Prevalence and household risk factors for fecal carriage of ESBL-producing, sequence type 131, and extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli among children in southern Taiwan.

Background: The rapidly increasing prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a global concern. This study determined the prevalence and risk factors for the fecal carriage of drug-resistant E.

Bloodstream Infections Caused by Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase-Producing in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the frequency of sequence type (ST) 131 strains and outcome of cirrhotic patients with bloodstream infections (BSIs) caused by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing (ESBLEC) and non-extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing (NESBLEC).

Methods: The incidence of ST 131 strains, hospital stay, and 30-day re-admission/mortality were compared between 51 ESBLEC and 51 NESBLEC bacteremic patients with cirrhosis.

Results: ST 131 strains were found in 35.

Effect of diabetes mellitus on risk of latent TB infection in a high TB incidence area: a community-based study in Taiwan.

Objective: To investigate the association between diabetes and latent tuberculosis infections (LTBI) in high TB incidence areas.

Design: Community-based comparison study.

Setting: Outpatient diabetes clinics at 4 hospitals and 13 health centres in urban and rural townships.

Bloodstream infection with extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli: The role of virulence genes.

Background: Extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) strains hold the responsibility for the majority of E. coli infections. Numerous extraintestinal virulence factors (VFs) were possessed by ExPEC which are involved in the pathogenesis of infection.

Seroepidemiology of dengue virus infection among adults during the ending phase of a severe dengue epidemic in southern Taiwan, 2015.

Background: A severe dengue epidemic occurred in 2015 which resulted in over 22,000 laboratory-confirmed cases. A cross-sectional seroprevalence study was conducted during the ending phase of this epidemic to evaluate the true incidence of dengue virus (DENV) infection and the level of herd immunity.

Methods: Adult residents in three administrative districts with high dengue incidence were recruited; workers in two districts with intermediate dengue incidence were also recruited for comparison.

Effect of Anti-CD4 Antibody UB-421 on HIV-1 Rebound after Treatment Interruption.

Background: Administration of a single broadly neutralizing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-specific antibody to HIV-infected persons leads to the development of antibody-resistant virus in the absence of antiretroviral therapy (ART). It is possible that monotherapy with UB-421, an antibody that blocks the virus-binding site on human CD4+ T cells, could induce sustained virologic suppression without induction of resistance in HIV-infected persons after analytic treatment interruption.

Methods: We conducted a nonrandomized, open-label, phase 2 clinical study evaluating the safety, pharmacokinetics, and antiviral activity of UB-421 monotherapy in HIV-infected persons undergoing analytic treatment interruption.

Hepatitis D Viremia Among Injection Drug Users in San Francisco.

People who inject drugs (PWID) are commonly exposed to hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis D virus (HDV). We evaluated the prevalence of HDV viremia among hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive PWID (n = 73) using a new quantitative microarray antibody capture (Q-MAC) assay, HDV western blot, and HDV RNA. HDV Q-MAC performed well in this cohort: anti-HDV, 100% sensitivity and specificity; HDV viremia, 61.

Establishment of a mouse model for the complete mosquito-mediated transmission cycle of Zika virus.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is primarily transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes in the subgenus Stegomyia but can also be transmitted sexually and vertically in humans. STAT1 is an important downstream factor that mediates type I and II interferon signaling. In the current study, we showed that mice with STAT1 knockout (Stat1-/-) were highly susceptible to ZIKV infection.

Prolonged persistence of IgM against dengue virus detected by commonly used commercial assays.

Background: Initial symptoms of dengue fever are non-specific, and thus definite diagnosis requires laboratory confirmation. Detection of IgM against dengue virus (DENV) has become widely used for dengue diagnosis. Understanding the persistence of anti-DENV IgM in subjects after acute infection is essential in order to interpret test results correctly.

Interleukin-17F expression is elevated in hepatitis C patients with fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: The role of interleukin (IL) 17A in chronic liver diseases had been extensively studied, but the function of IL-17F, which shares a high degree of homology with IL-17A, in the progression of chronic hepatic diseases is poorly understood. The aim of the study was to evaluate the association between IL-17F and liver diseases including, fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: Hepatic tumor samples from both hepatitis C virus (HCV) positive and negative patients (without HBV and HCV, NBNC) were examined with quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry staining for inflammatory cytokine genes expression.

Characterization of the Near Full-Length Genome of a Novel HIV-1 CRF01_AE/CRF07_BC Recombinant in an Injection Drug User from Southern Taiwan.

HIV-1 CRF07_BC became prevalent in Taiwan after the epidemic among injection drug users (IDUs). We describe a unique recombinant form (URF) consisting of CRF01_AE and CRF07_BC (named URF_0107-H8) genes detected from an IDU. The 8.

Molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis in Kaohsiung City located at southern Taiwan, 2000-2008.

Background: We present the first comprehensive analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates circulating in southern Taiwan. In this 9-year population-based study, the TB situation in the Kaohsiung region was characterized by genotypic analysis of 421 MTB isolates.

Methods: All 421 isolates of MTB were analyzed by spoligotyping and MIRU-VNTR typing.

Distinct modes of transmission of tuberculosis in aboriginal and non-aboriginal populations in Taiwan.

Tuberculosis incidence among aborigines is significantly higher than for Han Chinese in Taiwan, but the extent to which Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) strain characteristics contribute to this difference is not well understood. MTB isolates from aborigines and Han Chinese living in eastern and southern Taiwan, the major regions of aborigines, were analyzed by spoligotyping and 24-loci MIRU-VNTR. In eastern Taiwan, 60% of aboriginal patients were ≤20 years old, significantly younger than the non-aboriginal patients there; aborigines were more likely to have clustered MTB isolates than Han Chinese (odds ratio (OR) = 5.

Risk factors for progressive visual field loss in primary angle-closure glaucoma: a retrospective cohort study.

Purpose: To investigate risk factors associated with progressive visual field (VF) loss in primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG).

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed medical record of PACG patients who had ≥5 reliable VF examinations (central 24-2 threshold test, Humphrey Field Analyzer) and ≥2 years of follow-up. Each VF was scored using Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study system.

Milrinone therapy for enterovirus 71-induced pulmonary edema and/or neurogenic shock in children: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Enterovirus 71-induced brainstem encephalitis with pulmonary edema and/or neurogenic shock (stage 3B) is associated with rapid mortality in children. In a small pilot study, we found that milrinone reduced early mortality compared with historical controls. This prospective, randomized control trial was designed to provide more definitive evidence of the ability of milrinone to reduce the 1-week mortality of stage 3B enterovirus 71 infections.

HIV risk profiles differed by gender and experience of men who had sex with men among attendees of anonymous voluntary counseling and testing in Taiwan.

Free voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) has been available in Taiwan as a part of HIV surveillance and prevention program since 1999, but related data were seldom reported. We aimed to examine characteristics of individuals who attended anonymous client-initiated VCT service and factors associated with HIV infection. The study population consisted of clients at two large VCT sites located in northern and southern Taiwan in 2004- 2008.

Incidence of Aeromonas bacteremia in Southern Taiwan: vibrio and Salmonella bacteremia as comparators.

The aim of the investigation was to describe the incidence of Aeromonas bacteremia in a city with a population of about 1.87 million inhabitants, located in southern Taiwan, between 2008 and 2010. Such data were compared with the incidences of Vibrio and Salmonella bacteremia in the same period and the incidence of Aeromonas bacteremia in other countries in the literature.

Challenges to licensure of enterovirus 71 vaccines.

Human enteroviruses usually cause self-limited infections except polioviruses and enterovirus 71 (EV71), which frequently involve neurological complications. EV71 vaccines are being evaluated in humans. However, several challenges to licensure of EV71 vaccines need to be addressed.

Clonal expansion of both modern and ancient genotypes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in southern Taiwan.

We present the first comprehensive analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates circulating in the Kaohsiung region of southern Taiwan. The major spoligotypes found in the 224 isolates studied were Beijing lineages (n = 97; 43.3%), EAI lineages (n = 72; 32.

Predisposing factors for oropharyngeal colonization of yeasts in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients: a prospective cross-sectional study.

Background: Oropharyngeal candidiasis continues to be a major opportunistic infection in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. The objectives of this study were to investigate the prevalence, associated factors, and microbiologic features for oropharyngeal yeast colonization in HIV-infected patients.

Methods: From October to December 2009, consecutive HIV-infected patients older than 18 years were recruited in this study.

Evaluation of the effect of appropriate antimicrobial therapy on mortality associated with Acinetobacter nosocomialis bacteraemia.

Appropriate antimicrobial therapy is effective for severe infections caused by Acinetobacter baumannii, but efficacy for other Acinetobacter species remains to be established. The current study was designed to determine whether appropriate antimicrobial therapy reduces the mortality of patients with Acinetobacter nosocomialis bacteraemia. A 9-year retrospective study of 266 patients with monomicrobial A.

Impact of appropriate antimicrobial therapy on mortality associated with Acinetobacter baumannii bacteremia: relation to severity of infection.

Background: The efficacy of antimicrobial therapy for Acinetobacter baumannii bacteremia has been difficult to establish because of confounding by underlying diseases, severity of infection, and differences in the pathogenicity of Acinetobacter species. This retrospective study was conducted to evaluate the effect of appropriate antimicrobial therapy on 14-day mortality after adjustment for multiple risk factors.

Methods: The population consisted of 252 patients with monomicrobial A.

HCV RNA levels in a multiethnic cohort of injection drug users: human genetic, viral and demographic associations.

Unlabelled: In patients with chronic hepatitis C, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA level is an important predictor of treatment response. To explore the relationship of HCV RNA with viral and demographic factors, as well as IL28B genotype, we examined viral levels in an ethnically diverse group of injection drug users (IDUs). Between 1998 and 2000, the Urban Health Study (UHS) recruited IDUs from street settings in San Francisco Bay area neighborhoods.

Trends of HIV and sexually transmitted infections, estimated HIV incidence, and risky sexual behaviors among gay bathhouse attendees in Taiwan: 2004-2008.

Five serial cross-sectional surveys were done at eight gay bathhouses in Taiwan to investigate the trends of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and estimated HIV incidence between 2004 and 2008. Bathhouse attendees completed a questionnaire and tests for HIV, syphilis, hepatitis C virus, and amoebiasis. Twenty-nine (38.