Adeel A Butt

..Consumers should take common precautions including obtaining seafood from reputable sources especially if the seafood is to be consumed uncooked. Adequate cooking of seafood is the safest way of preventing related infections...

..Patients who were lost to follow-up and refused treatment were more likely to have current alcohol and drug use and a history of incarceration...

..In the May issue of the journal we will discuss parasites associated with seafood consumption, the safety of seafood, and the measures put in place in the USA to increase its safety...

..This review provides an overview of selected Web sites for health care providers and researchers, sites of professional societies, sites created by patients, and sites created by the pharmaceutical industry...

..Since treatment is expensive and associated with significant adverse effects, more effective strategies for the prevention of transmission are needed, especially in resource-limited countries, where the burden of disease is the highest...

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..Treatment eligibility rates in patients with HCV monoinfection have not been directly compared with patients with HCV/HIV coinfection. These data are important for planning interventions to optimize HCV management...

..Treatment completion rates for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in clinical practice settings are unknown...

..Whether human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is a risk factor for heart failure (HF) is not clear. The presence of coronary heart disease and alcohol consumption in this population may confound this association...

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..We compared biomarkers for inflammation, altered coagulation, and monocyte activation between HIV-infected and uninfected people in the Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS)...

..We determined the ability of diagnostic codes and liver-related laboratory abnormalities to identify hepatic decompensation events within the Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS)...

..Accurate characterization of the effect of HIV is important for evaluation and treatment of HCV in co-infected persons...

..To determine the rates of non-human immuno deficiency virus (HIV)-related comorbidities and their impact on survival in hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HCV-HIV coinfected persons on dialysis...

..The influence of HIV infection on the risk of diabetes is unclear. We determined the association and predictors of prevalent diabetes mellitus in HIV infected and uninfected veterans...

..The true treatment rate for hepatitis C virus (HCV) in veterans is unknown...

..We assessed smoking data from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) electronic medical record (EMR) Health Factors dataset...

..Treatment rates for hepatitis C virus (HCV) have not been compared directly between HCV mono-infected and HCV-HIV co-infected patients in academic center settings...

..Extreme caution should be exercised when didanosine and ribavirin are used concomitantly because of the increased risk of mitochondrial toxicity and the syndrome of severe metabolic acidosis with elevated lactic acid levels...

..The risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection upon incident chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the presence of traditional risk factors and renal-modifying therapy is not well known...

..As with all drugs, especially newly approved drugs, clinicians must consult the package insert for detailed prescribing information, list of all reported adverse events, contraindications, and drug interactions...

..HCV coinfection is associated with a significantly higher risk of diabetes in the HAART era, but not in the pre-HAART era. HCV-HIV coinfected patients should be aggressively screened for diabetes...

..The association between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and coronary artery disease (CAD) is controversial. We conducted this study to determine and quantify this association...

..The purpose of this study was to determine the association of serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels with certain opportunistic infection and to determine an association between LDH levels and CD4+ lymphocyte counts...

..These factors should be taken into account when evaluating patients for treatment and designing new intervention strategies...

..The risk was highest at the time of HCV diagnosis and stabilized over time. Clinical trials of HCV screening and treatment to reduce mortality in this population are warranted...

..True treatment rates and the impact of comorbidities on treatment rates for hepatitis C virus in the HCV-HIV-coinfected subjects are unknown...

..Further studies are warranted to determine the effect of virological control on survival...

..Health care providers are often unaware of alcohol consumption that may accelerate the course of hepatitis C, increase the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma, and reduce treatment efficacy...

..14-log10 decrease in HIV RNA level at 36 months of follow-up. The CD4+ lymphocyte count increased by a mean (median) value of 47/microL (177/microL). No significant adverse events attributable to tenofovir therapy were reported...

..Serum LDH may serve as an adjunct laboratory marker in the diagnosis of histoplasmosis. Elevated levels may prompt the physician to look for a diagnosis other than PCP early in the course of the illness...

..The burden of comorbidity in the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected persons on dialysis is unknown...

..These findings suggest that smoking cessation should be emphasized for HIV-infected patients...

..Cigarette smoking is an important risk factor for morbidity and mortality in HIV-positive patients on combination antiretroviral therapy...

..The possibility that HIV infection increases susceptibility to and/or accelerates COPD deserves further investigation and has implications regarding the pathogenesis of COPD...

..VACS includes the earlier 3 and 5 site studies (VACS 3 and VACS 5) as well as the ongoing 8 site study...