Active clinical trials for "Communicable Diseases"

Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) is an opportunistic fungal infection of immunocompromised hosts which causes in significant morbidity and mortality. The current standard of care, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) at a dose of 15-20 mg/kg/day of TMP, is associated with serious adverse events, including hypersensitivity reactions, drug-induced liver injury, cytopenia, and renal failure occurring among 20-60% of patients. The frequency of adverse events increases in a dose dependent manner and commonly limits the use of TMP-SMX. Reduced treatment doses of TMP-SMX for PJP reduced ADEs without mortality differences in a recent meta-analysis of observational studies. We therefore propose a Phase III randomized, placebo-controlled trial to directly compare the efficacy and safety of low dose (10 mg/kg/day of TMP) compared to the standard-of-care (15 mg/kg/day) among patients with PJP for the primary outcome of death, new mechanical ventilation, and change of treatment.

Background: Intestinal microbiota composition is fundamental to human health and undergoes critical changes within the first two years of life. Factors probably influencing the microbiota are the maternal microbiota and the general environment in Switzerland. However, the development of the intestinal microbiota is incompletely understood. Gaining knowledge of the trajectory of microbiota maturation is likely key to the understanding of the pathogenesis of many pathologies in childhood. Aims: The investigators aim for a deep understanding of the maturation of the healthy infant intestinal microbiota regarding composition, diversity and metabolic activities. The investigators aim for identifying parameters affecting microbiota maturation and effects of the microbiota on infant outcome. Methods: The investigators will recruit 250 pregnant mothers who will be followed as mother-baby pairs until 10 years of age. Infants will be followed clinically to determine adequate growth and development as well as pathology including abdominal pain. Epidemiological parameter and infant nutrition will be assessed. The investigators will collect biological samples such as stool, maternal milk, vaginal swaps and skin swaps. Species composition and diversity will be assessed by 16S sequencing. Metagenomic shotgun sequencing and bacterial messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) analysis will inform about metabolic potential and metabolic activity of the microbiota. Mass spectrometry will assess the small molecule content of stool and maternal milk samples. Network analysis will be used to assess the complex relationships between bacteria metabolic activities and small molecular content. Expected results: The investigators expect an increase in complexity and metabolic potential and activity with age. Microbiota parameters will differ according to nutrition and might predict infant outcomes such as growth and abdominal pain. Systematic analysis of sequential maternal and infant bacteria samples from stool, skin and maternal milk will help characterizing bacterial transfer from mother to infant Conclusion: The investigators propose an observational study of healthy Bern mother baby pairs with clinical characterisation and biological sampling. Advanced analysis tools will be used to characterise the microbiota and address mechanistic questions.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate how useful vitamin D supplementation is in reducing the severity of COVID-19 symptoms and the body's inflammatory and infection-fighting response to COVID-19. Individuals ≥50 years of age and older who are tested for COVID-19 and negative will be randomized (like flipping a coin) to either daily high dose vitamin D supplementation (6000 IU vitamin D3/day) vs. standard of care. Those individuals ≥50 years of age or older who test positive for COVID-19 at baseline will be randomized to bolus vitamin D (20,000 IU/day for 3 days) followed by high dose (6000 IU vitamin D/day) vs. standard of care for 12 months. All participants will receive a multivitamin containing vitamin D.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether patients being treated for prosthetic joint infections (PJI) experience distress during the course of their treatment and how distress influences various aspects of their lives. WVU expects to enroll approximately 12 subjects. Patients identified as scoring ≥4 on the Distress Thermometer at the two-week follow-up visit will be offered the opportunity to participate in the novel CRUTCH Pathway. Once enrolled, you will meet virtually with a mental health provider. The mental health provider will complete a 30-minute intake visit where he will review your distress thermometer scoring, discuss contributing factors to current distress level, and assess for psychiatric comorbidities.

The aim of this study is to determine the imputability of adverse events in patients who have had phage therapy for the treatment of their bone or joint or implant infection, in order to find out whether these adverse effects are related to surgery, antibiotic treatment or bacteriophages.

The overall purpose of this study is to demonstrate the usability of a clinical-grade device in the form of a finger clasp similar to a pulse oximeter for monitoring lactate values, by comparing its performance in reading interstitial fluid lactate values against a known clinical standard in the form of venous lactate levels. Serum lactate measurements are used clinically as a measure of end-organ dysfunction and physiologic stress. Changes in lactate may indicate worsening infection in the setting of sepsis, drug toxicity for certain xenobiotics, or exercise tolerance in exercise physiology. Serum lactate cutoffs have been developed for various disease states and trigger a variety of medical decisions directed at managing the course of the disease. A common theme in the application of lactate measurements to understanding changes in physiology is the need to obtain venous blood to determine lactate. While point-of-care assays have been developed that improve the processing speed, there continues to be a need to obtain fingerstick blood or in most cases, venous blood. Obtaining venous blood for serum lactate requires an individual with phlebotomy skills, the processing capabilities of a laboratory to determine lactate concentrations, or the availability of point of care technology. An alternative method to measure lactate is to sample interstitial fluid which surrounds cells and tissues in the body. Obtaining interstitial fluid is potentially less invasive without the need for repeat phlebotomy or the presence of an indwelling intravenous catheter which can become complicated by infection. The analysis of interstitial fluid for glucose has been validated and is clinically utilized in continuous glucose monitors in individuals with diabetes. In this investigation, the investigators will utilize a novel device, the Lab Clasp to obtain interstitial fluid in a noninvasive method. The Lab Clasp is manufactured to resemble a finger pulse oximeter with additional onboard microfluidics channels that obtain a lactate concentration from interstitial fluid. This streamlined process of obtaining the point of care lactate measurements on demand allows for tasks like serial lactate measurements to be accomplished on a reliable schedule with less workload for nursing staff typically required to draw venous blood. Additionally, the portable and noninvasive nature of the Lab Clasp system may render it usable in facilities that lack skilled staff necessary to perform phlebotomy.

This project seeks to test the efficacy of a couples-based HIV prevention program in large-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) to reduce HIV risk among transgender woman and their partners. This project involves enrolling a racially diverse sample of transgender women and their partners and randomizing 50 couples to either the couples-based HIV prevention intervention or an enhanced standard of care (SOC) control condition. Couples will be followed quarterly over 12-months. Analysis of study outcomes will utilize both individual- and dyadic-level data. The primary outcome is a composite measure of risk for HIV transmission which encompasses validated behavioral indicators of HIV risk as well as biomedical confirmation of viral suppression and PrEP adherence.

In the 30 years fighting against CMV infection, the mortality rate of HSCT patients was significantly reduced. Now we should turn to how to better improve the prognosis of HSCT patients and prevent CMV infection. The emergence of letermovir gave this vision a shot in the arm11-13. Letermovir is the only drug with an indication approved for the prevention of CMV infection in HSCT patients, with a novel mechanism of action characterized by inhibition of the CMV DNA terminase complex. The efficacy and safety of letermovir were well demonstrated in key phase III studies, where letermovir prophylaxis significantly reduced CMV infection and all-cause mortality after HSCT without increased myelosuppression and increased nephrotoxicity (vs. placebo)13. A real-world study of letermovir prophylaxis showed a significant reduction in CMV infection rates (47.0% vs 10.7%), and a significant reduction in antiviral use after 180 days. After more than100 days of continuous use, in addition to a significant reduction in clinically significant CMV infections and patients' overall survival increased, significant efficacy was consistently maintained in patients with grade 2 or greater GVHD14-17. A systematic review and meta-analysis of real-world studies on primary prevention in letermovir was showed in EBMT 2022. A total of 48 real-world observational studies were included, and the results showed that the use of CMV primary prevention was effective in reducing the overall risk of CMV performance (including CMV reactivation, cs-CMV infection and CMV disease), all-cause mortality and non-relapse mortality at day 200 in adult HSCT recipients. At 100 days follow-up, CMV reactivation decreased by 87%, meanwhile clinically significant CMV infection by 91%, CMV disease decreased by 69%, CMV-related hospitalization decreased by 94%, and GVHD decreased by 48%18. Letermovir has achieved excellent therapeutic benefits globally but is still in its infancy in China. Letermovir obtained an implied license for a clinical trial in June 2020, and in November 2020, Letermovir submitted and accepted four new drug marketing applications in China, including injection and tablet formulations. On December 31, 2021, the China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) approved letermovir for cytomegalovirus (CMV) seropositive adult recipients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) [R+] prevention of cytomegalovirus infection and cytomegalovirus disease. The commercial launch of letermovir is estimated to be in August 2022. Since the seropositive rate of CMV in the Chinese population is over 90%, it is not enough to judge whether CMV prevention is necessary depending on serology. In the past few years, with the increased number of only children in China, haploidentical stem cell transplantation (haplo-SCT) has been showing a steady expanding trend in China. Most hospitals' pretreatment methods use the Beijing protocol (including ATG) rather than post-transplant cyclophosphamide method to prevent GVHD, which also greatly increases the risk of CMV. To our knowledge, there is little published data focused on the efficacy of CMV prophylaxis for patients undergoing the haplo-SCT in China. A "real-life" evaluation of the new drug in terms of efficacy, emergence of resistance, tolerance related to CMV infection, is useful to propose recommendations on management strategies. Therefore, we would like to conduct a prospective observation study of CMV surveillance in haplo-SCT patients receiving letermovir prophylaxis in China, to evaluate the potential real-life effect of letermovir on efficacy, drug resistance emergence, tolerability, and CMV infection-related morbidity and mortality. This work contributes to recommendations regarding CMV management strategies, especially for patients at highest risk, i.e., CMV R+ haploidentical transplant recipients.

The goal of this observational study is to evaluate new non-invasive passive surveillance technologies, Level 42 AI imPulse™ for the detection of COVID-19 in asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals over age of 18 undergoing COVID-19 screening and testing at BAMC Ft Sam Houston, TX; with and without COVID-19. The hypotheses are: (H1) The imPulse™ Una e-stethoscope has at least a similar discriminative and detection ability among symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 carrier versus those not infected compared to gold standard RT-PCR. Based on these promising studies, we will operationalize and deploy the imPulseTM Una e-stethoscope and other associated technology form factors into DoD use-cases. (H2) In the mid to long-term, this approach will also be explored as a diagnostic system to explore pursue the physical (structural and mechanical) properties of cells and tissues that maintain normal cell behavior (motility, growth, apoptosis), and the critical importance of the ability of cells to sense and respond to mechanical stresses, which will be operationally critical for assessment of both traumatic and unconventional exposures in austere environments. Participants will: Be consented; Be screened for COVID-19 symptoms according to BAMC's current screening procedures; Have study data collected; Complete a COVID-19 symptoms questionnaire; imPulseTM Una e-stethoscope examination will be conducted; Participants will be compensated for completing all study requirements. (Active-Duty personnel must complete the study procedures while off-duty in order to receive compensation.)

Objectives: A pilot study to compare the therapeutic and safety profiles between low(2.5mg) and standard(10mg) doses of intrapleural tissue plasminogen activator(tPA) in uncontrolled pleural infection. The study design will be tested for its trialability. Hypothesis: 2.5mg tPA has comparable therapeutic efficacy and less bleeding complications to 10mg tPA. Design and subjects: A pilot, single-centre, two-arm, double-blinded, randomized controlled trial(RCT) which includes subjects with uncontrolled pleural infection, with follow-up till 90 days after hospital discharge. Interventions: Recruited subjects will be randomized in 1:1 ratio to receive a maximum of 6 doses of intrapleural tPA starting at either 2.5mg or 10mg. A clinical decision is allowed at the third dose to continue with the assigned dose or escalate to 10mg to complete the course based on the clinical response, without breaking the blinding. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome is survival at 90 days and without the need for surgical intervention. Secondary outcomes include the need for additional pleural interventions, number of decisions to choose 10mg intrapleural tPA at the third dose, clinical and radiographic response after the treatment course, safety profiles especially bleeding complications, and the number and reason for protocol violation. Data analysis and expected results: Data will be analyzed on an intention-to-treat basis for all randomized subjects. The clinical outcomes will be compared with a regression model built to adjust for confounding covariates. The data on therapeutic efficacy and bleeding complications will inform the power calculation of sample size in subsequent full-scale multicentred RCT incorporating the current study design.