Medenta

HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) still faces many barriers around the world. Additional barriers such as retesting or rescheduling for result analysis and prescription might lead to abandoning PrEP initiation altogether. We wanted to explore whether there would be a significant number of alert issues among people starting PrEP that would warrant more in-depth clinical analysis before commencing PrEP safely. A retrospective medical data analysis of people who started PrEP at All Saints Clinic in Wroclaw, Poland between October 2017 and January 2021 was performed. Rapid (during the first visit) or delayed PrEP initiation was chosen at the discretion of the attending physician. A total of 308 people started PrEP in the analysed period and were included in the analysis. The median age was 33 years with 96.75% being men who have sex with men (MSM) and 68.5% opting for daily dosing at PrEP initiation. Most (n=233) started PrEP rapidly (i.e., during the first visit), whereas for 75 individuals the initiation was delayed by a median of 7 days. Logistic regression analysis showed that lack of test laboratory results, recent exposure or age over 50 years were reasons for delaying PrEP initiation. Median creatinine values increased from 0.93 mg/mL to 0.95 mg/mL 1 month after PrEP initiation. Despite being statistically significant (p = 0.0282, 95% CI 0.0015-0.027), the difference was not significant clinically. Rapid PrEP initiation was feasible and safe while contraindications were rare. HIV infection exclusion before PrEP initiation can be streamlined by utilizing remote consultations and patient self-interpretation of the results. Renal complications are either not clinically significant or occur rarely.

ABSTRACTBackgroundThis review was designed to assess the evidence from randomized controlled trials on effects of probiotics in the treatment and prevention of acute infectious diarrhea in infants and children.MethodsA systematic review of published, randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trials on probiotics in the treatment or prevention of acute diarrhea defined as >3 loose or watery stools per 24 hours in infants and children.ResultsThe use of probiotics as compared with placebo was associated with a significantly reduced risk of diarrhea lasting >3 days. The pooled estimate risk was 0.43 (95% CI, 0.34–0.53) with a fixed‐effect model, and remained significant in a random‐effect model (0.40; 95% CI, 0.28–0.57). Only Lactobacillus GG showed a consistent effect. Probiotics significantly reduced the duration of diarrhea when compared with placebo, particularly in rotaviral gastroenteritis—the pooled, weighted, mean difference (WMD) assuming the random‐effect model was −20.1 hours (95% CI, −26.1 to −14.2) and −24.8 (95% CI, −31.8 to −17.9) respectively. A meta‐analysis of the prevention studies was not feasible because of significant clinical and statistical heterogeneity.ConclusionsThere is evidence of a clinically significant benefit of probiotics in the treatment of acute infectious diarrhea in infants and children, particularly in rotaviral gastroenteritis. Lactobacillus GG showed the most consistent effect, although other probiotic strains may also be effective. Further research is needed. Clinical and statistical heterogeneity of the prophylactic interventions preclude drawing firm conclusions about the efficacy of probiotics in preventing acute gastroenteritis.

This review was designed to assess the evidence from randomized controlled trials on effects of probiotics in the treatment and prevention of acute infectious diarrhea in infants and children. A systematic review of published, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials on probiotics in the treatment or prevention of acute diarrhea defined as >3 loose or watery stools per 24 hours in infants and children. The use of probiotics as compared with placebo was associated with a significantly reduced risk of diarrhea lasting >3 days. The pooled estimate risk was 0.43 (95% CI, 0.34-0.53) with a fixed-effect model, and remained significant in a random-effect model (0.40; 95% CI, 0.28-0.57). Only Lactobacillus GG showed a consistent effect. Probiotics significantly reduced the duration of diarrhea when compared with placebo, particularly in rotaviral gastroenteritis-the pooled, weighted, mean difference (WMD) assuming the random-effect model was -20.1 hours (95% CI, -26.1 to -14.2) and -24.8 (95% CI, -31.8 to -17.9) respectively. A meta-analysis of the prevention studies was not feasible because of significant clinical and statistical heterogeneity. There is evidence of a clinically significant benefit of probiotics in the treatment of acute infectious diarrhea in infants and children, particularly in rotaviral gastroenteritis. Lactobacillus GG showed the most consistent effect, although other probiotic strains may also be effective. Further research is needed. Clinical and statistical heterogeneity of the prophylactic interventions preclude drawing firm conclusions about the efficacy of probiotics in preventing acute gastroenteritis.