Cochrane review informs guidelines on managing histoplasmosis in people living with HIV

 In a newsystematic review, an author team from the  Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group explored the evidence regarding managing histoplasmosis in people with HIV. Their review informed the PAHO/WHO guideline development process. The review authors worked with the guideline development group to formulate key questions, including which antifungal drug to start, how long to continue, and when to start antiretroviral medication. They also looked at tuberculosis therapy when people were infected with tuberculosis, HIV, and histoplasmosis.Histoplasmosis is an infection caused by inhaling a fungus called Histoplasma. The most severe form of histoplasmosis is called progressive disseminated histoplasmosis, in which the infection spreads from the lungs to other organs. It is life ‐threatening for people with advanced HIV. Before this Cochrane Review and the updated PAHO/WHO guidelines, the guidelines for management of disseminated in histoplasmosis were designed for high-resource settings, and were out of date, given that antiretroviral therapy (ART) is widely available and treatment paradigms have changed.LSTM ’s Clinical Research Associate Dr Marylou Murray and Infectious Diseases Consultant and Research Fellow Dr Paul Hine assessed the available evidence and included 17 studies in the Cochrane Review. They found that liposomal amphotericin B may improve clinical success compared to deoxycholate amphot ericin B when starting treatment, and that liposomal amphotericin B r...
Source: Cochrane News and Events - Category: Information Technology Authors: Source Type: news