"Our nation has been in the fight against HIV/AIDS
for over 20 years now. The government pours millions of dollars
into care, treatment and prevention. Why are there still so many
Black people becoming infected and dying from this virus? We know
from reports that there are health disparities between communities
of color and the white population. We also know that in communities
of color there is an inherited mistrust of the system. Do these
reasons equate to the disproportionate amount of black people infected
by this disease? Yes, they do play a part, but only a part. African
Americans have other obstacles, which put them on the frontline
of this virus.
Many people in Black communities are under the misguided perception
that AIDS is a disease that only affects the gay population and
those people who misuse drugs. In the 1980s, the gay and lesbian
community did a great job of putting a face on this horrific virus,
and should be commended. They refused to let their brothers die
in silence. Now the time has long passed for the other faces of
AIDS to be brought to the forefront. Black communities around the
country need to rise up and refuse to perish without a fight. We
should not pass silently into the night.
Many of those who lose the battle to AIDS in the Black community
are not counted as those who have fallen to this virus. Cancer,
pneumonia, or heart attacks are causes of death that we tell our
family and friends. Those who are infected still fear letting others
know on the chance they may be ostracized from family, friends,
and the community at large. Many continue to die alone with no one
to hold their hands or wipe their brows. Far too many do not seek
care fearing that family and neighbors will discover the secret.
Still others do not test, wrongly believing that ignorance is bliss.
Shame is robbing our community of its lifeline and its future.
Even our churches, which have been a bastion of support in the
Black community for many worthy causes, have not risen to this fight
in appropriate numbers. Ministers continue to blame those who are
infected for being immoral and sinners. How sad it is that some
of our churches take this view. Some of our politicians are saying
teach abstinence-only in our schools. Abstinence-only has been taught
for many years and we still have a problem in this country with
teen pregnancy. We cannot allow our children to die using antiquated
solutions, which have never proven effective. If we do not become
educated about this disease, if we do not drag AIDS out of the shadows
where it has been able to fester and grow in our communities, then
we will perish. The shame and ignorance surrounding AIDS in Black
America could lead to the demise of us all.
We are in a burning building and only a few are shouting for all
of us to get out." Dying in Silence-African Americans
|
99% Of Patients on Pegasysâ Remain 'Cured' of Hepatitis C Virus
When Tested Three Years Later |
The first study
evaluating the long-term effectiveness of PEGASYSâ,
peginterferon alfa-2a (40KD), a promising new hepatitis C
treatment, has found that 99% of patients remain viral free when
examined two to three years later.
|
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A Portrait of the HIV+ Population in America |
Despite the
dramatic growth in our knowledge about HIV/AIDS treatment over
the past 15 years, several fundamental questions about HIV care
still exist: How many persons in the United States receive
regular care for HIV infection? What are the characteristics of
that population? How much care do HIV-infected individuals use,
how much does it cost, and who pays for it? Policymakers,
researchers, and the national community depend upon reliable
answers to these questions to help guide their decisions in
allocating future resources to HIV treatment and research. |
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A
violation of citizens’ rights: The health sector and
tuberculosis |
The
magnitude of the human problem caused by TB, especially with its
current co-infection status with HIV is such that it is
ethically imperative for all to respond in some measure. If
morals do not convince, at least the instinct of self-
preservation should. The spectre of drug resistant TB may touch
anyone. |
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ABC of diseases of liver, pancreas, and biliary system |
Increases in
portal pressure cause development of a portosystemic collateral
circulation with resultant compensatory portosystemic shunting
and disturbed intrahepatic circulation. These factors are partly
responsible for the important complications of chronic liver
disease, including variceal bleeding, hepatic encephalopathy,
ascites, hepatorenal syndrome, recurrent infection, and
abnormalities in coagulation. Variceal bleeding is the most
serious complication and is an important cause of death in
patients with cirrhotic liver disease. |
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A culture of
safety |
To err is
human, but to report is no longer "divine" – it's expected. The
AMA is working to reduce medical errors and improve reporting
protocol
|
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AASLD: Pegylated Interferon Alpha-2b Plus Ribavirin Provides
Treatment Option for Patients with Hepatitis C Virus and Normal
Liver |
The combination
achieved an overall virologic response rate of 68 percent at 12
weeks, including a 90 percent response rate in patients who had
genotype non-1, said Dr. Steven Flamm, a hepatologist at
Northwestern University, in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
|
|
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Abstinence-Only Education Policies and Programs: A Position
Paper of the Society for Adolescent Medicine |
The
Society for Adolescent Medicine (SAM) supports
abstinence from sexual intercourse as “a healthy choice
for teenagers” but critiques government policies and
programs that promote abstinence-only or abstinence
until marriage as the only prevention message for
teenagers. SAM recommends that “ ‘Abstinence-only’ as a
basis for health policy and programs should be
abandoned.” |
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Access to Condoms and HIV/AIDS information |
HIV/AIDS is a preventable disease, yet approximately 5
million people were newly infected with HIV in 2003, the
majority of them through sex. Many of these cases could
have been avoided, but for state-imposed restrictions on
proven and effective HIV prevention strategies, such as
latex condoms…scientific data “overwhelmingly confirm
that male latex condoms are highly effective in
preventing sexual HIV transmission. Many governments
around the world either fail to guarantee access to
condoms or impose needless restrictions on access to
condoms and related HIV/AIDS information |
Pdf 293 kb |
|
Acute HIV Syndrome |
HIV syndrome is a name for the early stage of HIV
infection, when you first get infected with the HIV virus. HIV
stands for human immunodeficiency virus. These are some of the
symptoms of acute HIV syndrome |
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ADDRESSING HIV TESTING,
INFORMED CONSENT AND COUNSELING |
In an
effort to reduce the number of people unaware of their
positive status, and in hope of preventing future
transmissions by this population, the CDC has developed
a number of new recommendations to encourage and
increase HIV testing around the country. |
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Adolescent Women
Face Triple Jeopardy:
Unwanted Pregnancy,
HIV/AIDS
|
New HIV infections and AIDS cases continue to increase in
most developing countries, while the AIDS epidemic has most
recently reached a plateau or shown signs of a slight overall
decline in much of the developed world. Where AIDS is
increasing, new HIV infection is disproportionately
high among young women who contract the virus through sexual
intercourse…This same group has the highest rate worldwide of
unwanted pregnancy, pointing to a potentially significant
epidemiological overlap of reproductive health risk.
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Advocates for Youth-Press Release |
Leading Medical Association Rejects Abstinence-Only Policies –
Programs at odds with medical ethics and basic human rights |
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Advances in Liver Disease |
Highlights from
the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Association
for the Study of Liver Diseases: Nonalcoholic fatty liver
disease, Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, Portal hypertension,
Hepatocellular carcinoma, Primary biliary cirrhosis, Hepatitis,
Obesity, Variceal bleeding, Methotrexate, Lamivudine, Perinatal
transmission, Adefovir |
424 kb pdf |
|
Aerobic exercise safe for HIV patients |
Exercise has
been shown to benefit sufferers of some chronic health
conditions, yet it can also be contraindicated in some cases of
illness or chronic infection. Researchers tested an exercise
intervention course in 52 individuals with confirmed HIV
infection but no AIDS-defining symptoms
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|
|
Agent Summary Statement for Human Immunodeficiency Viruses (HIVs) |
These
Guidelines are based on combinations of standard and special
practices, equipment, and facilities recommended for use in
working with infectious agents in various laboratory settings.
The recommendations are advisory; they provide a general code
for operating microbiologic and biomedical laboratories. |
|
|
AIDS-Dementia
complex |
AIDS dementia
complex is a complication of HIV/AIDS that occurs in some
people, usually those with advanced disease. HIV affects the
functioning of the normal brain leading to difficulty with
concentration, memory, and speed of thought along with a change
in personality usually manifesting as a lack of interest in
previously pleasurable activities. |
35 kb pdf |
|
AIDS AND AFRICA: A CASE OF RACISM VS SCIENCE? |
Western
scientists have promoted the hypothesis that the AIDS epidemic
began in Africa, arguing that either AIDS had existed for many
years in an African "lost tribe" or that a retrovirus crossed
the species barrier from monkey to man. The scientific evidence
in support of this hypothesis has included AIDS-like cases from
Africa that predated the epidemic in the West,
seroepidemiological evidence for early African infection, and
the isolation of retroviruses from African monkeys considered
similar to the human immunodeficiency virus. Yet when the
scientific literature supporting an African origin is examined
it is found to be contradictory, insubstantial or unsound,
whilst the possibility that AIDS was introduced to Africa from
the West has not been seriously investigated. |
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AIDS epidemiology: Inconsistencies with human immunodeficiency
virus and with infectious disease |
AIDS
diseases that are not Male-Specific show a 10-fold preference
for Males. The distribution of conventional sexually
transmitted diseases is almost even between the sexes |
1358 kb pdf |
|
AIDS-Oncology Resources Handbook-2003 |
Identifying
hypotheses-driven therapeutic approaches for the treatment of
malignancies associated with AIDS, including buy not limited to
non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, primary central nervous system lymphoma,
Kaposi’s sarcoma, anogenital dyplasis and cancer. |
1139 kb pdf |
|
AIDS Patients Homecare Health Indicators. |
Form for
ranking need for Home Health care for AIDS patients
|
Pdf 10 kb
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AIDS Patients, Program Unable to Afford Meds
|
"We're
living longer, we're living healthier--if you can get the
medicines,"… "It's very telling that we didn't have a waiting
list at this time last year," said Carmen Julious, Director of
Palmetto AIDS Life Support Services. "Because of cuts in funding
and because of budget decisions we had to make, we all of a
sudden have one of the largest waiting lists in the country." |
Pdf 10 kb |
|
AIDS Patients to Receive Free Treatment in Gov’t Hospitals |
The Health
Ministry announced yesterday that 1,201 new AIDS cases had been
discovered and reported in the Kingdom. According to the
ministry, among the new cases reported by the end of 2005, 311
were Saudi nationals and 890 were foreigners. It said that from
1984 to the end of 2005, 10,120 AIDS cases were reported in the
Kingdom. Saudis accounted for 2,316 cases representing 22.9
percent of the total number while non-Saudis accounted for 7,804
cases representing 77.1 percent. |
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AIDS TESTING AND MEDICAL INFORMATION Legal Issues |
The
Connecticut General Assembly established protections regarding
the confidentiality of individuals with HIV infection or AIDS in
1989. Below is the current language, which was updated in 1997
and again in 1999. |
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All About
Hepatitis C |
Hepatitis C is
a liver disease caused by the hepatitis C virus and affects
approximately 4 million Americans, making it more common than
HIV infection. Because hepatitis C often has no symptoms, many
people do not know they have the disease and may be infecting
others.
|
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AMA CODE OF MEDICAL ETHICS |
This edition
of Code of Medical Ethics: Current Opinions with Annotations of
the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs replaces all
previous editions and includes Opinions based on Reports adopted
through December 2001. It is one component of the American
Medical Association (AMA)'s Code; the other components are the
Principles of Medical Ethics, and the Reports of the Council on
Ethical and Judicial Affairs. The Principles precede the
Opinions in this volume. Reports are available separately. The
Principles of Medical Ethics are the primary component of the
Code. They establish the core ethical principles from which the
other components of the Code are derived. Most recently, the
Principles were revised in 2001. |
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Are Vaccines Causing More Disease Than They Are Curing? |
Barbara Loe
Fisher, president of the National Vaccine Information Center, a
consumer's group based in Vienna, Virginia, claims vaccines are
responsible for the increasing numbers of children and adults
who suffer from immune system and neurologic disorders,
hyperactivity, learning disabilities, asthma, chronic fatigue
syndrome, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and
seizure disorders. She calls for studies to monitor the
long-term effects of mass vaccination and Fisher wants
physicians to be absolutely sure these vaccines are safe and not
harming people. |
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Assess the Value of American Investment in Medical Research
|
How does a
venture capitalist decide where to invest his money? He compares
the potential for return against the risk, and when the return
appears to be significant and the risk isn't too great, he
invests. As our country makes decisions about its future
investment in medical research, it might apply a similar
standard.
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|
Although few
prospective long-term survival and health care cost studies are
available for hepatitis C, it has been possible to estimate the
life-long economic impact of the disease for both the individual
patient and for the U.S. population with chronic hepatitis B.
Lifetime health care costs for a patient with chronic hepatitis
B has been estimated at $65,000 in the absence of liver
transplantation. For the 150,000 HBV carriers with significant
liver damage, the lifetime health care costs in the U.S. have
been estimated to be $9 billion. Assuming an estimated survival
of 25 years, the annual health care costs for the affected U.S.
population with chronic hepatitis B is $360 million. Based on
the same economic analysis, treatment of chronic hepatitis B
with interferon is projected to increase life expectancy by
about three years and reduce the aggregate health care costs. |
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At least five related, but distinct Hepatitis C viral genotypes
exist |
Hepatitis C
virus, the major causative agent of blood-borne non-A, non-B
hepatitis in the world, has been the subject of considerable
nucleic acid sequence analysis.
|
1,379 kb pdf
|
|
Attitudes to & management of HIV/AIDS among health workers
in Ghana: the case of Cape Coast municipality |
Health Care Workers as key players in the prevention and
management of diseases and important opinion and community
leaders have become targets for studies, more so with the
outbreak of HIV. Their perceptions, attitudes and
practices have implications for the management of diseases in
both health centres and communities. |
39 kb pdf |
|
Attitudes and Training of Health Care Workers on AIDS in Hong
Kong |
Health care
workers' (HCW) avoidance of persons with HIV/AIDS has been a
common concern both in the field of medical services and in the
research literature. Such an attitude is not uncommon in Western
countries The attitude is problematic because it undermines
effective and non-discriminatory medical services, as well as
being contradictory to the professional ethic of caring for AIDS
patients. As a result, HCW's avoidance of AIDS patients will be
detrimental to those who need the services. To assess and reduce
the attitude among HCW in Hong Kong, the present study examines
the plausible causes of the attitude of avoidance, including
perceived susceptibility to HIV infection at work, lack of
knowledge, training, and experience in caring for AIDS patients
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Australian discovery may lead to a hepatitis C vaccine |
Researchers in
Australia have discovered an antibody that has helped some
people develop immunity against hepatitis C, and they hope to
use the discovery as the foundation for an HCV vaccine |
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Australia Occupational Exposure |
The data on occupational injuries and diseases contained in the
National Workers' Compensation Statistics database have been
compiled by the National Occupational Health and Safety
Commission (NOHSC) from information supplied by Commonwealth,
State and Territory workers' compensation authorities. These
agencies processed workers' compensation claims received from
insurance companies, self-insurers and some government
departments |
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Bacterial Infections Associated with HIV |
Infections with opportunistic pathogens have been one of
the hallmarks of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
since the beginning of the epidemic. An abundance of
research and literature has been dedicated to these
opportunistic fungi, viruses, and parasites. Less
attention has been given to the bacterial infections
complicating the course of persons infected with HIV.
Even before HIV was found to be the causative agent of
the syndrome, however, case reports appeared describing
fulminant bacterial infections in these
immunocompromised patients. It is now recognized that
bacterial pneumonia and bacteremia occur at a higher
frequency among HIV-infected patients compared to
age-matched controls. Diseases caused by bacteria are
responsible for a significant proportion of the
morbidity and mortality seen in this population.
Bacterial infections were the leading cause of death in
HIV-infected patients in Rhode Island over a two and
half year period.(3) One study of 46 autopsy cases found
evidence of bacterial infection in 83%. |
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BASIC CONCEPTS OF
SOCIAL WELFARE |
“Social welfare generally denotes the full range of organized
activities of voluntary and governmental agencies that seek to
prevent, alleviate, or contribute to the solution of recognized
social problems, or to improve the well-being of individuals,
groups, or communities.” |
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Balancing Act-drugs that can Help & Hurt |
You’ve seen the
headlines: "Tylenol overdoses linked to liver failure."
"Diabetes drug causes liver disease." "Ibuprofen [causes liver]
toxicity in patients with chronic hepatitis C."
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Bangui
Definitions-HIV/AIDS
surveillance in Europe |
A case of
AIDS in a child is defined as an illness characterized by one or
more of the following ‘indicator’ diseases
|
Pdf 3,319 kb
|
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Bangui
Definitions-Bangui
1985 report |
Good
clinical definitions of AIDS is of great importance in Africa,
where adequate laboratory facilities are often lacking, to
enable medical practitioners to arrive at a diagnosis with
maximum precision. In the absence of such lab testing
abilities, the use of symptoms exhibited by patients can also be
used
|
Pdf 900 kb
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Bangui
Definitions-CDC
Guidelines for Surveillance 1999. |
This report
provides a revised case definition for HIV infection in adults
and children, recommended program surveillance by local, state,
and territorial health departments.
|
Pdf 348 kb
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Bangui
Definitions-Concept
of Health & Disease. |
This set of
definitions and commitments, universally accepted as normative,
has posed, to those who work in the health field, limitations on
the theoretical and methodological bases traditionally utilized
and has shown the need for new developments, that make it
possible to treat the health and disease problem as an
expression of the living conditions of different population
groups and to understand the relationship between these and the
most general social processes.
|
Pdf 910 kb
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Bangui
Definitions-Current
Trends Update-1982. |
The eventual
case-mortality rate of AIDS, a few years after diagnosis, may be
far greater than the 41% overall case-mortality rate noted
|
Pdf 19 kb
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Bangui
Definitions-Surveillance
Case Definition for AIDS-1993. |
Revised HIV
classification system for adolescents and adults
|
Pdf 63 kb
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Bangui
Definitions-WHO
Definitions for AIDS surrveilance-1986. |
For
surveillance purposed, a relatively precise case definition is
required that includes the most characteristic manifestations of
LAV/HTLV-III infections.
|
Pdf 624 kb
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Bangui
Definitions-WHO
Definitions for AIDS surveillance-1988. |
The clinical
and laboratory definition of AIDS has changed as documentation
of the wide spectrum of clinical manifestations due to HIV has
accumulated, and as specific laboratory tests to detect HIV
infection and immune deficiency have been developed
|
Pdf 742 kb
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Bangui
Definitions-WHO
Definitions for AIDS surveillance-1988. |
This is a
method in which the prevalence of HIV infection is measured in
specific populations whose blood has been obtained in the health
care setting for other purposes and then tested for antibody to
HIV after all patient identifiers have been removed
|
Pdf 536 kb
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Bioethics
for clinicians: Conflict of interest in research, education and
patient care |
A conflict
of interest occurs in a situation in which professional judgment
regarding a primary interest, such as research, education or
patient care, may be unduly influenced by a secondary interest,
such as financial gain or personal prestige. Conflicts of
interest exist in every walk of life, including medicine and
science. There is nothing inherently unethical in finding
oneself in a conflict of interest. Rather, the key questions are
whether one recognizes the conflict and how one deals with it.
Strategies include disclosing the conflict, establishing a
system of review and authorization, and prohibiting the
activities that lead to the conflict.
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Blood
Borne Liver Disease: Hepatitis C |
Hepatitis C
used to be called Non A Non B hepatitis in the early 1970s
because we had blood tests for Hepatitis A and B so anything
left over was Non A Non B.
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Bowling Green State University Bloodborne Pathogen Program |
Power Point
Presentation |
338 kb |
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Breastfeeding and HIV/AIDS: is there a conflict? |
“The HIV
pandemic and the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV
through breastfeeding continues to pose unique challenges to the
promotion of breastfeeding, even among unaffected families.
Accurate information, disseminated widely, about breastfeeding’s
benefits for the majority of children and mothers is essential
for preventing baseless doubts in this connection. Support for
HIV-positive women should include counseling about appropriate
infant-feeding options”. |
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Chlamydial Infection and Gonorrhea in Teenage Women |
With the
highest rate of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the
developed world, the United States is in the throes of a "hidden
epidemic," according to a recent report from the Institute of
Medicine.1 In addition to the high human cost to the
victims of these diseases and their families, the authors of the
report estimate that the financial burden of this epidemic to US
taxpayers is at least $10 billion per year - not including the
costs of HIV infection. |
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Can Liver Fibrosis be Reversed |
Treatment gives
the liver a vacation or rest from inflammation caused by
Hepatitis C Virus. Providing that the cirrhosis is not at such
an advanced stage that treatment is not an option, treatment is
often used to improve the health of the liver even if the
disease cannot be eradicated |
17 kb pdf |
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Can the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) Predict
Post-Transplantation |
Can indicators
of liver disease severity before liver transplantation (OLT)
predict the outcome following OLT? Can pretransplant data
predict post-OLT outcomes? The researchers compared three
indices of liver disease severity as predictors of
posttransplant outcome: |
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Capillus HIV Rapid Test Kit |
Gives a
break-down of the HIV rapid test kit with several indicators for
use |
1,205 kb pdf |
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Cardiac surgeon likely source of hepatitis in patients |
A cluster of
seven cases has been diagnosed in people who have only the
physician in common. |
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Caring for HIV Patients |
The good
news about HIV care in the United States is that treatment costs
are not prohibitive--the average cost per patient equals about
$20,000 a year. Although these costs represent a growing burden
on the public sector, they are still smaller than the costs of
treating some other major diseases. The bad news, however, is
that one-half to two-thirds of American adults infected with HIV
do not get regular care, and even fewer receive the most
advanced anti-HIV therapy. |
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CDC Urges annual STD Testing |
New testing
guidelines released by the Centers Disease Control and
Prevention urge doctors to make "frank inquiries about their
patients' sexual histories and other potential risk factors."
The new guidelines, which are not mandatory, apply to all
"sexually active men who have sex with men."
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CDC- Hepatitis A through E |
Power
Point presentation |
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CHILDHOOD EXPOSURE TO SIMIAN VIRUS
40-CONTAMINATED POLIOVIRUS VACCINE AND RISK OF AIDS-ASSOCIATED
NON-HODGKIN’S LYMPHOMA |
Our study
included 56,808 adults with AIDS: 39,468 SV40-exposed (who were
born in 1958–61) and 17,340 SV40-unexposed (born 1964–67). These
2 cohorts differed significantly in composition (Table I).
Specifically, although the cohorts had the same proportion of
homosexual men, the exposed cohort had more nonhomosexual men
(25.6% vs. 20.7%) and fewer women (18.8% vs. 23.7%). Also, the
exposed cohort had more whites than the unexposed cohort (44.4%
vs. 37.8%), with correspondingly reduced proportions from other
ethnic groups. As a direct result of the differences in birth
years in the 2 cohorts, SV40-exposed subjects were older (mean
age at AIDS onset, 32.0 vs. 27.2 years) and developed AIDS
earlier (mean year of AIDS onset, 1991.9 vs. 1992.8; p [1]
0.0001) than SV40-unexposed subjects. Registry areas differed
between SV40-exposed and -unexposed subjects, most notably with
SV40-exposed subjects being more frequently from New York and
less frequently from Florida |
Pdf 80 kb |
|
Chronic Hepatitis C: Current Disease Management |
The hepatitis C
virus (Hepatitis C Virus) is one of the most important causes of
chronic liver disease in the United States. It accounts for
about 15 percent of acute viral hepatitis, 60 to 70 percent of
chronic hepatitis, and up to 50 percent of cirrhosis, end-stage
liver disease, and liver cancer.
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Circumcision seen as method to block HIV infection |
A recent study
shows that circumc |
