Infectious Disease Reports

Background: Despite global efforts to strengthen surveillance systems, ascertainment bias persisted. We evaluated the extent of this bias by comparing Japan’s airport entry screening data with local surveillance data. Methods: Entry screening data of non-Japanese passengers arriving from 25 countries were analyzed, and countries were categorized by income level: high-income countries (HICs), upper-middle-income countries (UMICs), and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs). A statistical model was developed to describe entry screening positivity using surveillance data of the country of origin. Results: Ascertainment bias was lowest in HICs (positivity = 1.76 times that of local surveillance data, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.42, 2.13). Bias estimates in the remaining income levels were substantially higher: positivity was 25.71 times (95% CI: 21.72, 30.09) and 24.38 times (95% CI: 21.29, 27.72) than that of surveillance data in UMICs and LMICs, respectively. The denial of new entry visas was associated with a relative risk reduction of 0.78 (95% CI: 0.72, 0.83) in UMICs. However, no significant effect was observed in LMICs (−0.13; 95% CI: −0.33, 0.03). Vaccination did not substantially alter post-arrival positivity. Conclusions: A comparison of entry screening data with local surveillance data indicated that ascertainment bias depends on income level.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the genotype distribution, co-infection patterns, and disease-specific characteristics of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection among male outpatients in Wenzhou, China. Methods: A total of 1934 male outpatients who underwent HPV genotyping at Wenzhou People’s Hospital and Wenzhou Maternal and Child Health Hospital between April 2023 and March 2026 were enrolled. Baseline infection status, clinical manifestations, genotype co-infection patterns, and six-month follow-up outcomes were analyzed. Results: The overall HPV positivity rate was 39.14%. HPV52 was the most prevalent high-risk genotype (13.61%, 95% CI: 11.12–16.43%), most frequently co-detected with HPV51 and HPV58, whereas HPV6 dominated low-risk genotypes (40.16%, 95% CI: 36.69–43.66%). HPV positivity differed significantly across disease groups (p < 0.001), with the highest rate observed in mucocutaneous lesions (58.07%, 95% CI: 53.89–62.18%). Single-genotype infection predominated (73.71%, 95% CI: 70.58–76.85%). Of 757 HPV-positive patients, 403 (53.24%) completed six-month follow-up, and their rates of complete clearance, isolated persistence, incident-only genotype, and superinfection were 52.61%, 28.04%, 13.40%, and 5.96%, respectively. Conclusions: These findings underscore the need for male-specific HPV screening strategies, targeted health education for high-risk populations, and age-stratified individualized follow-up protocols. Such regional epidemiological evidence may help optimize local prevention, intervention, and clinical management of HPV-associated disorders in men.

Background/Objectives: People living with HIV (PLHIV) face an elevated burden of cardiovascular disease, and general-population and HIV-specific risk scores are commonly used for stratification, though data from Latin America, particularly Colombia’s Caribbean region, remain scarce. This study aimed to determine the distribution of cardiovascular risk, assessed through the Framingham, ASCVD ACC/AHA, and D:A:D scores, and to compare these scores across antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens among PLHIV individuals in the Colombian Caribbean region. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 147 adult PLHIV patients receiving ART at care sites across the Colombian Caribbean. Sociodemographic, clinical, immunovirological, and treatment-related variables were compared across cardiovascular risk categories (low, moderate, high) using the Kruskal–Wallis test for continuous variables and Chi-squared or Fisher’s exact tests for categorical variables, as appropriate to expected cell counts. Agreement between the three scores was assessed with weighted Cohen’s kappa. Factors independently associated with high cardiovascular risk were evaluated using Bayesian multivariate logistic regression (full and parsimonious models). Results: All three cardiovascular risk scores differed significantly across ART regimen groups (p ≤ 0.005), with INSTI-containing regimens showing the highest scores. Agreement between scores was substantial between Framingham and ASCVD (κ = 0.717) and moderate between Framingham and D:A:D (κ = 0.534), and fair between ASCVD and D:A:D (κ = 0.321). Neither CD4+ count nor viral load status differed significantly by risk category. In multivariate analysis, age was the only variable independently associated with high cardiovascular risk (adjusted OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.18–1.53). Conclusions: Cardiovascular risk stratification in this Caribbean Colombian HIV cohort is driven primarily by chronological age; univariate differences by ART regimen group did not persist after formal comparison against an age-only model (likelihood-ratio p = 0.215), and are more consistent with channeling of older, higher-comorbidity patients toward INSTI-based regimens than with a direct pharmacological effect. Agreement between the three risk scores ranged from fair to substantial, indicating that scoring-system choice can meaningfully alter risk classification independently of virological or immunological control. These findings support age-focused cardiovascular monitoring in PLHIV individuals and caution against relying on a single, non-locally validated risk score in this population.