reservoirs across tissues and subtypes.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV-1) is responsible for the global HIV/AIDS epidemic and the establishment of an integrated HIV-1 reservoir remains the primary obstacle to cure. Upon therapy interruption, reactivation of the persistent HIV-1 reservoir propagates viral rebound and mediates continued immunological decline. While furthering understanding of the HIV-1 reservoir is essential for HIV-1 cure, commonly used sequencing strategies are often limited by the reliance on short-read sequencing across separate assays to determine integration sites and proviral integrity - something that does not always adequately resolve complex human genomic repeats or low complexity regions.

Inflammation among kidney transplant donors with and without HIV: Multicenter HOPE in Action Consortium.

Kidney transplantation from donors with HIV has recently become standard clinical practice, but the plasma inflammatory profile is not well characterized. Thirty-two cytokines and chemokines were evaluated among donors with HIV (n = 63) and without HIV (n = 41). Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to compare cytokines between groups.

Hospital Readmissions Among People With Sickle Cell Disease.

Importance: While advances in the management and treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD), the most common inherited disorder in the United States, have improved outcomes, hospital readmissions remain a significant concern. Thirty-day hospital readmissions is a key quality-of-care indicator; however, there are limited contemporary nationally representative data on SCD readmissions.

Objective: To characterize national trends in SCD-related readmissions in the United States and describe factors associated with readmission among patients with SCD.

The effect of early COVID-19 treatment with convalescent plasma on antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2.

At the COVID-19 pandemic onset, convalescent plasma, collected from patients recovered from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, emerged as a potential treatment option, but the effect on the patient immune response was unclear. To determine treatment effect on the infection antibody response, plasma samples were collected through 90 days from 104 SARS-CoV-2-infected participants after receiving CCP or control plasma, as part of a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, controlled early treatment trial. Enzyme immunoassay (EIA) was used to quantify binding IgG, IgA, and IgM to nucleocapsid (N) protein and IgG to the USA-WA1/2020 spike (S) protein.

HIV Superinfection in Kidney Transplant Recipients With HIV Who Received Organs From Donors With HIV.

Transplantation of kidneys from donors with HIV to recipients with HIV (HIV D+/R+) has been shown to be safe and effective, but there is a unique risk of donor-derived HIV superinfection (HIV-SI) in these recipients. Recipients from a multicenter observational HIV D+/R+ study were examined for HIV-SI by site-directed next-generation sequencing (Illumina). Eighteen recipients of HIV D+/R+ kidney transplants had baseline and follow-up samples that successfully amplified.

Medical, Societal, and Ethical Considerations for Directed Blood Donation in 2025.

In the United States and other high-income countries, blood donation primarily relies on anonymous, voluntary donors. However, directed blood donation-where people donate for a specific recipient-has resurged, particularly due to misinformation surrounding COVID-19 vaccination. Requests for "nonvaccinated" blood, driven by misconceptions about vaccine safety, have led to legislative attempts to mandate compliance.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) awareness, use, and discontinuation among Lake Victoria fisherfolk in Uganda: A cross-sectional population-based study.

There is limited population-level data on the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) care continuum in eastern Africa. Here, we assessed the PrEP care continuum following PrEP rollout in a Ugandan community with ~40% HIV seroprevalence. We used cross-sectional population-based data collected between September 3 and December 19, 2018 from a Lake Victoria fishing community in southern Uganda to measure levels of self-reported PrEP awareness, ever-use, and discontinuation following 2017 PrEP rollout via a U.

HIV-associated penile anaerobes disrupt epithelial barrier integrity.

Specific anaerobic taxa within the penile microbiome-the Bacteria Associated with Seroconversion, Inflammation and Immune Cells (BASIC) species-enhance HIV-1 susceptibility, in part by recruiting susceptible cells to the inner foreskin. However, their effect on epithelial barrier integrity has not been described. Using foreskin tissues and penile swabs from 116 males undergoing voluntary medical male circumcision, we assessed the relationship between BASIC species and foreskin epithelial thickness, junction protein expression, and cellular proliferation.

Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus seroprevalence among blood donors in Uganda.

Background: Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) causes a life-long infection that can progress to several types of KSHV-associated diseases. There is evidence for transfusion transmission of KSHV. In endemic regions, such as sub-Saharan African, KSHV seroprevalence is >40%.

HIV seroprevalence, incidence, and viral suppression among Ugandan males with bar or sex worker partners: a population-based study.

Background: Female bar or sex workers (FBSWs) in Eastern Africa experience a high burden of HIV. However, there is limited population-level data on HIV seroprevalence, incidence, and viral suppression among their male partners.

Methods: Men who had sex with FBSWs in the past year were identified through longitudinal population-based HIV surveillance in southern Uganda between 2013 and 2020.

HIV seroprevalence, incidence, and viral suppression among Ugandan female bar workers: a population-based study.

Background: Prior studies have linked female bar and sex work in Africa. However, population-level data on HIV burden among female bar workers (FBWs) in African settings are rare.

Methods: We used five survey rounds of data collected between 2011 and 2020 from the Rakai Community Cohort Study, a population-based HIV surveillance cohort in 36 inland agrarian and trading communities (HIV prevalence ~12%) and four Lake Victoria fishing communities (~36%) in southern Uganda.

The wider perspective: Barriers and recommendations for transfusion support for patients with sickle cell disease in low- and middle-income countries.

Globally, sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common inherited haemoglobinopathy. The highest burden of SCD is encountered in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), most of which lack the resources to contend with the disease. There is a marked divide between care for individuals with SCD in high-income countries (HICs) versus LMICs, whereby the few disease-modifying therapies and curative regimens are only accessible to those in HICs.

Association between HIV-1 Nef-mediated MHC-I downregulation and the maintenance of the replication-competent latent viral reservoir in individuals with virally suppressed HIV-1 in Uganda: an exploratory cohort study.

Background: The persistence of a replication-competent latent viral reservoir (RC-LVR) during antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a barrier to the development of a cure for HIV-1, but the role of viral genes in influencing RC-LVR size is unclear. We aimed to assess whether the magnitude by which the HIV-1 accessory protein Nef evades the adaptive immune response by downregulating MHC-I or CD4, or both, from the surface of infected cells is associated with the rate at which the RC-LVR in people with HIV-1 changes during long-term ART (>1 year).

Methods: We conducted an exploratory cohort study in which nef genes were sequenced from outgrowth viruses derived from the quantitative viral outgrowth assay (QVOA) for a group of people with ART-suppressed HIV-1 in Uganda between 2015 and 2020.

Brief Report: Trends in Hospital Readmissions Among Adults With and Without HIV in the United States, 2010-2020.

Background: Although 30-day hospital readmission is a widely followed quality measure, there are limited US nationwide data to evaluate its trends among people with HIV (PWH) and the sex disparity over time. We describe the 30-day all-cause unplanned readmission trends among PWH and people without HIV (PWoH) in the United States.

Setting: Adult participants in the 2010-2020 Nationwide Readmissions Database, which weighted represents all US hospitalizations each year.

Breaking barriers: Successful outcomes of hepatitis C virus D/R transplants in HIV recipients.

Transplantation from donors with hepatitis C virus (HCV) viremia to recipients without HCV-viremia (HCV D/R) is common, but no data exist for recipients with HIV or donors with HCV/HIV coinfection. We assessed outcomes of HCV D/R transplants within 3 HIV Organ Policy Equity Act studies of HIV abdominal transplantation to recipients with HIV between 2017 and 2023. Eighteen kidney and 6 liver transplant recipients with HIV received organs from 19 donors with HCV viremia, including 7 with HCV/HIV coinfection.

A third COVID-19 vaccine dose in kidney transplant recipients induces antibody response to vaccine and Omicron variants but shows limited Ig subclass switching.

Solid organ transplant recipients (SOTRs) suffer more frequent and more severe infections due to their compromised immune responses resulting from immunosuppressive treatments designed to prevent organ rejection. Pharmacological immunosuppression can adversely affect immune responses to vaccination. A cohort of kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) received their third dose of ancestral, monovalent COVID-19 vaccine in the context of a clinical trial and antibody responses to the vaccine strain, as well as two Omicron variants BA.

Gardnerella vaginalis-binding IgA in the urethra of sexually experienced males.

Background: Genital inflammation increases HIV susceptibility and is associated with the density of pro-inflammatory anaerobes in the vagina and coronal sulcus. The penile urethra is a critical site of HIV acquisition, although correlates of urethral HIV acquisition are largely unknown. While Streptococcus mitis is a consistent component of the urethral flora, the presence of Gardnerella vaginalis has been linked with prior penile-vaginal sex and urethral inflammation.

SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in COVID-19 convalescent plasma and conventional plasma units.

Background: The Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies guidelines recommend the use of high-titer COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) for patients with SARS-CoV-2 at high risk of disease progression, including those who are immunocompromised. We hypothesized that conventional plasma units have comparable neutralizing antibody levels to CCP.

Study Design And Methods: Conventional plasma and CCP units were obtained from blood suppliers.

Creating a plasma coordination center to support COVID-19 outpatient trials across a national network of hospital blood banks.

Introduction: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we rapidly implemented a plasma coordination center, within two months, to support transfusion for two outpatient randomized controlled trials. The center design was based on an investigational drug services model and a Food and Drug Administration-compliant database to manage blood product inventory and trial safety.

Methods: A core investigational team adapted a cloud-based platform to randomize patient assignments and track inventory distribution of control plasma and high-titer COVID-19 convalescent plasma of different blood groups from 29 donor collection centers directly to blood banks serving 26 transfusion sites.