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AIDS 2020 Dec 30;Publish Ahead of Print. Epub 2020 Dec 30.

University of Botswana Botswana-Harvard Research Laboratory Rutgers University.

Objective: To evaluate the association between the Rhesus system RH2-blood group expression and susceptibility to HIV infection, viral load (VL), CD4 count and rate of CD4 decline. We also aimed to determine if a country's HIV prevalence may be predicted from its RH2 relative frequency.

Design: Our previous studies did not find any HIV-infected RH2 homozygotes. Read More

J Assoc Nurses AIDS Care 2020 Dec 22;Publish Ahead of Print. Epub 2020 Dec 22.

Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, PhD, MPH, LCSW, PMHNP-BC, ANP-BC, AAHIVS, FAAN, is a Professor, School of Social Work, Nursing, and Global Public Health; Director, Center for Latino Adolescent and Family Health (CLAFH); Pilot and Mentoring Core Director, Center for Drug Use and HIV Research (CDUHR), New York University (NYU), New York, New York, USA; and Nurse Practitioner, Adolescent AIDS Program, Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Bronx, New York, USA; and Member, Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA). Dalmacio Dennis Flores, PhD, MSN, ACRN, BSN, is an Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; and Visiting Faculty Fellow, Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. Schenita D. Randolph, PhD, MPH, RN, CNE, is an Assistant Professor, School of Nursing; and Community Engagement and Dissemination Core Co-Director, Duke Center for Research to Advance Healthcare Equity (REACH Equity), Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA. Elvine Belinda Andjembe Etogho, MA, is an Assistant Research Scientist, Center for Latino Adolescent and Family Health, New York University, New York, New York, USA.

Abstract: The welfare of adolescents and young adults (AYA) is pivotal for a sustainable future. However, despite worldwide efforts, alarming disparities in HIV morbidity and mortality persist: AYA are disproportionately affected. Specific world regions and key populations particularly warrant increased efforts to improve prevention and treatment via the global 95-95-95 strategy. Read More

Sex Transm Dis 2020 Dec 15;Publish Ahead of Print. Epub 2020 Dec 15.

Infectious Disease Epidemiology Group, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Cornell University, Doha, Qatar World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Disease Epidemiology Analytics on HIV/AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Infections, and Viral Hepatitis, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Cornell University, Qatar Foundation - Education City, Doha, Qatar Department of Population Health Sciences, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University, New York, New York, USA.

World J AIDS 2019 Sep 9;9(3):142-160. Epub 2019 Sep 9.

Department of Biological Sciences, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ, USA.

Antiviral drugs currently on the market primarily target proteins encoded by specific viruses. The drawback of these drugs is that they lack antiviral mechanisms that account for resistance or viral mutation. Thus, there is a pressing need for researchers to explore and investigate new therapeutic agents with other antiviral strategies. Read More

World J AIDS 2017 28;7(3):166-178. Epub 2017 Jul 28.

Population Council, New Delhi, India.

Background: In 2003 a large-scale HIV prevention program was launched for key populations in six high HIV prevalence states of India. This paper assesses the effect of exposure to the intervention on condom use with commercial clients and experiences of sexually transmitted infection (STI) among female sex workers (FSWs) in Tamilnadu, a southern Indian state, between 2006 and 2009.

Methods: Data were drawn from two rounds of cross-sectional surveys conducted in 2006 (N = 2010) and 2009 (N = 2500) among FSWs in Tamilnadu, recruited through probability-based sampling. Read More

World J AIDS 2016 Sep 9;6(3):87-100. Epub 2016 Sep 9.

Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California, San Francisco, USA; St John's Research Institute, Bangalore, India.

Objectives: To examine demographics, clinical correlates, sputum AFB (acid fast bacilli) smear grading DOTS (Directly Observed Therapy Short Course) uptake, and drug resistance in a cohort of newly-diagnosed, smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients with respect to HIV status at baseline, and compare smear conversion rates, side effects and mortality after two months.

Design: A prospective study among 54 HIV positive and 41 HIV negative pulmonary TB patients. Data were collected via face-to-face interviews, review of medical records, and lab tests. Read More

World J AIDS 2015 Mar 12;5(2):10-20. Epub 2015 Feb 12.

HIV Prevention Research Unit, CDC Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana; Faculty of Medicine, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.

Recent clinical trials have shown that a daily dose of oral TDF/FTC pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is effective in reducing human immunodeficiency (HIV) risk. Understanding trial participants' perspectives about retention and PrEP adherence is critical to inform future PrEP trials and the scale-up and implementation of PrEP programs. We analyzed 53 in-depth interviews conducted in April 2010 with participants in the TDF2 study, a Phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of daily oral TDF/FTC with heterosexual men and women in Francistown and Gaborone, Botswana. Read More

World J AIDS 2014 Sep;4(3):332-337

Department of Medicine and Division of Infectious Diseases, University of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine, 10833 Le Conte Ave, 37-121 CHS, Los Angeles, California, 90095 USA.

Objective: To compare one-year outcomes of women started on antiretroviral therapy (ART) during pregnancy in the pre-Option B+ era to those in the Option B+ era.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed at three sites in Malawi. Women were included in the 'pre-Option B+' cohort if they started ART during pregnancy for a CD4 count < 350 cells/mm or WHO 3/4 condition and in the 'Option B+' cohort if they started ART during pregnancy regardless of CD4 count or clinical stage. Read More

World J AIDS 2013 Mar;3(1):1-9

Social Networks Research Group, John Jay College CUNY, New York, USA.

Recent interest by physicists in social networks and disease transmission factors has prompted debate over the topology of degree distributions in sexual networks. Social network researchers have been critical of "scale-free" Barabasi-Albert approaches, and largely rejected the preferential attachment, "rich-get-richer" assumptions that underlie that model. Instead, research on sexual networks has pointed to the importance of homophily and local sexual norms in dictating degree distributions, and thus disease transmission thresholds. Read More

World J AIDS 2013 Mar;3(1):41-56

Sociometrics Corporation, Los Altos, USA.

This paper describes the development, content, and capabilities of the online Global HIV Archive (GHA). With the goal of facilitating widespread adaptation and appropriate use of efficacious HIV prevention programs throughout the globe, GHA has: , expanded and updated the search for HIV prevention programs originating in low-resource countries; , identified those meritorious HIV prevention programs meeting established efficacy criteria of technical merit, replicability, and positive outcomes; , prepared both implementation and evaluation materials from the efficacious programs for public use; , developed interactive wizards or capacity-building tools to facilitate appropriate program selection, implementation, and adaptation; and, , made the efficacious programs and accompanying wizards available to health practitioners throughout the globe in both printed and online formats. Read More

World J AIDS 2013 Sep;3(3)

HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies at New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University, New York, USA.

Young women are an important target group in microbicide research, yet little is known about why they participate and stay in microbicide trials. Our study examined motivations for participating in a Phase I microbicide trial among 61 women ages 18 - 24 years in the continental USA and Puerto Rico. We also examined their perspectives on study participation. Read More

World J AIDS 2013 Jun;3(2):71-78

Monogram Biosciences South San Francisco, CA, USA.

We describe an observational study of clinical, virologic and drug resistance profiles in HIV-positive antiretroviral adherent subjects with stable low level viremia (LLV) 50-1,000 copies/mL for more than 12 months. Subjects were followed from time of first detectable viral load (VL). In total, 102 episodes of LLV were detected among 80 individuals. Read More

World J AIDS 2011 Dec;1(4):139-145

Hawaii Center for AIDS, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, USA.

BACKGROUND: The frequency of neurocognitive impairment (NCI) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals remains high despite the availability of potent antiretroviral therapy (ART). The concurrence of depression among HIV-infected patients with NCI is common, especially among older individuals. Depression has been implicated as a risk factor for impaired neuropsychological performance (NP). Read More

World J AIDS 2012 ;2(3):126-134

Department of Psychiatry, Makerere University, College of Health Sciences, P.O. Box 7072, Mulago Hill, Kampala, Uganda.

Purpose: Despite high levels of depression among persons living with HIV (PLWHIV), little research has investigated the relationship of depression to work status and income in PLWHIV in sub-Saharan Africa, which was the focus of this analysis.

Methods: Baseline data from a prospective longitudinal cohort of 798 HIV patients starting in Kampala, Uganda were examined. In separate multivariate analyses, we examined whether depressive severity and symptom type [as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)] and major depression [diagnosed with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI)] were associated with work status and income, controlling for demographics, physical health functioning, work self-efficacy, social support and internalized HIV stigma. Read More

Soc Sci Med 2001 Mar;52(5):783-96

Department of Sociology, University of' Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.

The female condom is the latest in a series of sexual and reproductive technologies to be imported into the third world, following the contraceptive pill, the Depo-Provera injection, the latex male condom, and others. It is an example of "traveling technology", which accrues different meanings and connotations in the different settings into which it is introduced in its journey through the circuits of international technological diffusion, from the headquarters of international NGOs and bilateral aid programs, through the bureaucracies of national ministries of health to the communities in urban and rural settings where the condoms are distributed. The female condom almost always carries connotations of women's empowerment, and the possibility of greater sexual autonomy for women. Read More