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In May 2007, five patients with Q fever-like symptoms were reported in an agricultural educational center in the rural southern French town of Florac. An investigation was undertaken to identify the outbreak source and risk factors for infection, and to implement control measures.We undertook active case finding. Patients were defined as individuals with an unexplained fever of ≥38.5°C who lived in, worked in, or visited Florac between April 1 and June 30, 2007. Patients were confirmed by a positive Q fever serology test. A cross-sectional survey with a seroprevalence component was carried out in the educational center and surrounding area. A standardized questionnaire on known risk factors for the infection was used and serological testing was carried out on finger prick blood specimens from participants. The veterinary services investigated local herds within a 5-mile radius using polymerase chain reaction and serological tests.One hundred twenty-two people were included in the cross-sectional survey. Eighteen serologically confirmed acute cases were identified, of whom 12 were from the educational center. The statistical analysis showed an independent association between acute infection and living or working near an area where manure had been spread (p = 0.0.042) and male gender (p = 0.022). Frequenting the educational center's canteen was also associated with infection (p = 0.008) among staff and students. The veterinary investigations identified 11 of the 26 tested flocks of goats and sheep as seropositive for Coxiella burnetii, including 2 ovine flocks located northwest of Florac that had high shedding levels of the bacterium.The observed excess of cases of Q fever in Florac, an area endemic for this infection, in spring 2007 could be explained by an aerial transmission from infectious ovine flocks situated close to the town. All local herd owners were re-educated about the risks and prevention practices for Q fever.

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Most of the body's lymphoid tissue is in gut and constitutes an immense HIV reservoir. We quantified HIV-DNA in rectum and compared it with blood levels for 27 HIV-infected adults from different groups. We observed a large range of rectal and blood HIV-DNA levels. They were positively correlated (r = 0.841, P

Reported is a case of life-threatening septic shock that occurred in an otherwise healthy host after administration of a peripheral venous infusion of a solution contaminated with Ochrobactrum anthropi , an unusual human pathogen. The rapid onset of shock may have been due to a large inoculum caused by nonsterile practices at the time of reconstitution.

We report the first 2 cases of fatal invasive aspergillosis complicating severe malaria. In 2 nonimmune European adults without underlying disease, death was directly ascribable to invasive aspergillosis. We believe that transient malaria-induced immunosuppression allowed massive growth and overwhelming dissemination of preexisting Aspergillus colonization.

Antiretroviral therapies including lopinavir (LPV) are frequently associated with dyslipidemia. Atazanavir (ATZ) and darunavir (DRV), currently recommended new boosted protease inhibitor, seems to have a better lipid profile than LPV, respectively in the Castle and Artemis study. Supplement: Abstracts of the Tenth International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1758-2652-13-S4-info.pdf Conference: Tenth International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection 7-11 November 2010 Glasgow, UK (Published: 8 November 2010) doi:10.1186/1758-2652-13-S4-P46 Cite this article as: Le Moal et al.: Lopinavir to atazanavir or darunavir switch in HIV-1-infected patients with dyslipidemia: an observational study. Journal of the International AIDS Society 2010 13(Suppl 4):P46. Full text: PubMed Central: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3113049/

The existence of HIV reservoirs in infected individuals under combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) represents a major obstacle toward cure. Viral reservoirs are assessed by quantification of HIV nucleic acids, a method which does not discriminate between infectious and defective viruses, or by viral outgrowth assays, which require large numbers of cells and long-term cultures. Here, we used an ultrasensitive p24 digital assay, which we report to be 1,000-fold more sensitive than classical enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) in the quantification of HIV-1 Gag p24 production in samples from HIV-infected individuals. Results from ultrasensitive p24 assays were compared to those from conventional viral RNA reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR)-based assays and from outgrowth assay readout by flow cytometry. Using serial dilutions and flow-based single-cell sorting, we show that viral proteins produced by a single infected cell can be detected by the ultrasensitive p24 assay. This unique sensitivity allowed the early (as soon as day 1 in 43% of cases) and more efficient detection and quantification of p24 in phytohemagglutinin-L (PHA)-stimulated CD4 + T cells from individuals under effective cART. When seven different classes of latency reversal agents (LRA) in resting CD4 + T cells from HIV-infected individuals were tested, the ultrasensitive p24 assay revealed differences in the extent of HIV reactivation. Of note, HIV RNA production was infrequently accompanied by p24 protein production (19%). Among the drugs tested, prostratin showed a superior capacity in inducing viral protein production. In summary, the ultrasensitive p24 assay allows the detection and quantification of p24 produced by single infected CD4 + T cells and provides a unique tool to assess early reactivation of infectious virus from reservoirs in HIV-infected individuals. IMPORTANCE The persistence of HIV reservoirs in infected individuals under effective antiretroviral treatment represents a major obstacle toward cure. Different methods to estimate HIV reservoirs exist, but there is currently no optimal assay to measure HIV reservoirs in HIV eradication interventions. In the present study, we report an ultrasensitive digital ELISA platform for quantification of the HIV-1 protein p24. This method was employed to assess the early reactivation of infectious virus from reservoirs in HIV-1-infected individuals. We found that viral proteins produced by a single infected cell can be detected by an ultrasensitive p24 assay. This unprecedented resolution showed major advantages in comparison to other techniques currently used to assess viral replication in reactivation studies. In addition, such a highly sensitive assay allows discrimination of drug-induced reactivation of productive HIV based on protein expression. The present study heralds new opportunities to evaluate the HIV reservoir and the efficacy of drugs used to target it.