Since its widespread introduction, the hepatitis B vaccine has become an essential part of infant immunization programmes globally. The vaccine has been particularly important for countries where the incidence of hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma is high. Effective treatment options for individuals with chronic hepatitis B infection were limited until 1998 when lamivudine, the ...

In early human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, the virus population escapes from multiple CD8(+) cell responses. The later an escape mutation emerges, the slower it outgrows its competition, i.e., the escape rate is lower. This pattern could indicate that the strength of the CD8(+) cell responses is waning, or that later viral escape mutants carry a larger fitness cost. In this paper, w...

Structurally modified nucleotide/nucleoside analogues can exert potent inhibitory effect on HBV polymerase activities. Some of these agents have been approved for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B. Because of a high risk of reactivation upon drug withdrawal, continuous long-term therapy is recommended to maintain maximal viral suppression. Consequently, drug resistance has developed in a sig...

Sera from 12 patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B virus (HBV), on lamivudine as part of an antiretroviral therapy, were retrospectively analysed for the presence of HBV polymerase mutations by the line probe assay, INNO-LiPA HBV DR, and by the direct sequencing assay, TRUGENE HBV genotyping kit. Results at codons 180, 204 and 207 were compared for 44 samples. Full...

HLA-B*81:01 and HLA-B*39:10 alleles have been associated with viremic control in HIV-1 subtype C infection. Both alleles restrict the TL9 epitope in p24 Gag, and cytotoxic-T-lymphocyte (CTL)-mediated escape mutations in this epitope have been associated with an in vitro fitness cost to the virus. We investigated the timing and impact of mutations in the TL9 epitope on disease progression in fiv...

A prospective study was performed to determine the molecular characteristics of rotaviruses circulating among children aged <5 years in Bhutan. Stool samples were collected from February 2010 through January 2011 from children who attended two tertiary care hospitals in the capital Thimphu and the eastern regional headquarters, Mongar. The samples positive for rotavirus was mainly comprised gen...

BACKGROUND Simple and effective delivery methods for cellular immunotherapies are needed. We recently published on the effectiveness of using ex vivo pulsing of overlapping SIV Gag 15mer peptides onto fresh peripheral blood cells in 32 SIV(mac251)-infected pigtail macaques. METHODS We now report on the safety of this approach, analysis of a novel assay for immunogenicity, the effect of an MHC...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the prevalence of occult HBV infection (OBI) among children and to characterize virology of occult HBV, we conducted an epidemiological survey. METHODS 186 HB-vaccinated infants born to HBsAg-positive mothers were included in the study. Serological tests for HBV markers were performed using commercial ELISA kits. Real-time quantitative PCR and nested PCR were used to ...

Recently identified broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) that potently neutralize most HIV-1 strains are key to potential antibody-based therapeutic approaches to combat HIV/AIDS in the absence of an effective vaccine. Increasing bNAb potencies and resistance to common routes of HIV-1 escape through mutation would facilitate their use as therapeutics. We previously used structure-based desig...