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Biomedical subjects

O Hendry

Publications and source records attributed to O Hendry.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Seroconversion in context.

This paper describes the accounts that homosexually active men give of their HIV seroconversion and interrogates these accounts for risk discourses. In particular, this paper asks whether the risk discourses of HIV researchers and educators are present in the men's narratives of their own seroconversion. Such discourses make reference to 'unsafe' sex--particularly the practice of unprotected anal intercourse, numbers of sexual partners or 'promiscuity', and the disinhibiting effect of drugs and alcohol. The data are drawn from an ongoing case-series study of seroconversion in which men who had seroconverted were asked to give an account of the occasion on which they believe they were infected. A number of themes were identified in the men's accounts. The men's descriptions of what they believe to be the seroconversion event indicate that their attributions, i.e., the reasons they give for their HIV infection, vary depending on the context. Within regular relationships, breakdown of negotiated safety, love and intimacy, and fatalism were among the explanations given. Seroconversion attributed to casual sexual encounters was more likely to be explained in terms of pleasure, lack of control, and with reference to particular sexual settings. The ways in which men understood their HIV infection were informed both by the risk discourse of HIV researchers and also by the discourses of love and pleasure, as well as that of control.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Gay men's casual sex encounters: discussing HIV and using condoms.

Some gay men disclose their HIV serostatus to enable them to decide to discard condoms in at least some casual encounters. In this paper we consider under what circumstances this occurs. We draw on data from the Sydney Men and Sexual Health cohort study, including both structured and semi-structured interviews. We find that casual sexual encounters among gay men are complex events, involving a broad range of types of partner and circumstance. A significant minority of men disclose their HIV serostatus; 36.3% of those who discussed their serostatus with casual partners engaged in unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) with those partners, while only 9.9% of those who did not discuss their serostatus engaged in UAI with those partners. We also find that disclosure of HIV serostatus, discussion and use of condoms during casual encounters are affected by the particular circumstances of those encounters, including the degree of familiarity between casual partners.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus: a sexually transmissible infection?

We examined sexual behavior as a risk factor for Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) infection and examined the relation between KSHV seropositivity and development of KS in cross-sectional and cohort studies of 130 homosexual men diagnosed with AIDS in Sydney, Australia during the period from 1991 to 1993. KSHV serology was measured using antibody tests to latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) and lytically expressed open reading frame (ORF) 65.2. In the cross-sectional analysis, 52% (68) of study subjects were KSHV-seropositive by either assay. KSHV-seropositive men were significantly more likely to be seropositive to both herpes simplex type 2 (odds ratio [OR] 3.0; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2-7.5 for LANA and OR 2.8; 95% CI, 1.3-6.0 for ORF 65) and hepatitis A virus (OR 2.2; 95% CI, 1.1-4.5 for ORF 65). KSHV-seropositive men reported nonsignificantly more casual sexual partners and were nonsignificantly more likely to report insertive oroanal contact with casual partners. These data suggest that KSHV might be sexually transmitted among homosexual men. Men were observed until October 1996 for development of KS. Those seropositive to either KSHV assay at baseline were more likely than the seronegative to develop KS during follow-up (rate ratio [RR] 4.4; 95% CI, 1.9-10.2). Of those seropositive for KSHV, 53% developed KS.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed1997

Risk of Kaposi's sarcoma and oroanal sexual contact.

After contradictory findings from a number of previous studies, behavioral risk factors for Kaposi's sarcoma were examined in a case-control study of 202 people diagnosed with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in 1991-1993 in Sydney, Australia. Cases comprised 67 men who developed Kaposi's sarcoma at or after a diagnosis of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and controls were 135 people who did not have Kaposi's sarcoma at the time of diagnosis of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or during follow-up until 1995. Men who developed Kaposi's sarcoma were more likely to report having a history of sexually transmissible diseases and having engaged more frequently than controls in a number of sexual practices with casual partners in the period before they became aware of their human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. However, the only sexual practice reported significantly more often by cases at the 0.05 significance level was insertive oroanal contact with casual partners (odds ratio = 2.6, 95 percent confidence interval 1.3-5.3). This association was not present for insertive oroanal contact with regular partners or for insertive oroanal contact after subjects became aware of their HIV infection. The relation was present both in men who had Kaposi's sarcoma at the time of interview and in those who developed it later. The relation was not affected by adjustment for time of HIV infection and diagnosis or for other sexual practices. These results can be interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that Kaposi's sarcoma in people with HIV is caused by an infectious agent transmitted by oral contact with feces.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗