Active clinical trials for "Infections"

This proposal focuses on highly lethal destructive tissue infections, i.e. necrotizing fasciitis and other necrotizing soft tissue infections (NSTIs), which are associated with high morbidity and mortality. The fulminant course of NSTIs demands immediate diagnosis and adequate interventions in order to salvage lives and limbs. However, diagnosis and management are difficult due to heterogeneity in clinical presentation, in co-morbidities and in microbiological aetiology. Thus, there is an urgent need for novel diagnostics and therapeutics in order to improve outcome of NSTIs. A comprehensive knowledge of diagnostic features, causative microbial agent, treatment strategies, and pathogenic mechanisms (host and bacterial disease traits and their underlying interaction network) is required for an improved diagnosis and management of NSTIs. The current proposal is designed to obtain such insights through an integrated systems biology approach in patients and experimental models. The project is based on a prospective NSTI patients cohort including a clinical registry to document clinical data and treatment strategies, combined with an isolate and biobank collection. The samples will be analyzed through advanced bioinformatics and computational modelling work flow to identify and quantify pathogen signatures and underlying networks that contribute to disease outcome. One aim is to translate clinical and systems biology data into development of novel diagnostics.

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether there has been a change in the number of hospital admissions for respiratory tract infections among children following the July 2007 introduction of a ban on smoking in public places in England.

In this trial, our goal is to determine the pharmacokinetics of micafungin in a non-selected cohort of patients with suspected or proven invasive fungal infections. Patients will receive micafungin for the period necessary to achieve clinical and / or mycological cure. An attempt will be made to have 2 PK curves, one full and one limited sampling on days 3 (n=9) and 7 (n=5). Furthermore, we will be able to determine intra-individual variability. On non-PK days, trough samples will be taken to determine the time to steady state. All samples will be taken just prior to the morning dose of micafungin. All infusion rates will be according to the SPC label information. Patients are considered to be evaluable if at least the first PK curve has been completed. Two moments of PK analysis will enable us to determine whether there is an increase over time in exposure if steady state has not been reached.

This study aims to assess how large an additional disease burden and what extra costs are generated by antibiotic resistance in patients suffering from infections caused by gram-negative bacteria, such as Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, in hospitals in the Netherlands.

The T-SPOT assay quantifies the number of peripheral blood interferon-γ producing effector T cells [spot forming cells/million peripheral blood mononuclear cells - PBMC)]. The T-SPOT platform technology can be applied to diagnose and monitor any major disease process driven by a T cell response, including a viral disease such as cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection (the T-SPOT.CMV assay) or an allograft rejection (the T-SPOT.PRT assay).

The development of surrogates to predict HIV prevention product safety and efficacy is a high priority. An ex vivo challenge model is one such promising surrogate. Colonic tissue exposed to rectally applied microbicides in vivo and then challenged with HIV in the lab showed significant reduction in HIV replication when compared to tissue exposed to placebo gel. Currently, the ex vivo challenge model for ectocervical and vaginal tissue is under development at the Dezzutti lab at the Magee Womens Research Institute in Pittsburgh, PA. Currently the Reproductive Infectious Disease Research Group is conducting a study designed to answer important questions about the ex vivo challenge model:which HIV virus is the best to use in the laboratory and what is the best indicator of HIV infection. The proposed study delineated here will investigate the effect of BV, HSV and contraceptive use on the model . There will be two arms to the study; the first will investigate the impact of HSV and BV status and the second, contraceptive use. Vaginal and cervical biopsies will be collected from participants for the ex vivo challenge model.

The investigators will conduct qualitative interviews of hospital personnel regarding HAI prevention practices, and use coded data from these interviews to assist in developing standardized practices.

Background: Currently prevalence of HPV infections for high risk strains among young women in Switzerland is unknown. In addition, since 2008 a vaccination program to prevent these infections has been implemented in a number of cantons, but its actual population impact is currently unknown. For now, HPV screening in Switzerland is mainly performed by gynecologists or during gynecological consultation at hospital. This method is certainly effective, but expensive; population coverage of screening is still insufficient. A whole segment of the target population does not participate in this screening especially young people of foreign origin, for various reasons: economic cost, no gynecological, and for other reasons. Several studies raise the effectiveness and efficiency of self-sampling to increase coverage of screening, and the rate of participation of non-participants. Through this study, the investigators evaluate effectiveness of this vaccination on the prevalence of HPV infections using HPV prevalence kit and assess evolution of infection and clearance of HPV virus during 5 years in a population of young unvaccinated and vaccinated women. Method: During the study, each participants will perform a vaginal swab sampling by auto to research HPV. These samples will be sent to a laboratory where HPV typing is done by PCR using the Anyplex ™ II technology. The study will focus on a sample of 400 young women. Participants must complete a questionnaire containing demographic questions and their HPV immunization status. Vaccination coverage expected in this population is about 50%. Depending on the state of vaccination, two different groups will be vaccinated vs unvaccinated (200 women per group). The cases of HPV infection are then calculated for each group and compared as a function of the status of vaccination. Statistical tests will be applied McNemar's test for comparison between the HPV prevalence rates between the 2 groups. Expected Results: This study will allow us to confirm the possibility of using self-sampling as a method of screening and monitoring of HPV infections in the general population, it will also enable us to document the effectiveness of HPV vaccination by comparing prevalence rate of HPV infections among a group of young girls vaccinated and not vaccine and assess evolution of infection and clearance of HPV virus.

Randomized, 2-arm observational study. The 2 arms (randomized at the level of health care provider) will be: 1. usual practice; 2. automated reminders to recommend 2nd and 3rd doses of HPV vaccine for eligible male and female adolescents who have initiated vaccination.

A retrospective observational study to assess the clinical management and outcomes of hospitalised patients with complicated urinary tract infection in countries with high prevalence of multidrug resistant gram-negative bacteria (COMBACTE-MAGNET,WP5)