Active clinical trials for "Opportunistic Infections"

The purpose of this study is to determine if infection with Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) occurs in other parts of the body before it is found in the blood. This study also evaluates the relationships between the amount of HIV in the blood, immune system functions, and the presence of MAC infection. HIV-positive patients are at risk for MAC infection because their immune systems have been weakened by HIV. It is hoped that aggressive treatment with anti-HIV drugs may improve their immune systems enough to prevent against MAC.

Opportunistic infections are caused by bacteria, mycobacteria, fungi or viruses that do not normally cause infections in people with healthy immune systems. Some of these infections can cause public health concerns, especially in areas with limited access to treatment. People who acquire opportunistic infections usually have diseases that affect their immune systems, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), or do not have enough white blood cells to fight the infection. However, some people acquire opportunistic infections even though they have normal amounts of white blood cells and are free from known diseases that harm their immune systems. This study will investigate some of the reasons that otherwise healthy people get opportunistic infections to learn more about why some people are more likely to have them. This study will include up to 210 HIV-negative males and females older than 18 years of age who have opportunistic infections. The patients will be drawn from multiple sites in Thailand and Taiwan including Khon Kaen University Hospital, Siriraj Hospital, Ramathibodi Hospital, National Taiwan University Hospital, National Cheng-Kung University Hospital Patients will undergo an initial evaluation that will include a physical examination, medical history, and blood and urine testing. Additional tests will be conducted if the researchers consider that the tests are medically necessary to treat the opportunistic infection; the results of the tests will be reviewed and saved for study purposes. Depending on the severity of the infection, the initial evaluation may take more than 1 day to complete. After the evaluation, patients will be given standard and appropriate medicines to treat the infections. Patients will return for follow-up visits to allow researchers to monitor their condition and to assess how well the patient is responding to the treatment. Patients will be evaluated by the study researchers at least once a year for 2 years following the initial treatment.

Rationale: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is increasingly used by various specialists in the Netherlands, but its role in managing patients with HIV is unclear. In settings endemic for tuberculosis, Fast Assessment with Sonography for HIV/Tuberculosis (FASH) has proven its value to detect extrapulmonary tuberculosis in patients with HIV. However, there is no data to support POCUS for patients with HIV in resource affluent settings. Objective: The investigators aim to determine the feasibility and diagnostic value of POCUS in detecting opportunistic disease in HIV patients with advanced disease stages in the Netherlands. Study design: The investigators will perform a prospective observational pilot study. Study population: The investigators will include new adult patients with HIV presenting with a cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4) T-cell count below 350 cells/mm3, and all adult HIV patients requiring admission to hospital. Intervention (if applicable): The investigators will perform a focused ultrasound examination including FASH, and ultrasound of the lung, liver and kidneys. In case of positive findings additional examinations will be undertaken to determine the underlying pathology and/or treatment started as indicated. In case of negative findings, patients will be followed for 12 months to observe for (possibly missed) opportunistic infections. Main study parameters/endpoints: Our primary outcomes include acceptability of POCUS by patients, interobserver variation in interpretation of POCUS images, and number of diagnosed AIDS and non-AIDS related problems. Secondary outcomes include sensitivity and specificity, negative predictive value and positive predictive value of our POCUS protocol. In addition, incidence rates of opportunistic infections will be compared to a historical matched control group. Nature and extent of the burden and risks associated with participation, benefit and group relatedness: The ultrasound examination is painless and without risk to the participants. It will take approximately 30 minutes and will be combined with routine visits to the hospital. Benefits include potential earlier detection of opportunistic disease, while adverse effects may arise from false positive findings requiring further examinations which may cause stress or anxiety. The rate of false positive findings in POCUS has not been formally investigated, but appears low. The effect of POCUS in advanced HIV/AIDS can only be studied in HIV patients.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of starting anti-HIV drugs in HIV infected patients who are being treated for opportunistic infections (OIs). This study will follow two patient groups: those who received anti-HIV drugs soon after being diagnosed with an OI and patients with OIs who deferred beginning anti-HIV drugs until after recovering from the OI.

The purpose of this study is to compare the incidence of opportunistic infections between HIV-infected patients who continue and discontinue primary or secondary prophylaxis for opportunistic infections in whom receiving combination antiretroviral therapy and achieve undetectable HIV-1 RNA, but CD4 cell counts are less than 200 cells/mm3.

Cotrimoxazole preventive therapy (CPT) is recommended for prevention of morbidity and mortality due to Pneumocystis pneumonia and other infections in HIV positive patients with low immunity. Common clinical practice is to start CPT in any patient with CD4 counts below 200/µL, and, conversely, to stop CPT when immunity has been restored by antiretroviral treatment to CD4 counts above 200/µL or when viral suppression has been documented for 3 months. However, the latest WHO guidelines widely expands the indication for CPT by advocating for settings with high prevalence of malaria and bacterial infections, that all patients with HIV start CPT regardless of CD4 counts and clinical stage. Furthermore, WHO recommends these patients to continue CPT indefinitely regardless of evidence of immune restoration (The recommendation is for settings with high prevalence of malaria and bacterial infections, not for high-income countries). There is limited scientific evidence to recommend prolonged CPT, as studies have shown it is associated with modestly reduced morbidity due to pneumonia, meningitis and malaria, but no corresponding reduction in mortality. The impact of such a large increase in antibiotic use on the emergence of antimicrobial resistance has not been thoroughly considered. Our previous studies in Tanzania showed that multidrug-resistant bacteria frequently cause bloodstream infections with resultant very high case-fatality rates. As genes encoding for multiple antibiotic resistance traits are transferred by plasmids together with resistance towards cotrimoxazole, prolonged CPT will likely favor the selection of carriage of multidrug-resistant gut bacteria. The proposed randomized clinical trial is designed to assess whether prolonged CPT in HIV-positive patients results in increased fecal carriage of multi-drug resistant gut microbes or increased nasal carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Secondary endpoints are morbidity (clinical events, hospitalizations) and mortality. Stool specimens, nasal swabs and clinical data will be collected from persons attending voluntary counseling and testing facilities and HIV-clinics in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The study results may have important impact on public health in terms of assisting development of rational recommendations for CPT use, and may help prevent emerging antibiotic resistance.

The purpose of this prospective randomized study is to determine whether infusions of T-memory cells prevent infections in children with leukemia after allogeneic alpha, beta T-cell receptor (TcRab)/CD19-depleted hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).

The stud will evaluate whether infusions of CD45RA-depleted lymphocytes from the donor early post-transplant is a safe way to improve immunity to common infections in recipients of TCR-alpha/beta depleted hematopoietic stem cell grafts.

The DREAMM project is investigating whether the DREAMM interventions (1) Health system strengthening, 2) Co-designed education programs tailored to frontline healthcare workers, 3) Implementation of a diagnostic and treatment algorithm and, 4) Communities of practice in infectious diseases and laboratory capacity building) when combined reduce two week all-cause mortality of HIV-associated meningo-encephalitis in African LMICs.

At least three studies in sub-Saharan Africa have demonstrated a decrease in morbidity or mortality among HIV-infected adults who took daily cotrimoxazole (trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole) [CTX] prophylaxis. Because of the demonstrated beneficial effect, high tolerability and low cost of CTX, the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) recommends that HIV-infected persons with symptomatic HIV or depressed CD4 counts receive daily CTX. The effect of this recommendation on subsequent development of antimicrobial resistance to antifolates among important pathogens needs to be evaluated. The investigators measured the change in the prevalence of markers of antifolate resistance among P. falciparum, and the change in the prevalence of CTX resistance among S. pneumoniae, and E. coli in HIV-infected individuals receiving CTX daily prophylaxis. In addition, the investigators measured the change in the prevalence of naso-pharyngeal or oro-pharyngeal carriage of CTX resistant S. pneumoniae among children living in households where an HIV-infected adult was receiving CTX daily prophylaxis.