P E Fine

..There was no evidence of a difference in immunogenicity (IFN-gamma and DTH conversion rates) but evidence of lower reactogenicity (scar size) with Danish-SSI 1331 compared to Glaxo-Evans 1077 vaccines...

..We aimed to investigate the outcome of those who are eligible but do not start ART in the Malawi programme, factors associated with this dropout, and reasons for not starting treatment, in a prospective cohort study...

..A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to determine whether or not the addition of R to C may increase the risk of severe infections in adults undergoing induction therapy for CD20+ ML...

....

....

..We review these potential sources of bias and suggest what and how data may be collected to optimise the validity of such studies...

..Given these important gaps in knowledge, no country should discontinue polio vaccination until a coordinated policy for the post-certification era has been developed and the recommended measures have been put in place...

..Finally, it discusses the implications of such measures for studies of secondary attack rates, for the persistence of infection in human communities, for outbreak response, and for elimination or eradication programs...

..Karonga District, northern Malawi, 1980-1989...

..Increased risks of TB with age and in men are expected. Associations with measures of higher socioeconomic status were unexpected. They may reflect a greater likelihood of diagnosis in this group...

....

..To investigate the prevalence and sociodemographic risk factors for HIV infection, during the early stages of the epidemic, in a rural area of northern Malawi...

..Karonga district, northern Malawi...

..3). Large clusters were associated with factors likely to be related to social mixing, but spoligotypes of common strains in this setting were also common types elsewhere, consistent with strain differences in transmissibility...

..We estimate that 9%-13% of TB cases were attributable to recent transmission from identifiable close contacts and that nearly half of the TB cases arising from recent infection had acquired the infection from HIV-positive patients...

..Instead it has risen and is predominantly affecting young adults and women. There is some evidence that the HIV-associated TB epidemic may have passed its peak...

....

..The results are important for interpreting data on transmission patterns, as are now being derived from molecular epidemiologic studies...

..We estimate the risk of disseminated BCG disease in HIV-infected children in a setting highly endemic for tuberculosis and HIV...

..Here, we present what is, to our knowledge, the first such study in an area with high human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence...

..To assess the social and economic impact of HIV-related illness and death on the spouses of HIV-infected individuals...

....

..To investigate individual, household and community factors associated with HIV test refusal in a counselling and testing programme offered at population level in rural Malawi...

..40 (0.9-2.3) for 25-50 years and 10.44 (2.3-47.9) for >50 years and remained stable over two periods examined. These results suggest that HIV increases the proportion of TB due to recent transmission in the elderly...

..This would also help us understand the proposed, but still unproven, negative interactions between VAS and vaccine safety, a resolution of which is urgently required...

..leprae transmission persists in Japan...

..tuberculosis, very little is known about how genotypes within a population change over decades, or about relationships to HIV infection...

..We aimed to investigate mortality in a population before and after the introduction of free antiretroviral therapy, and therefore to assess the effects of such programmes on survival at the population level...

..All the Beijing genotype strains were fully drug sensitive. Contact histories, TB type, and case-fatality rates were similar for Beijing and non-Beijing genotype TB...

..We conclude that population differences in immune responses after BCG vaccination are observed among infants, as well as among young adults...

..We conclude that, in some settings, clustering is an unreliable indicator of the extent of recent transmission...

..Priming for regulatory IL-10 may contribute to the smaller increase in gamma interferon responses in Malawians compared to United Kingdom subjects following BCG vaccination...

..We explored the importance of these factors...

..The inability of some persons to mount a persistent DTH response probably reflects genetic background and/or environmental exposure history...

..When new interventions are assessed it cannot be assumed that factors which influence the smear conversion rate will also influence the mortality rate...

..We also present an audit of the selection process, and discuss the potential of this method in other settings...

..These results provide important guidance for the interpretation of BCG's utility and for the development and evaluation of new vaccines, in particular against tuberculosis...

..We assessed how switching from the NCHS to the newly released WHO Growth Standards affects the estimated prevalence of wasting, underweight and stunting, and the pattern of risk factors identified...

..We therefore conclude that Mtb PPD is the antigen preparation of choice for assessing the immunogenicity of BCG vaccination...

..2% respectively. Such assays may be useful either as a primary screen in populations where urine samples are considerably easier to obtain than serum samples, or as an alternative test for individuals unwilling to provide a serum sample...

..Also, cessation of vaccination should be organized in such a way to minimize the probability of continued transmission. Moreover, stringent measures should be taken up to prevent the future reintroduction of the viruses...

..Bootscanning analyses are consistent with their being mosaic viruses. These sequences highlight early HIV-1 diversity in a population otherwise dominated by subtype C...

..Genotypic tests that allow tracking of individual bacterial strains would strengthen epidemiological studies and contribute to our understanding of the disease...

..If true, these findings have important implications for efforts to develop a vaccine against adult pulmonary tuberculosis...

..As HIV-related deaths increase in a population the usual association between low socioeconomic status and child mortality may change, particularly as death rates from other causes decline...

..tuberculosis antigens tested it provided the best indication of exposure to, or infection with, M. tuberculosis...

..Genetic susceptibility to TB in Africans appears polygenic. The relevant genes and variants may vary significantly between populations, and may be affected by HIV infection status...

..The magnitude of the clonal response did not correlate well with results of the other assays. These data indicate that single assays may not be reliable and that a stable memory T-cell repertoire is slow to develop...

..It is likely that differential sensitisation due to exposure to environmental mycobacteria is the most important determinant of the observed differences in protection by BCG between populations...

..This study revealed a complex pattern for the environmental mycobacterial flora but identified no clear differences between the northern and southern parts of Karonga District...

..Mortality rates in HIV-positive individuals increased with age, but relative mortality changed little with age...

..Here we suggest that the most recent common ancestor of subtype C appeared in the mid- to late 1960s. Sensitivity analyses, by which possible biases due to oversampling from one district were explored, gave very similar estimates...

..Cotrimoxazole prophylaxis should therefore be added to the routine care of HIV-positive TB patients...

..These data provide evidence of inter-population heterogeneity in leprosy susceptibility...

..We conclude that there were multiple introductions of HIV-1 with limited spread, followed by explosive growth of a subtype C cluster, probably arising from a single introduction in or before 1983...