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L Schrager

Publications and source records attributed to L Schrager.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

HIV infection in homosexual and bisexual men 18 to 29 years of age: the San Francisco Young Men's Health Study.

OBJECTIVES: Recent studies suggest very high human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection rates in some populations of younger homosexual men, but these studies may represent only particularly high-risk populations. The current study obtained population-based data on the HIV epidemic in young homosexual/bisexual men. METHODS: A household survey of unmarried men 18 through 29 years of age involved a multistage probability sample of addresses in San Francisco. A follow-up interview and HIV test for men who were HIV negative at baseline were completed; the median follow-up was 8.9 months. RESULTS: Sixty-eight of 380 homosexual/bisexual men (17.9%) tested HIV seropositive. Sixty-three percent of men reported one or more receptive anal intercourse partners in the previous 12 months, and 41% of those men did not use condoms consistently. The HIV seroincidence rate among those seronegative at first study was 2.6% per year. CONCLUSIONS: HIV infection rates in young homosexual men in San Francisco are lower than those in the early 1980s; however, the rate of infection in these men, most of whom became sexually active after awareness of AIDS had become widespread, threatens to continue the epidemic in the younger generation at a level not far below that of a decade ago.

Adolescent

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome occurring within 5 years of infection with human immunodeficiency virus type-1: the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study.

The objective of this study is to describe participants in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) with incident infection due to the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) in whom AIDS developed by March 1990 and within 5 years of seroconversion (group A). Secondly, behavioral, clinical, and immunologic characteristics of these men are compared to those of matched seroconverters remaining AIDS free (group B). Between entry into the MACS (April 1984-March 1985) and July 1989, 345 seronegative homosexual/bisexual men had HIV-1 antibody; of these men, AIDS developed in 32 by March 1990. The Kaplan-Meier estimates of the proportion of men with incident HIV-1 infection with AIDS were 6 months, 0%; 12 months, 1%; 24 months, 3%; and 48 months, 10%. These 32 men engaged in receptive anal intercourse with more partners before (p less than 0.005) and after seroconversion (p less than 0.005) and reported more sexually transmitted disease preseroconversion (p = 0.05) than did group B. These findings suggest that sexually transmitted co-factors, preseroconversion and/or postseroconversion, play a role in the progression of HIV-1 infection. Alternatively, greater sexual activity could increase the hazard of exposure to a more virulent HIV-1 strain.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Population-based estimates of zidovudine and aerosol pentamidine use in San Francisco: 1987-1989.

From the San Francisco Men's Health Study (SFMHS) and the San Francisco General Hospital Cohort we derived partially population-based estimates of zidovudine (ZDV) use in San Francisco from 1987 to 1989. Data from the SFMHS alone were used to make estimates of aerosol pentamidine (AP) use in 1989. From 1987 to 1989, zidovudine use increased from 36 to 68% in participants with AIDS. In participants with symptomatic HIV infection without AIDS and in those with less than 200 CD4 cells, ZDV use increased initially but then leveled off (from 6 to 25% and 24 to 55%, respectively). Zidovudine use with more than 500 CD4 cells increased from 0.5 to 4%. In 1989 AP use with less than 200 CD4 cells was 42% and with AIDS was 44%. Whereas 50% of participants with AIDS and less than 200 CD4 were using both ZDV and AP, only 14% of those without AIDS but with less than 200 CD4 cells were using both. Surprisingly few members of these cohorts are using therapies proven effective in reducing the morbidity and mortality of HIV infection.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Demographic characteristics, drug use, and sexual behavior of i.v. drug user with AIDS in Bronx, New York.

Intravenous (i.v.) drug users are a key factor in the transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, yet epidemiologic information about this population, especially those with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, is scarce. The demographic characteristics, drug use behavior, and sexual practices of i.v. drug users who developed AIDS were prospectively studied at the Montefiore Medical Center from October 1984 to February 1988. The early wave of i.v. drug users with AIDS was characterized by poverty, minority overrepresentation (more than 80 percent were black or Hispanic), and initiation of i.v. drug use at an early age (median age 19 years). Injection of drugs and sharing of needles was frequent. Most had used so-called shooting galleries, but only for a minority of injection episodes. Heroin or cocaine use was almost universal, nearly always accompanied by abuse of another substance, usually alcohol or marijuana. Fewer than a third had ever participated in a methadone maintenance program, but more than 40 percent had been in prison since 1978. All patients had been sexually active, often with partners who were not i.v. drug users. The research suggests a complex interaction existing between high-risk demographic characteristics, drug use practice, and certain types of sexual behavior, all of which contributed to the early spread of HIV infection in this population. Efforts that are directed toward interrupting i.v. drug user-related transmission of HIV need to include consideration of these characteristics.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome