HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects Hispanics. Our objective was to determine the risk of late diagnosis and rate of survival after HIV/AIDS diagnosis among Hispanics compared to other racial/ethnic groups. We performed a systematic review of the PubMed database for peer-reviewed articles published between January 2000 and September 2010. Primary outcomes included survival after HIV/AIDS diagnosis and delayed diagnoses. The definition of delayed diagnosis varied by study, ranging from concurrent HIV/AIDS diagnosis to diagnosis of AIDS within 3 years of HIV diagnosis. We found that Hispanics are at significantly greater risk for delayed diagnosis than non-Hispanic whites. Hispanic males and foreign-born Hispanics had the highest risk of late diagnosis. Available data on survival were heterogeneous, with better outcomes in some Hispanic subgroups than in others. Survival after antiretroviral initiation was similar between Hispanics and Whites. These findings emphasize the need for culturally-sensitive strategies to promote timely diagnosis of HIV infection among Hispanics and to examine the health out-comes and needs of high risk Hispanic subgroups.

Objectives

Since 2003, U.S. organizations have recommended universal screening, rather than targeted screening, of HIV-infected persons for gonorrhea (NG) and Chlamydia (CT). Our objective was to determine whether wider testing resulting from these guidelines would produce an increase in NG/CT diagnoses.

Methods

We studied 3,283 patients receiving HIV care 1999–2007 in the Johns Hopkins Hospital HIV clinic. The two primary outcomes were: 1) the occurrence of any NG/CT testing in each year of care and 2) the occurrence of any positive result(s) in years of testing. The proportion of all patients in care who were diagnosed with NG/CT was defined as the number of patients with positive results divided by the number of patients in care. Trends were analyzed with repeated measures logistic regression.

Results

The proportion of patients tested for NG/CT increased steadily from 0.12 in 1999 to 0.33 in 2007 (OR per year for being tested, 1.17 [1.15, 1.19]). The proportion positive among those tested decreased significantly after 2003 (OR per year 0.67 [0.55, 0.81]). The proportion of all patients in care diagnosed with NG/CT therefore remained generally stable 1999–2007 (OR per year 0.97 [0.91, 1.04]).

Conclusions

Universal annual screening, as implemented, did not increase the proportion of all patients in care who were diagnosed with NG/CT. Similarly low implementation rates have been reported in cross-sectional studies. If future efforts to enhance implementation do not yield increases in diagnoses, then guidelines focusing on targeted screening of high risk groups rather than universal screening may be warranted.

Objectives

Screening HIV-infected men for gonorrhea (GC) and Chlamydia (CT) may decrease HIV transmission and reduce the incidence of pelvic inflammatory disease in female partners. This study determined GC/CT testing rates in a clinical HIV cohort before and after 2003 when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidelines for GC/CT screening.

Methods

First GC/CT testing episodes were identified for all men enrolling in a Baltimore HIV clinic 1999–2007. Multivariate Cox and logistic regression were used to assess clinical and demographic factors associated with being tested and with having a positive result.

Results

Among 1110 men, the rate of GC/CT testing upon clinic enrollment increased from 4.0% prior to 2003 to 16.5% afterward, and the rate of ever being tested increased from 34.2% to 49.1% (P <0.001 for both comparisons). Among men with same sex contact, 10% of first testing episodes included extragenital sites. Among the 342 men ever-tested, 5.2% had positive results on first testing. Predictors of testing included enrolling after 2003, younger age, frequent visits, and black race. Predictors of a positive test result included CD4 count ≥200 cells/mm3 and younger age.

Conclusions

GC/CT testing rates among men increased substantially after the 2003 guidelines but remain low. Disseminating existing evidence for GC/CT screening and promoting operational interventions to facilitate it are warranted.

Elite controllers or suppressors (ES) are a group of HIV-1-infected individuals who maintain viral loads below the limit of detection of commercial assays for many years. The mechanisms responsible for this remarkable control are under intense study, with the hope of developing therapeutic vaccines effective against HIV-1. In this study, we addressed the question of the intrinsic susceptibility of ES CD4+ T cells to infection. While we and others have previously shown that CD4+ T cells from ES can be infected by HIV-1 isolates in vitro, these studies were confounded by exogenous activation and in vitro culture of CD4+ T cells prior to infection. In order to avoid the changes in chemokine receptor expression that have been associated with such exogenous activation, we infected purified CD4+ T cells directly after isolation from the peripheral blood of ES, viremic patients, and uninfected donors. We utilized a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing proviral construct pseudotyped with CCR5-tropic or CXCR4-tropic envelope to compare viral entry using a fluorescence resonance energy transfer-based, single-round virus-cell fusion assay. The frequency of productive infection was also compared by assessing GFP expression. CD4+ T cells from ES were as susceptible as or more susceptible than cells from viremic patients and uninfected donors to HIV-1 entry and productive infection. The results of this physiological study strongly suggest that differences in HIV-1 entry and infection of CD4+ T cells alone cannot explain the elite control of viral replication.

Background

Many studies have evaluated factors influencing STD/HIV disparities between African-American and white populations, but fewer have explicitly included Latinos for comparison.

Methods

We analyzed demographic and behavioral data captured in electronic medical records of patients first seen by a clinician in one of two Baltimore City public STD clinics between 2004 and 2007. Records from white, African-American, and Latino patients were included in the analysis.

Results

There were significant differences between Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups for several behavioral risk factors studied, with Latino patients reporting fewer behavioral risk factors than other patients. Latinos were more likely to have syphilis, but less likely to have gonorrhea than other racial/ethnic groups. English-proficient Latina (female) patients reported higher rates of infection and behavioral risk factors than Spanish-speaking Latina patients. After adjustment for gender and behavioral risk factors, Spanish-speaking Latinas also had significantly less risk of sexually transmitted infections than did English-speaking Latinas.

Conclusions

These results are consistent with other studies showing that acculturation (as measured by language proficiency) is associated with increases in reported sexual risk behaviors among Latinos. Future studies on sexual risk behavior among specific Latino populations characterized by country of origin, level of acculturation, and years in the U.S. may identify further risk factors and protective factors to guide development of culturally appropriate STD/HIV interventions.

Background

In the U.S. more than half of incident tuberculosis (TB) cases occur in immigrants. Current guidelines recommend screening and treatment for latent TB infection (LTBI) within 5 years of arrival to the U.S. This study evaluates the timing of LTBI therapy among immigrants presenting for care to a public health TB clinic.

Methods

Retrospective chart review of patients prescribed LTBI treatment based on medical records from Prince Georges County Health Department.

Results

1882 immigrants received LTBI therapy at Prince Georges County Health Department between 1999 and 2004. 417 of these patients were diagnosed with LTBI through contact investigations and were excluded from the analysis. Among the remaining 1465 individuals, median time from arrival to the U.S. until initiation of LTBI therapy was 5 months (range 0–42.4 years). 16% of all immigrants initiated therapy more than 5 years after arrival to the U.S. A logistic regression model using risks identified on univariate analysis revealed that referral for therapy by non-immigration proceedings was the strongest predictor of initiation of therapy more than 5 years after arrival to the U.S. Other factors associated with > 5 year U.S. residence prior to initiation of LTBI therapy included female gender (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.8, 95% CI 1.2–2.6), age ≥ 35 (AOR = 4.1, 95% 2.5–6.6), and originating from Latin American and the Caribbean (AOR = 1.9, 95% CI 1.3–3.0).

Conclusion

Foreign-born individuals who are not referred for LTBI therapy through immigration proceedings are less likely to receive LTBI therapy within 5 years of arrival to the U.S. These data highlight the need to explore other mechanisms for timely LTBI screening beyond services provided by immigration.

Background

The ability of medical residents training at U.S. urban medical centers to diagnose and manage tuberculosis cases has important public health implications. We assessed medical resident knowledge about tuberculosis diagnosis and early management based on American Thoracic Society guidelines.

Methods

A 20-question tuberculosis knowledge survey was administered to 131 medical residents during a single routinely scheduled teaching conference at four different urban medical centers in Baltimore and Philadelphia. Survey questions were divided into 5 different subject categories. Data was collected pertaining to institution, year of residency training, and self-reported number of patients managed for tuberculosis within the previous year. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to detect differences in median percent of questions answered correctly based on these variables.

Results

The median percent of survey questions answered correctly for all participating residents was 55%. Medical resident knowledge about tuberculosis did not improve with increasing post-graduate year of training or greater number of patients managed for tuberculosis within the previous year. Common areas of knowledge deficiency included the diagnosis and management of latent tuberculosis infection (median percent correct, 40.7%), as well as the interpretation of negative acid-fast sputum smear samples.

Conclusion

Many medical residents lack adequate knowledge of recommended guidelines for the management of tuberculosis. Since experience during training influences future practice pattterns, education of medical residents on guidelines for detection and early management of tuberculosis may be important for future improvements in national tuberculosis control strategies.

Malaria and tuberculosis are endemic in many regions of the world, and coinfection with the two pathogens is common. In this study, we examined the effects of long- and short-term infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis on the course of a lethal form of murine malaria in resistant (C57BL/6) and susceptible (BALB/c) mice. C57BL/6 mice coinfected with M. tuberculosis CDC1551 and Plasmodium yoelii 17XL had a lower peak parasitemia and increased survival compared to mice infected with P. yoelii 17XL alone. Splenic microarray analysis demonstrated potentiation of type 1 immune responses in coinfected C57BL/6 mice, which was especially prominent 5 days after infection with P. yoelii 17XL. Splenocytes from coinfected C57BL/6 mice produced higher levels of gamma interferon (IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis factor alpha than splenocytes from mice infected with either pathogen alone. Interestingly, mycobacterium-induced protection against lethal P. yoelii is mouse strain specific. BALB/c mice were significantly more susceptible than C57BL/6 mice to infection with P. yoelii 17XL and were not protected against lethal malaria by coinfection with M. tuberculosis. In addition, M. tuberculosis did not augment IFN-γ responses in BALB/c mice subsequently infected with P. yoelii 17XL. These data indicate that M. tuberculosis-induced potentiation of type 1 immune responses is associated with protection against lethal murine malaria.