BackgroundHuman rhinoviruses (HRVs) belong to the Picornaviridae family with high similarity to human enteroviruses (HEVs). Limited data is available from Latin America regarding the clinical presentation and strains of these viruses in respiratory disease.MethodsWe collected nasopharyngeal swabs at clinics located in eight Latin American countries from 3,375 subjects aged 25 years or younger who presented with influenza-like illness.ResultsOur subjects had a median age of 3 years and a 1.2:1.0 male:female ratio. HRV was identified in 16% and HEV was identified in 3%. HRVs accounted for a higher frequency of isolates in those of younger age, in particular children < 1 years old. HRV-C accounted for 38% of all HRVs detected. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a high proportion of recombinant strains between HRV-A/HRV-C and between HEV-A/HEV-B. In addition, both EV-D68 and EV-A71 were identified.ConclusionsIn Latin America as in other regions, HRVs and HEVs account for a substantial proportion of respiratory viruses identified in young people with ILI, a finding that provides additional support for the development of pharmaceuticals and vaccines targeting these pathogens.

ObjectiveThe Honduran HIV/AIDS Program began to scale up access to HIV therapy in 2002. Up to May 2008, more than 6000 patients received combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). As HIV drug resistance is the major obstacle for effective treatment, the purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of antiretroviral drug resistance in Honduran HIV-1-infected individuals. MethodsWe collected samples from 138 individuals (97 adults and 41 children) on cART with virological, immunological or clinical signs of treatment failure. HIV-1 pol sequences were obtained using an in-house method. Resistance mutations were identified according to the 2007 International AIDS Society (IAS)-USA list and predicted susceptibility to cART was scored using the ANRS algorithm. ResultsResistance mutations were detected in 112 patients (81%), 74% in adults and 98% in children. Triple-, dual-and single-class drug resistance was documented in 27%, 43% and 11% of the study subjects, respectively. Multiple logistic regression showed that resistance was independently associated with type of treatment failure [virological failure (odds ratio (OR) 5 1) vs. immunological failure (OR 5 0.11; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.030-0.43) vs. clinical failure (OR 5 0.037; 95% CI 0.0063-0.22)], route of transmission (OR 5 42.8;, and years on therapy (OR 5 1.81; 95% CI 1.11-2.93). ConclusionThe prevalence of antiretroviral resistance was high in Honduran HIV-infected patients with signs of treatment failure. A majority of study subjects showed dual-or triple-class resistance to nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors and protease inhibitors. Virologically defined treatment failure was a strong predictor of resistance, indicating that viral load testing is needed to correctly identify patients with treatment failure attributable to resistance.Keywords: antiretroviral treatment, drug resistance, HIV, mutations, treatment failure IntroductionThe mortality of HIV-1 infection has decreased dramatically in the developed parts of the world following the introduction of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) in 1996 [1][2][3]. cART typically involves therapy with two Honduras is estimated to have one of the highest HIV-1 prevalences (0.7%; range 0.4-1.4%) in Latin America [6].Of the large number of HIV-positive individuals, 12 000 are estimated to be in need of cART (Table 1). The National HIV/AIDS Program in Honduras began to scale up access to therapy in 2002, and since then many patients have gained access to cART. At present approximately 6000 patients have been under treatment, of whom around 700 have interrupted therapy and more than 800 have died [7].The goal of modern cART is to suppress viral replication and maintain plasma HIV-1 RNA levels in treated patients below the detection limit of sensitive assays (i.e. o50 HIV-1 RNA copies/mL plasma) [3,4]. Treatment failure during cART is a significant clinical problem. Poor adherence is the most common cause of treatment failure, but failure can al...

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Background  Human Adenoviruses are recognized pathogens, causing a broad spectrum of diseases. Serotype identification is critical for epidemiological surveillance, detection of new strains and understanding of HAdvs pathogenesis. Little data is available about HAdvs subtypes in Latin America. Methods  In this study, we have molecularly characterized 213 adenoviruses collected from ILI presenting patients, during 2006‐08, in Central and South America. Results  Our results indicate that 161(76%) adenoviruses belong to subgroup C, 45 (21%) to subgroup B and 7 (3%) to subtype E4.

The distribution of subtypes A through F of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in Honduras was analyzed in 120 HIV-1 positive serum samples by V3 peptide serotyping and HIV-1 cDNA sequencing. In the Honduran HIV-1 epidemic, subtype B was detected in 98 of 99 subtyped samples.