This case study demonstrates a 36-year-old ex-intravenous drug user (IVDU) who had been initially tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) twice using Enzyme Immunoassay (EIA) method (Particle agglutination, PA done), but a year later he was tested HIV-negative. The patient was asymptomatic for HIV and T helper cells (CD4) count remained stable throughout this period. In light of ...

Reports of HIV/AIDS cases attributed to sexual transmission from foreigners were published in the USSR in the mid of 80s. In the initial decade of the epidemic, the subtype B was found in men who have sex with men (MSM) population and several non-B subtypes were identified in heterosexual persons. The first case of HIV infection in intravenous drug users (IVDU) was reported in 1993 and since th...

BACKGROUND Illicit drug abuse is an independent risk factor for chronic kidney disease, but the pathogenic consequences of long-term exposure to illicit drugs and contaminants under unsterile conditions remains unclear. STUDY DESIGN Case series. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS All deceased persons (n 5 129) who underwent forensic autopsy because of suspected connection with illicit drug abuse betwee...

BACKGROUND One major circulating HIV-1 subtype in Southeast Asian countries is CRF01_AE, but little is known about its epidemiology in Japan. We conducted a molecular phylodynamic study of patients newly diagnosed with CRF01_AE from 2003 to 2010. METHODS Plasma samples from patients registered in Japanese Drug Resistance HIV-1 Surveillance Network were analyzed for protease-reverse transcript...

OBJECTIVE To determine the policies applied in genitourinary medicine (GUM) departments in the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland with regard to hepatitis B vaccination. DESIGN All genitourinary medicine consultants were sent a questionnaire requesting information concerning their selection criteria and the management of patients offered Hepatitis B vaccine. If no response was obtained a second ...

The prison population is a high-risk group for tuberculosis (TB). This investigation aimed to study predictive factors of treatment adherence among prisoners involved in a pilot programme of supervised treatment. The study included TB patients from the Men's Penitentiary Center of Barcelona (MPCB) in 1995. Directly observed therapy (DOT) was carried out in the infirmary or in a methadone progra...

INTRODUCTION Late presentation is associated with increased healthcare costs, rates of HIV transmission and poor outcome. In Romania, in 2012, one third of individuals with new HIV diagnosis were late presenters (LP). OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to evaluate the epidemiological and clinical characteristics associated with late presentation. METHODS We retrospectively studied patients ...

This case of infective endocarditis masquerading as mixed cryoglobulinemia in a man with a history of intravenous drug use (IVDU) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) highlights the importance of maintaining a broad differential and continually re-evaluating the working diagnosis as new information presents itself. The patient presented to an outside hospital and was treated for presumptive mixed cryogl...

OBJECTIVE Our previous findings support an additive effect of cocaine to HIV infection in the development of pulmonary arteriopathy through enhanced proliferation of human pulmonary smooth muscle cells. We now examined the role of antiproliferative bone morphogenetic protein receptor (BMPR) axis in HIV protein and cocaine-mediated pulmonary smooth muscle hyperplasia. APPROACH AND RESULTS Stim...

BACKGROUND In 2000, Ringertz et al described the first case of systemic anthrax caused by injecting heroin contaminated with anthrax. In 2008, there were 574 drug related deaths in Scotland, of which 336 were associated with heroin and or morphine. We report a rare case of septicaemic anthrax caused by injecting heroin contaminated with anthrax in Scotland. CASE PRESENTATION A 32 year old int...