PURPOSE To investigate the outcome of HIV-seropositive patients under highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) with anal cancer treated with radiotherapy (RT) alone or in combination with standard chemotherapy (CT). PATIENTS AND METHODS Clinical outcome of 81 HIV-seronegative patients (1988-2003) and 10 consecutive HIV-seropositive patients under HAART (1997-2003) that were treated with...

To determine the seroprevalence of selected orthobunyaviruses in livestock in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, a serologic investigation was performed using serum samples from 256 domestic animals (182 horses, 31 sheep, 1 dog, 37 chickens, and 5 turkeys). All serum samples were examined by plaque reduction neutralization test using Cache Valley virus (CVV), Cholul virus (CHLV), South River viru...

Seven hundred and sixty-eight blood samples of pregnant cattle from four Holstein dairy herds that are farmed in the vicinity of Tehran were used to evaluate the seroprevalence of Neospora caninum infection by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Two hundred and ninety-eight of the 768 blood samples (38.8%) were positive for this infection. The prevalence of infection in the herds varied ...

OBJECTIVE To estimate seroprevalence of Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis (MAP) infection among adult dairy cows in Colorado and determine herd-level factors associated with the risk that individual cows would be seropositive. DESIGN Cross-sectional observational study. ANIMALS 10,280 adult (> or = 2 years old) dairy cows in 15 herds in Colorado. PROCEDURE Serum samples were test...

The relationship of infection with Trypanosoma cruzi to ECG abnormalities was studied in a defined population in rural Bahia, Brazil. Of 644 individuals 10 years of age or older who had complement fixation tests for antibodies to T. cruzi and ECGs, 53.7% were seropositive. ECG abnormalities were more common in seropositive individuals than in seronegative individuals, and more common in men tha...

Despite evidence of West Nile virus (WNV) activity in Colombia, Venezuela and Argentina, this virus has not been reported in most South American countries. In February 2009, we commenced an investigation for WNV in mosquitoes, horses and caimans from the Pantanal, Central-West Brazil. The sera of 168 horses and 30 caimans were initially tested using a flaviviruses-specific epitope-blocking enzy...

Iatrogenous transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi by blood transfusion was suggested as a potential risk by Pellegrino (1949). Seropositive blood donors in Mexico were first reported in 1978, however, limited information is available due to small sampling, the use of heterogeneous serologic assays, and geographically limited studies. A wide survey carried out in 18 out of the 32 states of Mexico, s...

OBJECTIVES To compare the clinical and electrophysiological features of myasthenia gravis (MG) patients with (seropositive) or without (seronegative) antibodies to acetylcholine receptor. To investigate whether antibodies to muscle specific kinase (MuSK) and ryanodine receptor (RyR) are associated with particular features. METHODS Clinical profiles and single fibre electromyography (SFEMG) in...

BACKGROUND Cumulative genetic profiles can help identify individuals at high-risk for developing RA. We examined the impact of 39 validated genetic risk alleles on the risk of RA phenotypes characterized by serologic and erosive status. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We evaluated single nucleotide polymorphisms at 31 validated RA risk loci and 8 Human Leukocyte Antigen alleles among 542 Caucasian...

BACKGROUND Assisted reproduction techniques can minimize the risk of infection and treat possible sterility associated with serodiscordant couples. METHODS We assessed the efficacy of these techniques in 57 couples in which at least one partner had human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) infection that was currently under control (47 men and 10 women). The semen of seropositive men was prepared ...