Active clinical trials for "Infections"

This study evaluates efficacy and safety of rilpivirine as substitutive agent for the nucleosidic backbone of HAART in virologic suppressed patients when combined with cobicistat-boosted darunavir.

The aim of our study will be to assess in an open-label, multicenter, randomized controlled trial whether a tailored therapy guided by a non-invasive antibiotic susceptibility test on stool samples achieves higher Helicobacter eradication rates than an empiric antibiotic regimen. For this purpose, consecutive patients with dyspeptic symptoms, diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection and naïve to eradicating treatments will be allocated to either of the two intervention arms.

Rationale: Infection following total knee replacement (TKA) is a devastating complication that usually requires prosthesis removal, hospitalization while the infection is eradicated, and a second surgery to implant a revision prosthesis. For primary TKA, prophylactic antibiotic-loaded cement (ABC) may not only reduce the rate of infection it may also reduce the rate of revisions due to implant loosening. Current controversy about the use of ABC exists around the world. Without a definitive trial, patients will be exposed to a treatment of uncertain efficacy that may cause antibiotic resistant bacterial strains and will certainly generate high costs to the healthcare system. Purpose: To determine, 1) the extent to which ABC compared to regular cement reduces the infection rate in patients over the first two years following TKA and, 2) the resource use implications associated with the use of ABC for TKA. Methods: This is a randomized clinical trial in which 8,800 patients with undergoing primary TKA are allocated to either Simplex™ P with Tobramycin or Simplex™ P bone cement. We will exclude patients with a prior joint infection, an allergy to tobramycin, and those with no fixed address. All patients will be administered IV antibiotics immediately prior to surgery. Patients and surgeons will be blind to group allocation. The primary outcome measure is infection. Follow-up visits will take place at 6 weeks and 3, 12 and 24 months postoperative. A blinded adjudicator will review all reported infections and determine whether the putative infection is a study event. Blinded radiologists will interpret the 2 year series of radiographs for each patient. We will compare the rates of infection and implant loosening between the two treatment groups using survival analyses. This study includes a full economic analysis.

Bacterial infections are a common complication in patients suffering from burns. These infections can cause significant morbidity and often mortality. Antimicrobial resistance coupled with the prevalence of burn-related infections warrants the identification of alternative substances in the treatment of burn-related infections. The cranberry has been examined as a potential agent in the prevention of other types of infections and it appears to have anti-adherence effects on bacteria. In addition, the cranberry has demonstrated general inhibitory effects against some types of bacteria suggesting that it may be a useful agent in the prevention of bacterial infections in burn patients. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effect of cranberry extract on the incidence of infections in burn patients.

Helicobacter pylori colonises an estimated 50% of the world´s population (Taylor & Blaser, 1991; Go, 2002). Despite clear clinical guidelines on the treatment of this infection (Malfertheiner et al. 2007) there is a drive to find alternative ways to control this infection in a wider perspective without the complications of induction of antibiotic resistance in the pathogen. L. reuteri has been widely studied in clinical trials and has been shown to have probiotic, health-promoting effects in both adults and children (Connolly 2004; Casas & Dobrogosz, 2000). L. reuteri has been shown in numerous studies to be safe for human consumption and it has been shown to colonise the human gastrointestinal tract (Wolf et al., 1995, Valeur et al., 2004). Studies using supplementation with L. reuteri in both symptomatic and non-symptomatic H. pylori-infected subjects show a clear reduction of infection load after 4 weeks of use and this was concomitant with a reduction in symptoms associated with the infection (Imase et al. 2007; Francavilla et al. 2007, unpublished data). Further, dietary supplementation with L. reuteri during and after the period of H. pylori eradication therapy has also been shown to reduce the side effects of this therapy without affecting the degree of eradication (Lionetti et al., 2007). It is also feasible, through the inhibitory action of L. reuteri on H. pylori, that pre-exposure to L. reuteri may weaken H. pylori and make it more susceptible to antibiotic attack during eradication. However, an earlier pilot study was not been able to demonstrate a reduction in gastric inflammation caused by H. pylori. This pilot study was performed with L. reuteri ATCC 55730 that has since been found to lack anti-inflammatory activity in in vitro screens. Recent selection of natural, human L. reuteri strains has identified a specific strain with strong anti-inflammatory properties in vitro (Lin et al, 2007 and submitted 2007). A combination of this strain, together with the earlier proven L. reuteri strain, is expected to lead to both a reduction of H. pylori load as well as a reduction in the gastric inflammation related to the pathogen.

This is a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase III study to asses the safety and efficacy of a silicone elastomer vaginal ring containing 25mg of dapivirine.

Approximately one-third of neonatal deaths in developing countries are due to infections acquired through the birth canal and/or exposure to an unclean environment soon after birth. Current World Health Organization recommendations for the management of infants younger than 2 months of age who have serious bacterial infections involve hospitalization and parenteral therapy for at least 10 days with antibiotic regimens containing penicillin or ampicillin combined with an aminoglycoside.However, in many settings throughout the developing world, this is not currently possible, nor is this standard of care likely to be feasible in the near future. Several studies have reported that for a variety of sociocultural reasons many families are unable or unwilling to access hospital-based care and their sick young infants do not get hospitalized, and instead, receive a variety of home-based antibiotic therapies, or none at all. In our community field sites, approximately 70% of families refuse hospital referral for a sick newborn, despite provision of transport. Thus, there is an urgent need to define the role of community/first-level facility-based care versus hospitalization for the management of young infants with serious bacterial infections, and the potential for community-based parenteral antibiotics as an alternative strategy in resource poor areas with high neonatal mortality rates. Bang and colleagues have demonstrated significant reductions in neonatal mortality from infections in an underdeveloped rural district in Maharashtra, India by a field-based case management approach which used oral cotrimoxazole and intramuscular gentamicin given for 7 days as treatment for neonates with sepsis. This study is an equivalence randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing once daily IM ceftriaxone injection to once daily IM procaine penicillin and gentamicin injection, to once daily intramuscular gentamicin injection and twice daily oral cotrimoxazole, given for 7 days in babies with clinically-diagnosed possible serious bacterial infection (pneumonia, or sepsis with or without local infections such as skin or umbilical infections) whose families refused referral to a hospital. After supplementary informed consent, patients meeting specific inclusion and exclusion criteria are randomly allocated to one of the three regimens being tested. The study hypothesis is that all 3 regimens will perform equally well in the treatment of sepsis in a first-level facility setting.

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are mainly metabolized in the liver by CYP2C19, one of the cytochrome P450 isoenzymes, which shows a genetic polymorphism associated with enzyme activities. The most essential role of a PPI in H. pylori eradication therapy is to make antibiotics more stable and bioavailable in the stomach by raising intragastric pH to neutral levels. Most patients who have failed in the eradication of H. pylori infection by triple therapy with a PPI, amoxicillin (AMPC) and clarithromycin (CAM) at standard doses have extensive metabolizer (EM) genotypes of CYP2C19 and/or are infected with CAM-resistant strains of H. pylori. Four-times daily dosing of a PPI could achieve complete gastric acid inhibition. Dual therapy with 4-times daily dosing of a PPI and AMPC could yield sufficient re-eradication rates in patients with EM genotype of CYP2C19. Metronidazole (MNZ)-based re-eradication therapy, such as triple PPI/AMPC/MNZ therapy, also achieved high eradication rates and has been recommended as the second line therapy in Japan. But carcinogenic actions of MNZ have been unclear. The purpose of this study is to compare the re-eradication rates of H. pylori infection by the dual high-dose PPI/AMPC therapy and triple PPI/AMPC/MNZ therapy, and to validate the efficacies of these re-eradication regimens as second line eradication therapies.

This trial is to determine the safety of valacyclovir in persons with chronic hepatitis C and herpes simplex type 2 infection. Participants will be randomized to valacyclovir or matching placebo. After receiving the initial therapy for eight weeks, the participants will cross over to the alternate therapy for an additional eight weeks. Each treatment period will be separated by a two-week period of daily placebo. The hypothesis is that treatment with valacyclovir will result in a significant reduction in serum levels of hepatitis C virus ribonucleic acid.

In case of lack of compliance in HIV1 patients, the investigators hope to prove that enfuvirtide injection during almost 3 months, with nurse help at home and therapeutic education may contribute to obtain a good compliance more than 95% in these patients.