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PubMed1994

The relationship of 1988 state HIV testing policies to previous and planned voluntary use of HIV testing.

This study analyzed whether state HIV testing policies were related to individuals' previous and planned voluntary use of HIV testing. Testing plays an important role in the prevention and treatment of HIV infection, yet little is known about how policies are related to testing use. Most states mandate the conditions under which testing is performed, but states vary widely in their policies. This cross-sectional study analyzed individual-level data from the 1988 AIDS Knowledge and Attitudes Survey, which was merged with state-level data on testing policies and incidence of AIDS cases. A multivariate regression model was used to assess the relationship of state policies to testing use, holding state AIDS incidence and individual characteristics (sociodemographics, AIDS knowledge, and risk status) constant. Individuals in states with policies protective of individual rights (i.e., early adoption of comprehensive antidiscrimination laws restricting screening by insurers and employers; provision of voluntary, anonymous testing) were significantly more likely to have been tested than individuals in comparison states (odds ratio = 1.5). Individual characteristics such as risk status, however, had the strongest relationships to testing use. No evidence was found that name-reporting requirements were related to previous or planned use of testing. Future research must address emerging testing issues such as policies covering the use of new testing technologies.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Human immunodeficiency virus seroprevalence in an occupational cohort in a South African community.

BACKGROUND: In the early years of the worldwide pandemic, there were no reported cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in Lesotho, a small, mountainous country in South Africa. Since 1986, when the first case of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome was identified, reported diagnoses have risen precipitously. The initiation of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project has resulted in the influx of a migrant workforce of predominantly single males into a relatively isolated, mountainous area where human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was previously unknown. OBJECTIVE: To ascertain the HIV seroprevalence among a cohort of laborers at the Katse Dam construction site in Bokong, Lesotho. METHODS: During the 5-week study period in late 1992, construction workers (age range, 15 to 59 years) who were first-time clinic users for any chief complaint were randomly selected for serological study. Surveillance complied with the Lesotho National AIDS Control Programme guidelines, which required unlinked, anonymous testing. Serum samples were screened by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; the results were confirmed by the Western blot technique. RESULTS: Unlinked, anonymous HIV testing of 486 persons revealed a seroprevalence of 5.3% (26/486; 95% confidence interval, 3.3% to 7.3%). These data contrasted with a 0.8% seroprevalence in a similar age group in nearby villages that surrounded the construction project. CONCLUSIONS: Lesotho, in the early phase of the HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome epidemic in Africa in the 1980s, was seemingly protected by its relative isolation. Grave concern is now warranted as the country is destined to experience a rapid rise in HIV seroprevalence. Increased surveillance, health education opportunities, and aggressive prevention activities at the Katse Dam construction site are imperative to arrest the spread of HIV from construction workers to nearby villagers.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection among injecting drug users in Glasgow 1990-1996: are current harm reduction strategies working?

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of HCV antibodies among injecting drug users and to gauge the effectiveness of needle/syringe exchange in preventing the transmission of HCV infection. METHODS: Between 1990-1994 and in 1996, annual cross-sectional surveys of injecting drug users in Glasgow were conducted. In order to ensure as representative a sample as possible, the 1949 respondents were recruited from both 'in-treatment' and 'out-of treatment' settings. Injectors were interviewed about their risk behaviours for blood-borne viruses and provided a saliva sample which was initially tested, anonymously, for HIV antibodies, and subsequently tested for hepatitis C infection. RESULTS: Among 1949 injectors, the prevalence of salivary antibodies, indicative of hepatitis C viraemia, was 61%(95%, confidence interval (CI) 59%-63%): the estimated prevalence of serum antibody positivity was 72%. Length of injecting, year of commencing drug injecting and the number of times in prison were predictive of antibody positivity. Thirty-one per cent of injectors who commenced their injecting after 1992, following the full establishment of needle/syringe exchange in the city, were salivary antibody positive, and the majority of their infections were acquired outside the prison setting. Respondents who began injecting after the introduction of needle/syringe exchange in the city were significantly less likely to test HCV antibody positive than those who commenced injecting prior to the advent of needle/syringe exchange, after adjusting for length of injecting career. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of HCV among injectors in Glasgow has decreased during the era of needle/syringe exchange. However, there is evidence to suggest that the incidence of infection remains high. Since the prevalence of hepatitis C viraemia among the city's injecting population is extremely high, ongoing transmission is inevitable unless more effective interventions are identified and implemented urgently.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Attitudes of health-care workers towards AIDS at three Dutch hospitals.

A questionnaire survey was held among 938 doctors and 2304 nurses to assess their attitudes toward AIDS and the influence of their concern about the occupational risks involved. The response was 65 and 72%, respectively. The results suggest that in treating patients with actual or possible HIV infection, in non-invasive procedures many doctors and nurses often take too many precautions, whereas in invasive procedures doctors often take too few. A minority of the respondents were in favour of testing all patients. The majority felt that patients in the high-risk groups should be tested. The percentage in favour of anonymous testing was considerably higher among the doctors than among the nurses. Most of the doctors and nurses were concerned about contagion by patients. This concern had a negative influence on their attitudes toward AIDS. Factual information alone does not suffice to dispel excessive concern. In training and educating medical personnel, attention should be devoted to cognitive as well as emotional aspects.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed2003

Overcoming barriers to HIV testing: preferences for new strategies among clients of a needle exchange, a sexually transmitted disease clinic, and sex venues for men who have sex with men.

OBJECTIVE: To determine strategies to overcome barriers to HIV testing among persons at risk. METHODS: We developed a survey that elicited testing motivators, barriers, and preferences for new strategies among 460 participants at a needle exchange, three sex venues for men who have sex with men, and a sexually transmitted disease clinic. RESULTS: Barriers to testing included factors influenced by individual concern (fear and discrimination); by programs, policies, and laws (named reporting and inability to afford treatment); and by counseling and testing strategies (dislike of counseling, anxiety waiting for results, and venipuncture). The largest proportions of participants preferred rapid testing strategies, including clinic-based testing (27%) and home self-testing (20%); roughly equal proportions preferred oral fluid testing (18%), urine testing (17%), and standard blood testing (17%). One percent preferred home specimen collection. Participants who had never tested before were significantly more likely to prefer home self-testing compared with other strategies. Blacks were significantly more likely to prefer urine testing. CONCLUSIONS: Strategies for improving acceptance of HIV counseling and testing include information about access to anonymous testing and early treatment. Expanding options for rapid testing, urine testing, and home self-testing; providing alternatives to venipuncture; making pretest counseling optional; and allowing telephone results disclosure may encourage more persons to learn their HIV status.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Hepatitis C virus among self declared non-injecting sexual partners of injecting drug users.

While much is known about hepatitis C virus (HCV) among injecting drug users (IDUs), there is scant information about the risk of HCV infection to non-injecting sexual partners of injecting drug users; it is possible that such individuals may have a greater risk of acquiring HCV than any other group barring injecting drug users. This study examines the prevalence of HCV among a population of non-injecting sexual partners of injecting drug users. Unlinked anonymous testing for anti-HCV of residual sera stored following the named HIV testing of specimens originally from persons who had indicated to their attending clinicians that they were non-injecting sexual partners of injecting drug users. The prevalence of anti-HCV among the sexual partners was 4.1% (25/611) overall, 6.4% (13/202) among heterosexual male and 3.0% (12/397) among the heterosexual female partners. None of the homosexual/bisexual partners were HCV antibody positive (0/12). Although we cannot be sure how non-injecting partners of injecting drug users acquire their HCV infection, having a relationship with someone who injects drugs may place an individual at appreciable risk of being infected; such individuals should consider being tested for HCV.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Human immunodeficiency virus surveillance at a sexually transmitted disease clinic in Copenhagen.

During four study periods, each of 3-4 weeks' duration in 1987 and 1988, all patients attending the Copenhagen outpatient Venereal Disease Clinic were encouraged to have a test for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody. Anonymous testing or testing for research purposes only without any data was also offered. Patients known to be HIV antibody-positive were not re-tested. A total of 1753 patients (1118 men, 635 women) were counselled and testing recommended. Testing was refused by 255 patients, 57 of whom had been tested (all negative) within the previous 3 months. HIV serology was therefore unknown in 11.7% (198 of 1696 persons), including 120 of 922 heterosexual men (13%), 16 of 159 homo/bisexual men (10%) and 62 of 615 women (10%). There was no substantial difference between the four study periods in the numbers refusing the test. Sixteen of the 1498 patients tested were HIV antibody-positive, including one woman and 3 men with a history of intravenous drug abuse and 11 homo/bisexual men; one heterosexual man with HIV antibodies had no known risk behaviour. It is concluded that HIV testing with informed consent at a sexually transmitted disease clinic will not include all persons, and therefore will not exclude a self-selection bias. Surveillance studies using unlinked HIV testing are therefore necessary and it is recommended that they should be performed in Denmark. In this study, unlinked HIV testing of the serum specimens taken for syphilis serology would have decreased the percentage of 'non-attenders' from 12.4% to 0.8% during the final study period.

Bias↗
PubMed1995

Voluntary newborn HIV-1 antibody testing: a successful model program for the identification of HIV-1-seropositive infants.

Harlem Hospital in New York City has one of the highest HIV-1 newborn seroprevalence rates in the United States. We report the results of a program introduced in 1993 and designed to identify HIV-1-seropositive (HIV+) newborns at birth. All new mothers, independent of risk, received HIV counseling that emphasized the medical imperative to know the infant's HIV status as well as their own. Consent was obtained to test the infant; discarded cord blood samples were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and when positive, Western Blot confirmation. We compared the number of HIV+ infants identified through voluntary testing with the number reported by the anonymous New York State Newborn HIV Seroprevalence Study. In 1993, 97.8% (91 of 93) of the number of HIV+ infants identified by the anonymous testing were identified through voluntary maternal and newborn testing programs. Eighty-five HIV+ infants were identified before nursery discharge: 50% (42/85) through newborn testing; 14% (12/85) through prenatal testing; 13% (11/85) presented to care knowing their status; 23% (20/85) were known because of a previous HIV+ child. Six additional HIV+ children were diagnosed after hospital discharge (mean age, 5.5 months; range 1.5 through 17 months); four presented with symptomatic disease. The optimal time for identification of the HIV+ pregnant woman is before or during pregnancy, but when this does not occur, voluntary newborn testing can identify many HIV+ infants who would otherwise be discharged undiagnosed from the nursery.

Blotting, Western↗
PubMed1998

HIV infection among family planning clinic attenders in Glasgow: why prevalence has remained low in this general population group.

OBJECTIVE: During 1991-2, unlinked anonymous testing of dried blood spots from neonatal metabolic screening cards showed the prevalence of HIV among childbearing women from Glasgow to be extremely low at 0.01%. A study was conducted to determine if non-pregnant sexually active women who engaged in unprotected sexual intercourse were more likely to be infected than those who were pregnant. METHODS: Unlinked anonymous HIV testing of urine specimens submitted by attenders of the family planning clinic in Glasgow for pregnancy testing. RESULTS: Of 11,990 urine specimens tested, 7664 were from women with a negative pregnancy test and two of these were HIV positive (0.026%); none of the remainder from those with a positive pregnancy test had HIV antibodies. CONCLUSION: No hidden epidemic was unearthed among a population which had engaged in unprotected sexual intercourse and was not pregnant. Other data from Glasgow strongly suggest that the control of HIV transmission among the city's population of current injectors (HIV prevalence, 1% of 8500) has prevented the spread of infection into its wider heterosexual population. It is essential that preventive measures which have been responsible for this public health success should be maintained.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Ethics and ethics committees: HIV serosurveillance in Scotland.

Knowledge of the heterosexual spread of HIV is needed to plan future health-care needs. In December 1989 we gained approval and finance for unlinked anonymous testing of neonatal Guthrie card samples in Scotland. Local ethics committee approval was required before testing could start. Twenty ethics committees were approached in the 15 Scottish health board areas. Nineteen of the committees have agreed, representing 99.6 per cent of births in Scotland. Our method of contacting ethics committees is discussed, as are the points raised.

Anonymous Testing↗
PubMed1992

Impact of HIV testing and counseling on subsequent sexual behavior.

To assess sexual behavior changes after voluntary HIV testing and routine counseling, we interviewed 235 persons at 2 anonymous test sites in North Carolina. Among the 57 (24%) persons returning for follow-up 1 year later, 70% were male; 44% were black, 37% were homosexual, 10% were bisexual; and 16% were HIV positive. Overall, 28% of returnees at the initial visit and 33% on the follow-up visit admitted to having 2 or more sexual partners in the past month. At the initial interview and at follow-up, 21% of returnees reported condom use in the past month. Homosexual men were significantly less likely to use condoms during anal sex over time (58% non-use initially vs. 74% non-use at follow-up, p = 0.04). No significant net change in high-risk sexual behaviors was found at follow-up. Overall findings indicate that the standard HIV testing and counseling provided by health departments anonymously and free of charge does not result in elimination of high-risk sexual behaviors or initiation of safer sex behaviors among those at high risk for HIV infection.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗
PubMed2002

Monitoring HIV through sentinel surveillance in Morocco.

HIV sentinel surveillance was performed in five provinces of Morocco in 1993, expanded to 10 provinces in 1996. The activity was done by unlinked anonymous testing procedures. We analysed the data from 1993 to 1999. The groups studied were sexually transmitted infections, clinic attendees, pregnant women and patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. The results show that overall HIV prevalence rate over the whole period in 10 cities was 0.10% (45/44,233). Casablanca had a significantly high rate with 0.39% (10/2567). The patients with pulmonary tuberculosis displayed the highest prevalence with 0.36% (9/2530). These data confirm the assumption that the HIV epidemic is low in Morocco. However, the increase of HIV prevalence lately calls for reinforcing preventive measures to limit its spread.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗
PubMed2004

Estimation of HIV incidence among repeat anonymous testers in Catalonia, Spain.

A retrospective cohort study of 2124 repeat HIV testers attending at anonymous testing sites (ATS) of Catalonia between 1995 and 2001 registered 3273 person-years (PY) of follow-up and 76 seroconversions (incidence density of 2.32 per 100 PY; 95% CI: 1.83, 2.90). The highest HIV infection incidence was observed among heterosexual injection drug users (IDU) (9.25 per 100 PY; 95% CI: 6.77, 12.25) and the lowest was among heterosexual non-IDU (0.69 per 100 PY; 95% CI: 0.35, 1.24). In multivariate Cox regression, factors independently associated with seroconversion were men having sex with men, IDU, and having sex with a known HIV-infected person. In spite of some limitations, such results suggest that prevention interventions targeting specific groups attending at ATS in Catalonia should be prioritized.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗
PubMed2003

HIV/AIDS surveillance in Germany.

In Germany, since 1982, information on AIDS cases has been collected at the AIDS Center of the Robert Koch Institute. Since 1987, all laboratories performing HIV confirmatory testing have been required to report positive results anonymously. AIDS incidence peaked at about 2000 cases per year in 1993 and began to decline in 1995 following the widespread use of highly effective antiretroviral treatment. Current data indicate that the AIDS incidence has stabilized at a level of 750 cases per year since 1998. The number of newly diagnosed HIV infections has remained fairly stable at approximately 2000 to 2500 per year since 1993. Unlinked anonymous testing of dried blood spots from newborns is carried out in two federal states. The average prevalence of HIV seropositivity from 1993 to 1997 among women bearing children was 0.57 per 1000 in Berlin and 0.14 per 1000 in Lower Saxony.

Female↗
PubMedDate not supplied

HIV testing and prevalence in pregnancy in Edinburgh.

The objective was to study the changes in pregnancy HIV prevalence with time. Data were collected from multiple sources to provide a comprehensive record of all HIV seropositive pregnant women identified in the Edinburgh area (Scotland) until December 1992. There were 177 pregnancies in 108 HIV seropositive identified women. Risk factors were injection drug use (79% of pregnancies) and a known HIV seropositive injection drug-using partner (16%). Prevalence has decreased for Edinburgh City women from 0.5% of all pregnancies in 1986 to 0.1% in 1992; It was higher for induced abortion (0.6%) than for delivery (0.2%). HIV testing in pregnancy has declined. Comparison with unlinked anonymized testing showed that in 1990-1991, 20/22 seropositive women were known. In 1992, only 3 of 10 seropositive pregnancies were identified. The cohort initially infected by exposure to a 'drug related' risk factor between 1983 and 1985 may have increasingly finished childbearing, deliberately decided against pregnancy because of HIV status, and declined because of death, illness and emigration from the area, There may not have been major early tertiary heterosexual spread; however, data from 1992 suggest that this could now be impacting on pregnancy prevalence. Local testing policies have not adapted to this possible change.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗
PubMed2001

Projecting severe sequelae of injection-related hepatitis C virus epidemic in the UK. Part 1: Critical hepatitis C and injector data.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C is transmitted by transfusion of unscreened blood, through injecting drugs, from mother-to-child and, on occasion, sexually. Transmission generally requires that the infector is hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA positive, a 'carrier'. About three-quarters of injectors who are hepatitis C antibody positive are HCV-RNA positive and so infectious to others. Incubation periods from HCV infection to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma are even longer than from HIV infection to AIDS, being counted in decades; they depend on age, gender, alcohol consumption and co-infection with other viruses. We identify 25 data sources that are available, or required, for projecting the severe sequelae of the injection-related hepatitis C epidemic. DATA SOURCES: Three data sources relate to hepatitis C diagnosis: register of confirmed HCV infections (with initial of first name + soundex of surname + date of birth + gender = master index, exposure category, year of starting to inject, and region); surveys of HCV test-uptake by injectors and others; documentation of pregnancy and its outcome in HCV-infected women (injectors and others). Four data sources relate to HCV prevalence and incidence among injectors and others: anonymous testing for HCV antibodies in blood or saliva (for sentinel groups ranging from new blood donors, pregnant women, patients awaiting kidney transplantation, non-injector prisoners, health-care workers, non-injector heterosexuals attending genitourinary medicine clinics; to injectors in the community, at drug treatment centres or in prison); historical data on HCV prevalence in injectors; HCV incidence studies in injectors; and uptake of harm reduction measures--frequency of sharing and methadone substitution--by injectors. Key reporting problems in HCV incidence studies, which inhibit checks on the convenient exponential assumption for time from start of injecting to hepatitis C infection, are discussed. Nine critical data sources are identified for monitoring the late sequelae of hepatitis C carriage, its investigation and treatment: linkage surveillance, for example by master index, to identify deaths, hospitalisations or cancer registrations among confirmed HCV infections; surveys of HCV status among patients who undergo liver biopsy, are newly diagnosed with cirrhosis or are newly diagnosed with liver cancer; surveys of liver-biopsy rate in HCV-infected injectors and others; uptake and outcome of interferon + ribavirin in the treatment of hepatitis C carriers; cohort studies of HCV progression; sample surveys of genotype in HCV-infected injectors, and others; acute hepatitis B infections and uptake of hepatitis B immunisation by injectors; liver transplantation in HCV-infected patients; and hepatitis C-status and other risk factors in deaths from cirrhosis or liver cancer, to determine whether they are HCV and injector-related. Finally, nine critical data sources are identified for quantitative understanding of the underlying injector epidemic: drug misuse databases plus capture-recapture methods to assess number of injectors, drug-related deaths by region to assess injector numbers; number of HIV-infected injectors; HIV progression in injectors; overdose and other causes of death in injectors; expert opinion on injector incidence historically, plus survey information on age-distribution at initiation and duration of injector careers; injector incidence historically inferred from hepatitis C infected blood donors; age-distribution of current injectors and at initiation, as a check on the assumptions made in stochastic simulation about injector incidence and 'outcidence' from injecting historically; mortality of former injectors; and general population or other survey ratios of surviving ever-injectors to injectors in the last 5 years, last year and currently, as a check on simulations. RECOMMENDATIONS: We recommend a common HCV diagnosis report form to improve ascertainment of risk-factor information, especially year of starting to inject--which is a key date epidemiologically. We also recommend updated surveys of current and former injectors' HCV-test uptake, or a denominator study that registers master index and risk factor information for all HCV testees. We recommend that injector surveys ask about typical frequency of needle sharing per 4 weeks in three distinct periods this year, last year and in the first year of injecting. We also recommend the location of stored historical samples from injectors to be tested retrospectively and anonymously for HCV antibodies. We recommend immediate attention to the uptake of, and response to, combination treatment by hepatitis C carriers who are former or recovering injectors. We rec

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Treatment results of DOTS in 1797 Sudanese tuberculosis patients with or without HIV co-infection.

SETTING: Consecutive new tuberculosis (TB) patients, from eight states in Sudan, who had never been previously treated for as much as 1 month between 1998 and 2000. OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infection on tuberculosis treatment outcome. DESIGN: All patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of tuberculosis underwent sputum microscopy for acid-fast bacilli (AFB). Treatment is free of charge, and directly observed for all smear-positive patients. Treatment outcomes were those defined by the World Health Organization. All patients were tested anonymously for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) using the Bionor test. RESULTS: Of 10 494 patients suspected of TB and referred for sputum microscopy, 1797 were TB cases; 983 had smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis, 521 smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis, and 293 extra-pulmonary tuberculosis. Smear-positive cases showed a cure rate of 77.2% and a failure rate of 1%. Smear-negative and extra-pulmonary patients had a completion rate of 79.4%. Cure rates for the smear-positive cases were 68.3% for HIV-positive and 77.6% for HIV-negative patients (P = 0.164). Case fatality was significantly higher among HIV-positive (12%) than among HIV-negative cases (1.8%) (OR 7.7, 95% CI 3.51-16.8). CONCLUSION: To date, a relatively low proportion of tuberculosis patients in Sudan also have HIV infection. These patients are substantially more likely to die while on treatment for their tuberculosis, a fact that underlines their need for more comprehensive care if their lives are to be prolonged. In addition, every effort is required to diminish the transmission of HIV infection to prevent the tragedy this infection represents to the community.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

[Positive and negative consequences of voluntary HIV-antibodies test].

Clinical observations and empirical findings with regard to possible negative and positive consequences of the HIV-Antibody-Test are discussed. It was concluded that at the present time we should not recommend the test generally for all people, but rather suggest the way of test-counselling. Results of a pilot study demonstrate that during anonymous testing a conversation about the preceding risk behavior is possible with most of the testes. Recent discussions about aids with the partner or close friends had an important trigger function in their decision to ask for the HIV-Antibody-Test.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗