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With the improvement of internet technology in health applications, the utilization of internet and social media as new survey methodologies and recruitment source for research participants have been encouraged, yet evidence of the feasibility in people living with HIV (PLHIV) study is still lacking. We conducted a cross-sectional survey to determine whether there are differences among PLHIV recruited from social media networks and health-care systems using an HIV stigma and discrimination questionnaire. The result revealed that PLHIV recruited from social media networks were younger, more sexually active, and had higher educational status and awareness of the country's HIV rights protection laws than those recruited from hospitals. By contrast, participants recruited from hospitals were more diverse regarding key population compositions, had lived with HIV for a longer duration, had a higher prevalence of concomitant physical disabilities than those recruited from social media networks, and fit Taiwan PLHIV characteristics described by 2016 census from Taiwan Centres for Disease Control. We conclude that sampling bias exists when utilizing social media networks for PLHIV studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To evaluate nasal carriage, antibiotic susceptibility and molecular characteristics of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), as well as the risk factors of MRSA colonization, in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients in northern Taiwan.Methods: From September 2014 to November 2015, HIV-infected patients seeking outpatient care at four hospitals were eligible for this study. A nasal specimen was obtained from each subject for the detection of S. aureus and a questionnaire was completed by each subject. MRSA isolates once identified were characterized.Results: Of 553 patients surveyed, methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) was detected in 119 subjects (21.5%) and MRSA in 19 subjects (3.4%). Female gender, injection drug use, smoking, hepatitis C virus carrier, cancer and antibiotic use within 1 year were positively associated with MRSA colonization. By multivariate analysis, only cancer (adjust odds ratio (aOR) 7.78, [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.909-31.731]) and antibiotic use within 1 year (aOR 3.89, [95% CI, 1.219-12.433]) were significantly associated with MRSA colonization. Ten isolates were characterized as sequence type (ST) 59/staphylococcal chromosome cassette (SCC) IV or VT, endemic community strains in Taiwan, four isolates as ST 8/SCCmec IV (USA 300) and one isolate as ST 239/SCCmec IIIA, a hospital strain. All the community-associated MRSA isolates were susceptible to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX).Conclusions: Nasal MRSA carriage in HIV-infected patients seeking outpatient care was low (3.4%) in northern Taiwan. Most of the colonizing isolates were genetically endemic community strains and exhibited high susceptibility to TMP-SMX and fluoroquinolones. Cancer and antibiotic use within 1 year were associated with MRSA colonization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Dolutegravir + boosted protease inhibitor is recommended as salvage therapy for highly experienced HIV-positive patients. • Evidence for the two-drug regimen of DTG + bPI is limited. • DTG + bPI demonstrated high efficacy and genetic barrier to resistance for patients with multiple resistance. • The two-drug regimen had metabolic impact on increased level of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. • Weight gain of 1.3 kg and 2.8 kg was noted after switching to the two-drug regimen at Weeks 24 and 48, respectively. Real-world experience with dolutegravir (DTG) plus boosted protease inhibitor (bPI) as a two-drug regimen is limited for highly experienced HIV-positive patients with virological failure or intolerance to antiretroviral therapy. Patients receiving DTG plus bPI between September 2016 and June 2019 at 15 designated hospitals for HIV care in Taiwan were retrospectively included in this study. A standardised case record form was used to collect clinical data. The primary endpoint was virological response, defined as achieving or maintaining plasma HIV-RNA <50 copies/mL at Week 48. A total of 77 patients were included; 58 (75.3%) had documented genotypic resistance to 1–4 antiretroviral classes. The most commonly used PI was darunavir (87.0%; 67/77). Seven patients (9.1%) had no virological data at Week 48, including three with loss to follow-up, one severe hyperlipidaemia, one renal failure and cardiovascular disease, one superimposed HBV infection and one death from anal cancer. The virological response rate increased from 59.7% at baseline to 90.9% at Week 24 and 85.7% at Week 48. The only patient (1.3%) with virological failure at Week 48 had poor adherence and baseline low-level resistance to darunavir with resistance-associated mutations at M46L, I50V and V82A. Compared with baseline, mean total cholesterol increased by 20.1 mg/dL and weight by 2.8 kg at Week 48, while the estimated glomerular filtration rate decreased by 14.4 mL/min/1.73m2 (both P < 0.05). We conclude that a two-drug regimen containing DTG plus bPI was effective in highly-experienced HIV-positive patients, but metabolic impact and weight gain should be closely monitored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]