Search results for "HIV infections"
showing 10 items of 304 documents
Content analysis of Spanish judgements addressing the sexual transmission of HIV: 1996-2016.
2018
This study performed a content analysis of the language of the Spanish judgements addressing the sexual transmission of HIV in order to determine its possible interrelationship with HIV-related stigma. All judgements and writs dictated by Spanish penal and civil jurisdictions between 1981 and December 2016 were obtained through a systematic search of the Spanish legal databases. The inclusion criterion was that the possible transmission of HIV was judged as an individual infraction, regardless of whether other infractions were involved. Twenty judgements were selected and analysed through direct content analysis assisted by the software MAXQDA 12. The majority of the cases (85%) were brough…
Antibodies to human herpes virus type 8 (HHV8) in general population and in individuals at risk for sexually transmitted diseases in Western Sicily.
2000
Human herpes virus 8 (HHV8) appears to be the primary aetiologic agent of Kaposi sarcoma (KS). To study the distribution of HHV8, a seroepidemiological study was carried out in western Sicily, where a high incidence rate of classical KS is well documented.A total of 970 sera of healthy human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) negative individuals of general population (1-70 years old) and 742 sera of individuals in different risk groups for HIV infection were evaluated by means of an indirect immunofluorescence assay able to detect antibodies to lytic and latent HHV8 antigens.Crude seroprevalence to HHV8 antigens was 11.5% in the general population, and it increased significantly with age from 6%…
A novel antiviral approach.
2012
Viral infections are often the etiological agents of severe acute and chronic human diseases. Their peculiar biology usually leads to the need of design specific therapies for each virus, and the eradication of the viruses and the healing of the patients very often are not reached also after decades of theoretical and applied researches. HIV is a classical example of how the efforts of the researchers may be disappointed in eradicating a virus infection in an infected patient. Here I present a hypothesis for a new antiviral approach that may be suitable for the treatment of HIV infected patients. The same approach, with opportune modifications, may be also applied as healing strategy for a …
HIV-1 Adaptation to Antigen Processing Results in Population-Level Immune Evasion and Affects Subtype Diversification
2014
Summary The recent HIV-1 vaccine failures highlight the need to better understand virus-host interactions. One key question is why CD8+ T cell responses to two HIV-Gag regions are uniquely associated with delayed disease progression only in patients expressing a few rare HLA class I variants when these regions encode epitopes presented by ∼30 more common HLA variants. By combining epitope processing and computational analyses of the two HIV subtypes responsible for ∼60% of worldwide infections, we identified a hitherto unrecognized adaptation to the antigen-processing machinery through substitutions at subtype-specific motifs. Multiple HLA variants presenting epitopes situated next to a giv…
Acceptability of dual HIV/syphilis rapid test in community- and home-based testing strategy among transgender women in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2021
Background: Little is known of acceptability and feasibility of dual HIV and syphilis rapid tests in community- and home-based provider-initiated strategies among transgender women (TGW), in Latin America. Objectives were (1) to assess the acceptability of this strategy and, (2) to determine the percentage of positive results of HIV and syphilis, analyze the correlates of HIV or syphilis positive results, and measure the rates of effective referral and treatment completion among TGW. Methods: A multidisciplinary team tested 89 TGW in Buenos Aires. An acceptability survey was administered after the HIV/syphilis Duo test was used. All confirmed cases were referred for treatment initiation. R…
The metabolic syndrome and HIV infection.
2013
The metabolic syndrome (MetS), a cluster of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, has become an important public health problem. Considerable differences in the prevalence of the MetS in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected subjects have been reported, as a consequence of several limitations regarding the diagnostic critera for MetS. New evidence suggests that the use of optimal waist cut-off points specific for the various ethnic populations could represent a step forward in overcoming these limitations. Also the use of specific cut-off points for measuring upper trunk fat as an adjunctive criterion of MetS in HIV patients with lipodystrophy could represent an…
Longitudinal analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis 19-kDa antigen-specific T cells in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis: association with disease…
2003
CD8(+) T cells play a central role in immune protection against infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. One of the target epitopes for anti-M. tuberculosis directed CD8(+) T cells is the HLA-A2-restricted 19-kDa lipoprotein peptide VLTDGNPPEV. T cell clones directed against this epitope recognized not only the nominal peptide ligand, but also a closely related peptide (VPTDPNPPEV) from the HIV envelope gp120 (HIV(env) gp120) protein characterized by IFN-gamma release. This cross-reactivity was confirmed in ex vivo in M. tuberculosis 19-kDa tetramer-sorted T cells from patients with tuberculosis and in HIVgp120 tetramer-reactive T cells sorted from HIV(+) patients. M. tuberculosis 19-kDa …
Peer support in an outpatient clinic for people living with human immunodeficiency virus: a qualitative study of service users’ experiences
2022
Abstract Background Although human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has become a manageable condition with increasing life expectancy, people living with HIV (PLHIV) are still often isolated from society due to stigma and discrimination. Peer support provides one avenue for increased social support. Given the limited research on peer support from the perspective of PLHIV, this study explored their experiences of peer support organised by healthcare professionals in an outpatient clinical setting. Methods The study used a qualitative, descriptive research design for an in-depth understanding of peer support provided to PLHIV in the context of outpatient clinics. Healthcare professionals contribu…
In-Depth Characterization of Viral Isolates from Plasma and Cells Compared with Plasma Circulating Quasispecies in Early HIV-1 Infection
2012
Background The use of in vitro models to unravel the phenotypic characteristics of circulating viral variants is key to understanding HIV-1 pathogenesis but limited by the availability of primary viral isolates from biological samples. However, overall in vivo genetic variability of HIV-1 within a subject may not be reflected in the viable viral population obtained after isolation. Although several studies have tried to determine whether viral populations expanded in vitro are representative of in vivo findings, the answer remains unclear due to the reduced number of clonal sequences analyzed or samples compared. In order to overcome previous experimental limitations, here we applied Deep P…
Burden of HIV and hepatitis C co-infection: the changing epidemiology of hepatitis C in HIV-infected patients in France.
2015
Équipe UB/CHU (EA) Pôle MERS CT3 Hors Enjeu; International audience; Background & AimsTo better evaluate the HIV-HCV co-infection burden in the context of new effective HCV treatment. MethodsWe reviewed all the epidemiological data available on HCV-related disease in HIV-infected patients in France. Sources of data have been selected using the following criteria: (i) prospective cohorts or cross-sectional surveys; (ii) conducted at a national level; (iii) in the HIV-infected population; (iv) able to identify HCV co-infection and chronic active hepatitis C (HCV RNA positive); and (v) conducted during the period 2003-2012. ResultsThe overall prevalence of HIV-HCV co-infection has decreased fr…