Browsing by Author "Costa, O"
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- Comparison of Nasopharyngeal Samples for SARS‐CoV ‐2 Detection in a Paediatric CohortPublication . Rodrigues, J; Gouveia, C; Santos, MA; Costa, O; Côrte‐Real, R; Brito, MJAim: The diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) depends on accurate and rapid testing. Choosing an appropriate sample may impact diagnosis. Naso-oropharyngeal swabs (NOS) are most frequently used, despite several limitations. Since studies suggest nasopharyngeal aspirate (NPA) as a superior alternative in children, we hypothesised collecting both nasopharyngeal swab and aspirate would improve our diagnostic accuracy. Methods: Observational, longitudinal, prospective study from 7 March to 7 May in a tertiary paediatric hospital in Lisbon. The objective was to compare the rate of detection of SARS-CoV-2 between NOS and NPA samples collected simultaneously. Results: A total of 438 samples collected from 85 patients with confirmed COVID-19. There were 47.7% overall positive specimens - 32% (70/219) positive NOS and 63.5% (139/219) positive NPA. The tests were 67.6% concordant (k = 0.45). 50.3% had positive NPA with negative NOS, while 1.3% had positive NOS with negative NPA. NPA proved to be more sensitive (98.6% with 95% confidence interval 91.2-99.9% vs. 49.6% with 95% confidence interval 41.1-58.2%, P < 0.001). Additionally, the difference between NPA and NOS positive samples was statistically significant across all population groups (age, health condition, clinical presentation, contact with COVID-19 patients or need for hospitalisation), meaning NPA is more sensitive overall. Conclusions: Nasopharyngeal aspirates had greater sensitivity than naso-oropharyngeal swabs in detecting SARS-CoV-2. Our results suggest paediatric patients would benefit from collecting nasopharyngeal aspirates in hospital settings, whenever feasible, to improve diagnosis of COVID-19.
- HIV-1-Transmitted Drug Resistance and Transmission Clusters in Newly Diagnosed Patients in Portugal Between 2014 and 2019Publication . Pingarilho, M; Pimentel, V; Miranda, M; Silva, AR; Diniz, A; Ascenção, B; Piñeiro, C; Koch, C; Rodrigues, C; Caldas, C; Morais, C; Faria, D; Gomes da Silva, E; Teófilo, E; Monteiro, F; Roxo, F; Maltez, F; Rodrigues, F; Gaião, G; Ramos, H; Costa, I; Germano, I; Simões, J; Oliveira, J; Ferreira, J; Poças, J; Saraiva da Cunha, J; Soares, J; Henriques, J; Mansinho, K; Pedro, L; Aleixo, MJ; Gonçalves, MaJ; Manata, MJ; Mouro, M; Serrado, M; Caixeiro, M; Marques, N; Costa, O; Pacheco, P; Proença, P; Rodrigues, P; Pinho, R; Tavares, R; Correia de Abreu, R; Côrte-Real, R; Serrão, R; Sarmento e Castro, R; Nunes, S; Faria, T; Baptista, T; Martins, MR; Gomes, P; Mendão, L; Simões, D; Abecasis, AObjective: To describe and analyze transmitted drug resistance (TDR) between 2014 and 2019 in newly infected patients with HIV-1 in Portugal and to characterize its transmission networks. Methods: Clinical, socioepidemiological, and risk behavior data were collected from 820 newly diagnosed patients in Portugal between September 2014 and December 2019. The sequences obtained from drug resistance testing were used for subtyping, TDR determination, and transmission cluster (TC) analyses. Results: In Portugal, the overall prevalence of TDR between 2014 and 2019 was 11.0%. TDR presented a decreasing trend from 16.7% in 2014 to 9.2% in 2016 (p for-trend = 0.114). Multivariate analysis indicated that TDR was significantly associated with transmission route (MSM presented a lower probability of presenting TDR when compared to heterosexual contact) and with subtype (subtype C presented significantly more TDR when compared to subtype B). TC analysis corroborated that the heterosexual risk group presented a higher proportion of TDR in TCs when compared to MSMs. Among subtype A1, TDR reached 16.6% in heterosexuals, followed by 14.2% in patients infected with subtype B and 9.4% in patients infected with subtype G. Conclusion: Our molecular epidemiology approach indicates that the HIV-1 epidemic in Portugal is changing among risk group populations, with heterosexuals showing increasing levels of HIV-1 transmission and TDR. Prevention measures for this subpopulation should be reinforced.