OBJECTIVE To determine whether there has been a tendency for early post-seroconversion CD4 cell counts to change over calendar time. DESIGN A prospective cohort study of individuals with well-estimated dates of seroconversion. METHODS We studied 1251 individuals who seroconverted to HIV in Italy between 1985 and 2002, and for whom the first CD4 count was measured within 2 years of seroconve...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion is an important hallmark in the natural course of chronic hepatitis B. This study was designed to predict early HBeAg seroconversion within 1 year, by not only biochemical and virological markers, but also pathological parameters in patients with chronic hepatitis B. MATERIAL/METHODS In a retrospective cohort study, 234 patients with HBe...

BACKGROUND AND AIM Clinical data on spontaneous hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion and acute exacerbation of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) virus infection from large population studies are lacking. In the present study we examined the clinical features and significance of HBeAg seroconversion and acute exacerbation in 3063 Chinese CHB patients. METHODS Clinical assessment, liver biochem...

BACKGROUND It is well established that the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is increased among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive individuals, but the temporal relationships between these infections are unclear. METHODS During a South African cervical cancer screening trial, 5595 women 35-65 years of age were followed up for 36 months; 577 women were HIV positive at...

PURPOSE Lamivudine is known to be very effective in suppressing hepatitis B virus replication and virus induced necroinflammation. The aim of this study was to evaluate lamivudine therapy efficacy, predictive factors, breakthrough, prevalence of YMDD mutation, and relapse rate in Korean children with chronic hepatitis B. MATERIALS AND METHODS Between August 1999 and February 2005, 60 children...

OBJECTIVE Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is a major health problem. The outcome of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is associated with variations in HLA-DPA1 alleles. The aim of this study was to investigate possible associations of HLA-DPA1 alleles with treatment response and with hepatitis B virus e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion. METHODS Eight different HLA-DPA1 alleles from 246 CHB patients w...

BACKGROUND This study evaluated the persistence of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion (which is considered to be an important therapeutic end point) after adefovir dipivoxil treatment. METHODS Forty-five patients who experienced confirmed HBeAg seroconversion and had a serum hepatitis B virus DNA level < 10(5) copies/mL while receiving 10 mg of adefovir dipivoxil in a prior study we...

West Nile virus (WNV) infection is mainly asymptomatic but can be severe in elderly persons. As part of studies on immunity and aging in Connecticut, USA, we detected WNV seroconversion in 8.5% of nonimmunosuppressed and 16.8% of immunosuppressed persons. Age was not a significant seroconversion factor. Our findings suggest that immune factors affect seroconversion.