To describe characteristics and prognosis of patients with suboptimal immunological response to combined antiretroviral therapy (CART). Using data from a multicenter cohort study, we selected patients who initiated CART and showed suboptimal CD4-T cell response (defined as <50 cells/L increase) after 1 year of therapy, despite sustained virological suppression. Characteristics of those patients were compared with subjects who showed optimal immunological response. Of 650 patients with virological suppression, 108 (16.6%) showed suboptimal CD4-T cell response. Independent predictors of suboptimal response were previous injection drug use (OR, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.12-2.98) and age at CART initiation (OR, 1.04 per year increase; 95%CI, 1.01-1.06). Hepatitis C virus coinfection was not associated with impaired immunological response. As compared with patients with optimal immunological response, those with suboptimal response had a higher mortality rate (3.22 versus 0.71 per 100 person-years; p=.001), but a similar rate of new AIDS-defining events. In patients with sustained virological suppression with CART, previous injection drug use, but not hepatitis C virus coinfection, and older age at initiation of therapy were associated with suboptimal CD4 T-cell responses. Patients with suboptimal response had a higher mortality over time, mainly due to diseases other than AIDS-defining events.

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The study presented here analyzed the contents of 36 international infectious diseases journals from 1991 to 2001 to determine the number of reports prepared by authors in the European Union and to compare the per country scientific productivity. Articles included in the study were identified using the PubMed website. The number of publications in infectious disease journals produced by authors in the European Union experienced an exponential growth from 461 (19.2% of world production) in 1991 to 2,401 (35.9%) in 2001. The mean impact factor increased from 2.259 in 1991 to 3.001 in 2001. The leading countries in the total number of publications were the UK, France, and Germany. After taking population figures into account, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland headed the list, and after correcting for gross domestic product, the greatest producers were Sweden, Finland, and the UK. Overall, the scientific production and repercussion index of European Union research on infectious diseases experienced a notable rise during the last decade of the 20th century.

Between the years 2001 and 2005, a total of 72,895 female mosquitoes were trapped during their season of abundance, and analyzed. They were sorted into 4,723 pools belonging to 20 Culicidae species from the Anopheles, Aedes, Ochlerotatus, Culex, Culiseta, Coquillettidia, and Uranotaenia genera. The aim was to detect arboviral RNA directly from mosquito homogenates for the genera Alphavirus, Flavivirus, and Phlebovirus. The study formed part of general arbovirus transmission research in four of the most important wetlands in Spain; in the provinces of Girona, Barcelona, Tarragona, and Huelva. The mosquitoes were collected using human bait, CO(2) traps, or light traps, and they were pooled according to date of collection, location, and species. No arboviral RNA from known pathogenic arboviruses was found. However, 111 pools tested positive for unknown mosquito Flavivirus, the only genus detected. The Flavivirus sequences identified were different from all known Flavivirus mosquito viruses, but very close to Kamiti River virus or cell fusing agent virus. The maximum likelihood estimation infection rate (MLE) was calculated for all regions and species. Aedes albopictus had the highest MLE at 47.14, followed by Ae. vexans with 43.67 (over the entire area). These species were followed by Culiseta annulata, with 36.00. The most common species, Ochlerotatus caspius and Culex pipiens, had low MLE values-0.94 and 0.38, respectively-over the area as a whole.

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