The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in 1996 has transformed a lethal disease to a chronic pathology with a dramatic decrease in mortality and morbidity of AIDS-related symptoms in infected patients. However, HAART has not allowed the cure of HIV infection, the main obstacle to HIV eradication being the existence of quiescent reservoirs. Several other problems have been encountered with HAART (such as side effects, adherence to medication, emergence of resistance and cost of treatment), and these motivate the search for new ways to treat these patients. Recent advances hold promise for the ultimate cure of HIV infection, which is the topic of this review. Besides these new strategies aiming to eliminate the virus, efforts must be made to improve current HAART. We believe that the cure of HIV infection will not be attained in the short term and that a strategy based on purging the reservoirs has to be associated with an aggressive HAART strategy.

Background: Human brucellosis is a neglected and zoonotic disease also known as Malta fever or undulant fever. Objectives: A cross sectional study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of brucellosis and to access the role of risk factors associated with this disease in humans of Punjab, Pakistan. Methods: A total of 250 serum samples were collected and subjected to Rose Bengal Plate Test and Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay for screening of Brucella. A predesigned questionnaire was filled prior to sampling to collect data regarding socio -demographic and suspected risk factors of human brucellosis. Descriptive and bivariate statistical analysis was performed using the STATA software version 12. Results: The study showed 16% seroprevalence of brucellosis. The prevalence was statistically higher in males (24%), age group of 20 to 30 years (26.92%), rural residents, (23%) and individuals with animals at home (22.50%). Among the related risk factors, exposure to animals (OR = 1.87, 95% CI: 0.9459, 3.6973) and consuming raw milk (OR = 2.36, 95% CI: 1.1713, 4.7760) were strongly associated with the disease. Conclusions: Awareness programs in the rural population should be provided about the disease and its associated risk factors. Consuming unpasteurized milk and products should be avoided to control this disease.

This article explores the extent to which innovations are driven by the project management office (PMO), an internal unit within owner and operator organizations that is responsible for overall project assurance and control. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with organizational members of Transport for London (TfL), a public transport owner and operator organization and a key stakeholder in the UK infrastructure sector. This was combined with the analysis of four project assurance reviews initiated and delivered by TfL. The findings demonstrate that the PMO provides opportunities for building and enhancing innovative capabilities of the owner and operator organization.

The worldwide outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has challenged the priorities of healthcare system in terms of different clinical management and infection transmission, particularly those related to hepatic-disease comorbidities. Epidemiological data evidenced that COVID-19 patients with altered liver function because of hepatitis infection and cholestasis have an adverse prognosis and experience worse health outcomes. COVID-19-associated liver injury is correlated with various liver diseases following a severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection that can progress during the treatment of COVID-19 patients with or without pre-existing liver disease. SARS-CoV-2 can induce liver injury in a number of ways including direct cytopathic effect of the virus on cholangiocytes/hepatocytes, immune-mediated damage, hypoxia, and sepsis. Indeed, immediate cytopathogenic effects of SARS-CoV-2 via its potential target, the angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 receptor, which is highly expressed in hepatocytes and cholangiocytes, renders the liver as an extra-respiratory organ with increased susceptibility to pathological outcomes. But, underlying COVID-19-linked liver disease pathogenesis with abnormal liver function tests (LFTs) is incompletely understood. Hence, we collated COVID-19-associated liver injuries with increased LFTs at the nexus of pre-existing liver diseases and COVID-19, and defining a plausible pathophysiological triad of COVID-19, hepatocellular damage, and liver disease. This review summarizes recent findings of the exacerbating role of COVID-19 in pre-existing liver disease and vice versa as well as international guidelines of clinical care, management, and treatment recommendations for COVID-19 patients with liver disease.

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