Search results for "HIV infections"
showing 10 items of 304 documents
HIV rapid test in a community setting as a strategy to improve access to HIV testing: data from a multicentre experience in Italy
2019
4,000 new HIV diagnoses and approximately 800 AIDS cases are still reported annually in Italy. Improving public awareness and bringing out HIV-undiagnosed individuals are keystones to progress towards the control of the HIV epidemic. For this purpose, the Open HIV TEST project was organized and delivered by the Italian NGO Anlaids, together with local infectious diseases specialists, in order to provide free access to HIV testing outside the healthcare setting. Between October 2017 and February 2019 six Open HIV TEST initiatives were delivered in six Italian cities (3 northern cities, 1 central and 2 southern cities). In all, 581 people were tested: the overall prevalence of HIV test reacti…
Metabolic syndrome and body weight in people living with HIV infection: analysis of differences observed in three different cohort studies over a dec…
2022
Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of being overweight and metabolic syndrome (MS) among people living with HIV (PHIV) in three different cross-sectional studies conducted over three different periods: 2005, 2011 and 2015. Methods: This was a multi-centre, nationwide study. Data were collected in three studies from the CISAI group - SIMOne, HIV-HY and STOPSHIV - and included a total of 3014 PHIV. Logistic regression [odds ratio (OR), 95% confidence interval (CI)] was used to account for age and gender difference among three groups when comparing MS prevalence and being overweight; potential confounders were accounted for by including them in the regression equatio…
First report of the absence of viral load in testicular sperm samples obtained from men with hepatitis C and HIV after washing and their subsequent u…
2008
Human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C infections are sexually transmitted diseases that require sperm samples to be pretreated to eliminate the viral presence before their safe use in assisted reproduction treatments. In this report we describe our experience with sperm washing protocols applied to sperm cells from testicular biopsies as well as the results obtained in subsequent assisted reproduction treatments on seropositive males that are also azoospermic.
Treatment-associated polymorphisms in protease are significantly associated with higher viral load and lower CD4 count in newly diagnosed drug-naive …
2012
Background: The effect of drug resistance transmission on disease progression in the newly infected patient is not well understood. Major drug resistance mutations severely impair viral fitness in a drug free environment, and therefore expected to revert quickly. Compensatory mutations, often already polymorphic in wild-type viruses, do not tend to revert after transmission. While compensatory mutations increase fitness during treatment, their presence may also modulate viral fitness and virulence in absence of therapy and major resistance mutations. We previously designed a modeling technique that quantifies genotypic footprints of in vivo treatment selective pressure, including both drug …
EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SURVEILLANCE OF VISCERAL LEISHMANIASIS IN SICILY, ITALY
1997
Abstract Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is endemic in Sicily. Although it is a notifiable disease, there is evidence that the actual number of cases is higher than that reported. In 1987, a regional reference center for active surveillance of VL was established and it recorded a total of 284 cases through 1995, a mean of 31.5 cases/year and about four-fold more than previously reported. Of the 284 cases, 150 (53%) were children (≤ 14 years of age), and of the 134 adults, 39 (29%) were coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The commonest viscerotropic zymodeme of Leishmania infantum, MON 1, was identified in 40 (93%) of 43 HIV-negative and eight (57%) of 14 HIV-positive patients. A…
Predictors of mortality in HIV-infected patients starting antiretroviral therapy in a rural hospital in Tanzania
2008
Background Studies of antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs in Africa have shown high initial mortality. Factors contributing to this high mortality are poorly described. The aim of the present study was to assess mortality and to identify predictors of mortality in HIV-infected patients starting ART in a rural hospital in Tanzania. Methods This was a cohort study of 320 treatment-naïve adults who started ART between October 2003 and November 2006. Reliable CD4 cell counts were not available, thus ART initiation was based on clinical criteria in accordance with WHO and Tanzanian guidelines. Kaplan-Meier models were used to estimate mortality and Cox proportional hazards models to identify p…
Transmission of Drug-Resistant HIV Type 1 Strains in HAART-Naive Patients: A 5-Year Retrospective Study in Sicily, Italy
2010
The transmission of drug-resistant HIV-1 strains might compromise the efficacy of current first-line antiretroviral (ARV) regimens. Between 2004 and 2008, HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) and protease (PR) genes of 108 ARVnaive Sicilian patients were amplified and sequenced to describe the prevalence of ARV resistance mutations among HAART-naive HIV-1-infected individuals. The frequency of transmitted drug resistance mutations (DRAMs) was determined by using genotypic interpretation algorithms. The proportion of HAART-naive HIV- 1-infected patients in Sicily increased from 18.4% to 23.5% during 2004–2008. Among naive patients, the overall prevalence of DRAMs was 15.7% [17/108; 95% CI: 9.4–2…
Determinants of high-grade anal intraepithelial lesions in HIV-positive MSM.
2018
Objective - To assess determinants for histologically proven high-grade anal intraepithelial lesions (hHSIL) in HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM), a population at high-risk of HPV-related anal cancer. Design - APACHES is a prospective study of anal HPV and related-lesions in 513 HIV-positive MSM aged at least 35 years in six centres across France. Methods - At baseline, participants underwent high-resolution anoscopy (HRA) with biopsy of suspicious lesions, preceded by anal swabs for liquid-based cytology, p16/Ki67 immunostaining, and HPV DNA. hHSIL diagnosis was established by histopathological review panel consensus, and determinants assessed by logistic regression. Results - B…
Confidentiality and disclosure of HIV infection: HIV-positive persons' experience with HIV testing and coping with HIV infection in Latvia.
2000
The objective of the study was to explore retrospectively HIV-infected individuals experience with HIV testing counseling and the issue of confidentiality in the Latvian context. A qualitative study using grounded theory approach and based on semi-structured in-depth interviews was implemented. 13 HIV-positive individuals above 18 were selected using purposeful sampling from the 63 HIV-positive individuals registered in Latvia between 1987 and 1997. HIV-infected people are worried that doctors sometimes disrespect confidentiality. Confidentiality was found to be a basic prerequisite for building trusting relationships between an HIV-infected individual and a doctor within the counseling pro…
[Correlation, in previously treated HIV-1 positive patients, between hypersensitivity reaction to abacavir and the presence of the HLA-B*5701 allele].
2009
Abstract Introduction Hypersensitivity reaction to abacavir (a powerful inverse transcriptase inhibitor) is a serious adverse effect that limits its use in antiretroviral treatment and requires a high level of clinical surveillance. Certain haplotypes of the primary histocompatibility complex proteins (HLA-B*5701) are very significant predictors of the risk of hypersensitivity to this drug. The purpose of this study is to identify the cases where a probable hypersensitivity reaction to abacavir presented the HLA-B*5701 allele. Method A retrospective study was conducted in all HIV-1 positive adult patients infected treated with abacavir between January 2000 and December 2007, in Department 6…