Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death for persons living with the human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV). TB preventive therapy (TPT) works synergistically with, and independently of, antiretroviral therapy to reduce TB morbidity, mortality and incidence among PLHIV. However, although TPT is a crucial and cost-effective component of HIV care for adults and children and has been recommended as an international standard of care for over a decade, it remains highly underutilized. If we are to end the global TB epidemic, we must address the significant reservoir of tuberculous infection, especially in those, such as PLHIV, who are most likely to progress to TB disease. To do so, we must confront the pervasive perception that barriers to TPT scale-up are insurmountable in resource-limited settings. Here we review available evidence to address several commonly stated obstacles to TPT scale-up, including the need for the tuberculin skin test, limited diagnostic capacity to reliably exclude TB disease, concerns about creating drug resistance, suboptimal patient adherence to therapy, inability to monitor for and prevent adverse events, a 'one size fits all' option for TPT regimen and duration, and uncertainty about TPT use in children, adolescents, and pregnant women. We also discuss TPT delivery in the era of differentiated care for PLHIV, how best to tackle advanced planning for drug procurement and supply chain management, and how to create an enabling environment for TPT scale-up success.
Background Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) is a serious neurologic syndrome that affects mostly children and is characterized by the acute onset of limb weakness or paralysis. Since U.S. surveillance for AFM began in 2014, reported cases have peaked biennially. This report describes the clinical characteristics of AFM patients during 2018, the most recent peak year. Methods Medical records from persons meeting AFM clinical criterion (acute onset of flaccid limb weakness) were submitted to CDC. Patients with confirmed AFM met the clinical criterion and had magnetic resonance imaging indicating spinal cord lesions largely restricted to gray matter and spanning one or more vertebral segments. Symptoms, physical findings, test and imaging results, and hospitalization data were abstracted and described. Results Among 238 patients with confirmed AFM during 2018, median age was 5.3 years. Among the 238 patients, 205 (86%) had onset during August–November. Most (92%) had prodromal fever, respiratory illness, or both beginning a median of 6 days before weakness onset. In addition to weakness, common symptoms at clinical evaluation were gait difficulty (52%), neck or back pain (47%), fever (35%), and limb pain (34%). Among 211 who were outpatients when weakness began, most (76%) sought medical care within 1 day, and 64% first sought treatment at an emergency department. Overall, 98% of patients were hospitalized, 54% were admitted to an intensive care unit, and 23% required endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation. Conclusion Clinicians should suspect AFM in children with acute flaccid limb weakness, especially during August–November and when accompanied by neck or back pain and a recent history of febrile respiratory illness. Increasing awareness in frontline settings such as emergency departments should aid rapid recognition and hospitalization for AFM.
BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis preventive treatment (TPT) reduces the development of tuberculosis (TB) disease and mortality in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Despite this known effectiveness, global uptake of TPT has been slow. We aimed to assess current status of TPT implementation in countries supported by the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).METHODS: We surveyed TB-HIV program staff at US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) country offices in 42 PEPFAR-supported countries about current TPT policies, practices, and barriers to implementation. Surveys completed from July to December 2017 were analyzed.RESULTS: Of 42 eligible PEPFAR-supported countries, staff from 35 (83%) CDC country offices completed the survey. TPT was included in national guidelines in 33 (94%) countries, but only 21 (60%) reported nationwide programmatic TPT implementation. HIV programs led TPT implementation in 20/32 (63%) countries, but TB programs led drug procurement in 18/32 (56%) countries. Stock outs were frequent, as 21/28 (75%) countries reported at least one isoniazid stock out in the previous year.CONCLUSION: Despite widespread inclusion of TPT in guidelines, programmatic TPT implementation lags. Successful scale-up of TPT requires uninterrupted drug supply chains facilitated by improved leadership and coordination between HIV and TB programs.
Background-Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) including chlamydia and gonorrhea, cause pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility. We estimated the prevalence of infertility and infertility healthcare seeking. Methods-We analyzed self-reported lifetime infertility and infertility healthcare-seeking in women aged 18-49 years in the 2013 and 2015 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. Weighted prevalence of infertility and infertility healthcare seeking, prevalence ratios (PRs), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Results-Among 2,626 eligible women, 13.8% had self-reported infertility [95% CI 12.3-15.3] with higher prevalence by age: 6.4% [95% CI 4.8-8.0], n=960 18-29 year olds; 14.8% [95 % CI 12.2-17.3], n=799 30-39 year olds; and 20.8% [95% CI 17.2-24.4], n=867 40-49 year olds. Non-Hispanic white women (15.4% [95% CI 13.0-17.8]; n=904) and non-Hispanic black women (12.9% [95% CI 10.3-15.5]; n=575) had the highest infertility prevalences. Women reporting PID treatment (n=122) had higher infertility prevalence (24.2% [95% CI 16.2-32.2]) than women without PID treatment (13.3% [95% CI 11.6-15.0], n=2,485), especially among 18-29 year old women (PR 3.8 [95% CI 1.8-8.0)]. Of 327 women with infertility, 60.9% (95% CI 56.1-65.8) sought healthcare. Women without healthcare insurance sought care less frequently than women with insurance. Conclusions-In a nationally-representative sample, 13.8% of reproductive-age women reported a history of infertility, of whom 40% did not access healthcare. Self-reported PID was associated with infertility, especially in young women. Annual chlamydia and gonorrhea screening to avert PID may reduce the burden of infertility in the US.
Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is a clinical syndrome that has been associated with a wide range of potential causal pathogens. Three broad groups of organisms have been isolated from the genital tract of people with PID: sexually transmitted organisms such as Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma genitalium, and Trichomonas vaginalis; bacterial vaginosis (BV)-associated species and genera such as Atopobium vaginae, Sneathia, and Megasphaera; and genera and species usually associated with the gastrointestinal or respiratory tracts such as Bacteroides, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus, or Haemophilus influenza. Although PID is often considered to be synonymous with gonorrhea or chlamydia, these pathogens are found in only one quarter to one third of people with PID, suggesting that broader screening and diagnostic and treatment strategies need to be considered to reduce the burden of PID and its associated sequelae.
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