PLoS medicine
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John Brownstein and colleagues discuss HealthMap, an automated real-time system that monitors and disseminates online information about emerging infectious diseases.
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Comparative Study
Public-health and individual approaches to antiretroviral therapy: township South Africa and Switzerland compared.
The provision of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in resource-limited settings follows a public health approach, which is characterised by a limited number of regimens and the standardisation of clinical and laboratory monitoring. In industrialized countries doctors prescribe from the full range of available antiretroviral drugs, supported by resistance testing and frequent laboratory monitoring. We compared virologic response, changes to first-line regimens, and mortality in HIV-infected patients starting HAART in South Africa and Switzerland. ⋯ Compared to the highly individualised approach in Switzerland, programmatic HAART in South Africa resulted in similar virologic outcomes, with relatively few changes to initial regimens. Further innovation and resources are required in South Africa to both achieve more timely access to HAART and improve the prognosis of patients who start HAART with advanced disease.
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Frank Cobelens and colleagues outline key research questions that need to be addressed to maximize the impact of programmatic management of drug-resistant tuberculosis.