Use of complementary medicines among HIV-infected children in Lagos,Nigeria

BackgroundComplementary medicine (CM) use is common among children with chronic illnesses such as epilepsy and asthma. Lack of data on the profile of CM use among children with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection necessitated this study.MethodsParents or caregivers of HIV-infected children attending the paediatric HIV-clinic in a teaching hospital in Lagos, Nigeria, were randomly selected and interviewed with a semi-structured (open- and close-ended) questionnaire. Clinical details of the patients were extracted from their case files.ResultsA total of 187 parents/caregivers were interviewed. Most of the parents/caregivers (181; 96.8%) have used CMs for their children. Mind-body interventions (181; 36.6%) and biological products (179; 36.2%) were frequently used. Relatives, friends and neighbours influenced CM use in 37.1% of the children. CMs were used mostly to treat weight loss (79; 43.7%), cold (40; 22.1%), and fever (39; 21.6%).ConclusionCM use is common among HIV-infected children in Lagos.     

Kaposi sarcoma in a HIV uninfected man who has sex with men

Kaposi''s sarcoma (KS) is a rare angioproliferative tumor associated with human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) infection. Four clinical variants of KS have been described: classic, endemic, iatrogenic and HIV-associated. We describe a 53-year-old men who had sex with men with a rapidly growing nodule on his left foot. Histologically KS was confirmed. Our patient did not match the clinical subgroups as HIV infection or other immune disorders could be ruled out. KS in HIV-negative MSM has only been reported sporadically. It was shown that KS in these patients clinically resembles classic KS but occurs at a younger age, is limited to the skin, and is associated with a good prognosis.     

Pericardial effusion of HIV-infected patients - results of a prospective multicenter cohort study in the era of antiretroviral therapy

Background

Patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection have an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. Previous publications described pericardial effusion as one of the most common HlV-associated cardiac affiliations. The aim of the current study was to investigate if pericardial effusion still has a relevant meaning of HIV-infected patients in the era of antiretroviral therapy.

Methods

The HIV-HEART (HIV-infection and HEART disease) study is a cardiology driven, prospective and multicenter cohort study. Outpatients with a known HIV-infection were recruited during a 20 month period in a consecutive manner from September 2004 to May 2006. The study comprehends classic parameters of HIV-infection, comprising CD4-cell count (cluster of differentiation) and virus load, as well as non-invasive tests of cardiac diseases, including a thorough transthoracic echocardiography.

Results

802 HIV-infected patients (female: 16.6%) with a mean age of 44.2 ± 10.3 years, were included. Duration of HIV-infection since initial diagnosis was 7.6 ± 5.8 years. Of all participants, 85.2% received antiretroviral therapy. Virus load was detectable in 34.4% and CD4 - cell count was in 12.4% less than 200 cells/μL. Pericardial effusions were present in only two patients of the analysed population. None of the participants had signs of a relevant cardiovascular impairment by pericardial effusion.

Conclusions

Our results demonstrate that the era of antiretroviral therapy goes along with low rates of pericardial effusions in HIV-infected outpatients. Our findings are in contrast to the results of publications, performed before the common use of antiretroviral therapy.

     

Pregnancy in women with perinatally acquired HIV-infection: outcomes and challenges

This is a retrospective comparison of pregnant women with perinatally acquired HIV-infection (PAH) with a cohort of pregnant women with behaviorally acquired HIV-infection (BAH). PAH cases (11 women) included all pregnant adolescents followed at our HIV clinic from January 2000 to January 2009. BAH cases (27 women) were randomly selected from all deliveries within the study period at the same institution. Demographics, mode of delivery, CD4+ counts, and viral loads (VLs) before, during, and six months postpartum, as well as neonatal outcomes, were reviewed. CD4 counts were significantly lower in the PAH group. VLs were statistically higher in the PAH group. VLs were undetectable at delivery in 60% of the PAH group compared with 88% of the BAH group. No cases of vertical transmission occurred. PAH women may be at a higher risk for HIV-related disease progression. This may increase vertical transmission risks. Further studies and interventions with this growing population are warranted.     

HIV dementia and apolipoprotein E

The effect of apolipoprotein E genotypes on the occurrence of HIV dementia and HIV encephalitis was studied in a sample of 132 AIDS patients in whom clinical data on dementia was available and full autopsy had been performed. There was no statistically significant correlation between risk of HIV dementia or HIV encephalitis in relation to apolipoprotein E genotypes, even after correction for length of survival with AIDS and antiretroviral treatment.     

HIV-specific antibody among voluntary blood donors in lower saxony (FRG)

Summary Anti-HIV test results of the Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service of Lower Saxony from 1 June 1985 to 31 July 1986 inclusive were analysed retrospectively. Nine out of 70,936 donors who had not donated blood before 1 June 1985 (first-time donors) and 9 out of 261,231 donors who had donated blood before this date (repeating donors) were found anti-HIV confirmed positive at the time of the first blood donation during the study period. The prevalence of HIV antibody in first-time donors was significantly higher than in repeating donors (p<0.01). It was concluded that some members of risk groups used blood donation to obtain an anti-HIV test result. One out of 30,300 blood donations was confirmed anti-HIV positive. The results of this study justify the transfusion of blood donations that are reactive only in the initial ELISA test.     

中医药治疗HIV/AIDS血清抗体阴转8例报告

报道用中药后，血清艾滋病病毒抗体阴转的艾滋病毒感染者／艾滋病（ＨＩＶ／ＡＩＤＳ）患者。８例确诊的ＨＩＶ／ＡＩＤＳ患者各１例，艾滋病相关综合征，用中药方剂（８０２，８０６、８０９、８１０、生脉饮，中研一号）后，复查血清抗体和患者免疫功能，以多聚酶链反应产法检查其淋巴细胞内的ＨＩＶ－ＤＮＡ，并长期随访观察之，用上药治疗８７￣４６３天后，复查患者血清艾滋病毒抗体已转为阴性。用ＰＣＲ法证实，有５例为ＰＣＲ     

Cognitive and emotional deficits in early stages of HIV infection: An event-related potentials study

1. 1. In order to inventory different Event-Related Potentials (ERP) modifications in HIV-infection the authors have evaluated 23 HIV-positive subjects and 12 HIV-negative subjects. ERP were recorded during an auditory oddball task.

2. 2. Electrophysiological results showed that the latency of the N100 component of the ERP was significantly increased in HIV-positive subjects compared to the HIV-negative subjects. The latency of the N200 component of the ERP showed a similar tendency which just failed to reach significance when considering HIV-positive subjects vs HIV negative subjects. This result was in agreement with the literature which reported increased latencies in HIV infection.

3. 3. Considering all subjects the authors have observed a correlation between the amplitude of the P300 and the emotional deficit. This correlation was stronger in subjects who presented an emotional deficit and was independent of any other psychopathological symptom.

4. 4. The use of ERP appeared to be a sensitive technique to detect subclinical manifestations in HIV asymptomatic subjects and therefore would help to identify subjects at higher risk for developing cognitive impairments.