HIV and Mediterranean Zoonoses: A Review of the Literature

Abstract

A zoonosis is an infectious disease that has jumped from a non-human animal to humans. Some zoonoses are very common in the Mediterranean area and endemic in specific regions, so they represent an important problem for public health. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a virus that has originated as a zoonosis and is now diffused globally, with the most significant numbers of infected people among the infectious diseases. Since the introduction of antiretroviral therapy (ART), the history for people living with HIV (PLWH) has changed drastically, and many diseases are now no different in epidemiology and prognosis as they are in not-HIV-infected people. Still, the underlying inflammatory state that is correlated with HIV and other alterations related to the infection itself can be a risk factor when infected with other bacteria, parasites or viruses. We reviewed the literature for infection by the most common Mediterranean zoonoses, such as Campylobacter, Salmonella, Brucella, Rickettsia, Borrelia, Listeria and Echinococcus, and a possible correlation with HIV. We included Monkeypox, since the outbreak of cases is becoming a concern lately. We found that HIV may be related with alterations of the microbiome, as for campylobacteriosis, and that there are some zoonoses with a significant prevalence in PLWH, as for salmonellosis.

SARS-CoV-2 Affects Both Humans and Animals: What Is the Potential Transmission Risk? A Literature Review

“…Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a chronic, potentially life-threatening condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Interestingly, based on findings demonstrating that HIV developed as a result of multiple cross-species transmissions from simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), AIDS has been reported to be the most important zoonosis in our recent history, killing more than 25 million people [ 1 , 12 , 13 ]. HIV has probably “jumped” to humans from a West African subspecies of chimpanzee ( Pan troglodytes troglodytes ).…”

Watch-and-wait approach for inactive echinococcal cysts: scoping review update since the issue of the WHO-IWGE Expert Consensus and current perspectives

“…Unfortunately, no cyst stage information was provided, which weakens their conclusions. In their recent reviews, Russotto et al [24] reported that cystic echinococcosis is a common co-infection in patients with HIV in endemic countries, and Ghasemirad et al [25 ▪ ] specifically highlighted the impossibility, from current literature, to draw conclusions on any possible difference in the clinical course of the infection in immunocompromised compared with immunocompetent patients. No longitudinal studies compared the long-term outcome of patients with cystic echinococcosis and concomitant immunosuppressive conditions, which could provide robust data while avoiding the potential bias due to clinical observation and publication of only symptomatic, severe and complicated cases (Supplementary file 2, http://links.lww.com/COID/A49).…”