News

21

Sep, 2021

Urgent actions against coronavirus variants: European Commission funds VERDI with 10 million Euros

Tags: , , ,

Padua University and Penta Foundation lead VERDI, a new European research consortium on coronavirus in children and pregnant women Padova, Italy – 22 September 2021   Children and pregnant women have taken a back seat during this pandemic and are likely to be the last to be vaccinated, thus becoming a population at high risk of developing new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In fact, children have generally been developing the disease in a mild and asymptomatic form and pregnant women rarely transmit the virus to the fetus. With the […]

READ MORE

23

Jul, 2021

CARMA study publishes article in Journal of International AIDS Society

Tags: , ,

The CARMA team in the EPIICAL consortium have just published the article Early ART initiation during infancy preserves natural killer cells in young European adolescents living with HIV (CARMA cohort) in the Journal of International AIDS Society. HIV infection causes pathological changes in the natural killer cell compartment, a type of white blood cell with enzymes that kill cells infected with a virus. Through antiretroviral therapy (ART), this compartment can be partially restored. The CARMA team looked into the characteristics and function of natural killer cells in children born with HIV and […]

READ MORE

24

Mar, 2021

SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission in primary schools in England in June–December, 2020 (sKIDs): an active, prospective surveillance study

Tags: ,

Authors: Shamez N Ladhani, Frances Baawuah, Joanne Beckmann, Ifeanichukwu O Okike, Shazaad Ahmad, Joanna Garstang, Andrew J Brent, Bernadette Brent, Jemma Walker, Nick Andrews, Georgina Ireland, Felicity Aiano, Zahin Amin-Chowdhury, Louise Letley, Jessica Flood, Samuel E I Jones, Ray Borrow, Ezra Linley, Maria Zambon, John Poh, Vanessa Saliba, Gayatri Amirthalingam, Jamie Lopez Bernal, Kevin E Brown, Mary E Ramsay Published in: The Lancet   Summary Background: Little is known about the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission in educational settings. Public Health England initiated a study, COVID-19 Surveillance in School […]

READ MORE

19

Mar, 2021

Vaccinating Children against Covid-19 — The Lessons of Measles

Tags: , ,

Authors: Perri Klass, M.D. and Adam J. Ratner, M.D., M.P.H. Published in: The New England Journal of Medicine   Introduction: Imagine a highly contagious virus circulating in the community. Many infected children have fever and some general misery but recover without incident. Rarely, devastating complications occur, leading to hospitalization, severe illness, and occasional deaths. Susceptible adults fare worse, with higher rates of poor outcomes. Would you want your child vaccinated against this disease? You guessed we were talking about measles, right? As the first SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are rolled out to […]

READ MORE

19

Mar, 2021

Virological and immunological features of SARS COV 2 infected children who who developed neutralizing antibodies

Tags: , ,

Authors: Nicola Cotugno, Alessandra Ruggiero, Francesco Bonfante, Paolo Rossi, Anita De Rossi, Paolo Palma et al. Published in: Cell Reports   Summary: As the global COVID-19 pandemic progresses, it is paramount to gain knowledge on adaptive immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in children to define immune correlates of protection upon immunization or infection. We analyzed anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and their neutralizing activity (PRNT) in 66 COVID-19-infected children at 7 (±2) days after symptom onset. Individuals with specific humoral responses presented faster virus clearance and lower viral load associated with a reduced in vitro infectivity. […]

READ MORE

12

Mar, 2021

Sharing our understanding of the immune response of children living with HIV

Tags: , , ,

EPIICAL is proud to have presented four abstracts at the CROI conference this year, sharing updated information on viral decay and the immune response of children living with HIV who begin treatment early in life.   EFFECT OF HIV ON IMMUNE ACTIVATION AND EXHAUSTION IN CD4 AND CD8 T CELLS IN INFANTS Stefano Rinaldi, Vinh B. Dinh, Suresh Pallikkuth, Lesley D. Armas, Nadia Sitoe, Rajendra Pahwa, Nicola Cotugno, Paula Vaz, Paolo Palma, MariaGrazia Lain, Savita G. Pahwa DYNAMICS OF INTACT PROVIRAL SEQUENCES IN EARLY TREATED HIV-1 CLADE C–INFECTED INFANTS Catherine […]

READ MORE

11

Mar, 2021

ODYSSEY trial finds new drug is better for treating children living with HIV

Tags: , , ,

The anti-HIV drug Dolutegravir improves outcomes for children with HIV infection when given in a 3-drug combination. These results come from the ODYSSEY trial which was presented yesterday at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections. Dolutegravir has a number of potential advantages, including: Few drug-to-drug interactions, making it easier to use when treating people who need treatment for other conditions such as tuberculosis High potency at a low milligram dose, meaning tablets can be small High genetic barrier to resistance Low cost Trials of dolutegravir in combination treatments in […]

READ MORE

19

Feb, 2021

ODYSSEY clinical trial design: a randomised global study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of dolutegravir-based antiretroviral therapy in HIV-positive children, with nested pharmacokinetic sub-studies to evaluate pragmatic WHO-weight-band based dolutegravir dosing

Tags: , ,

Authors: Cecilia L. Moore, Anna Turkova , Hilda Mujuru , Adeodata Kekitiinwa, Abbas Lugemwa, Cissy M. Kityo, Linda N. Barlow-Mosha, et al, ODYSSEY trial team Published in: BMC Infectious Diseases   Background: Dolutegravir (DTG)-based antiretroviral therapy (ART) is highly effective and well-tolerated in adults and is rapidly being adopted globally. We describe the design of the ODYSSEY trial which evaluates the efficacy and safety of DTG-based ART compared with standard-of-care in children and adolescents. The ODYSSEY trial includes nested pharmacokinetic (PK) sub-studies which evaluated pragmatic World Health Organization (WHO) weight-band-based […]

READ MORE

21

Jan, 2021

EU grants Marketing Authorisation to first-ever dispersible-tablet dolutegravir

Tags: , ,

On 12 January 2021, the European Medicine Agency approved the use of dolutegravir 5mg dispersible tablets for treating HIV in young children living in Europe. This decision was based, in part, on data from our ODYSSEY trial, which we are conducting in close collaboration with the MRC CTU at the University College London. The EMA also authorised updating dosing recommendations for dolutegravir film-coated tablets (10mg, 25mg and 50mg) for children six years and older and weighing at least 14kg, bringing these in line with the World Health Organization weight bands. […]

READ MORE
NEWSLETTER

We would like to update you on our recent activities

Subscribe

No thanks, I’m not interested!