Individual patient care and programme evaluation are pivotal for the success of antiretroviral treatment programmes in resource-limited countries. While computer-aided documentation and data storage are indispensable for any large programme, several important issues need to be addressed including which data are to be collected, who collects it and how it is entered into an electronic database. ...

BACKGROUND Little is known about the effect of provider type and experience on outcomes, resource use, and processes of care of hospitalized patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Hospitalists are caring for this population with increasing frequency. METHODS Data from a natural experiment in which patients were assigned to physicians on the basis of call cycle was used to...

BACKGROUND HIV treatment programs in Africa typically approach all enrolling patients uniformly. Growing numbers of patients are antiretroviral experienced. Defining patients on the basis of antiretroviral experience may inform enrollment practices, particularly if medical outcomes differ. METHODS Baseline and follow-up measures (CD4, weight change, and survival) were compared in a retrospect...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether the length of time of rupture of membranes (ROM) in optimally managed HIV-positive women on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) with low viral loads (VL) is predictive of the risk of mother to child transmission (MTCT) of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). STUDY METHODS A retrospective case series of all HIV-positive women who delivered at two acade...

At the end of 2012, 3 decades after the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was first identified, neither a cure nor a fully preventive vaccine was available. Despite multiple efforts, the epidemic remains an exceptional public health challenge. At the end of 2012, it was estimated that, globally, 35 million people were living with HIV, 2.3 million had become newly infected, and 1.6 million had ...

A review on adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy and the quality of life of patients living with HIV in the scientific literature, indexed in MEDLINE between 1998 and 2008, was performed. Studies published in Portuguese, Spanish or English with patients over 18 years of age were included. Reviews, case reports and letters were excluded. Of the 21 studies found, 12 were included (th...

High-income countries are moving toward tuberculosis (TB) elimination. Sophisticated diagnostic tests and effective treatment regimens are readily available. The range of available resources even makes effective treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) possible. The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy and specific TB control measures has reduced the incidence of HI...

Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) is a collection of inflammatory disorders associated with paradoxical worsening of preexisting infectious processes after the initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals. At the initial stage of the disease, the imaging findings can be misdiagnosed as pneumonia resulting ...

BACKGROUND Sub-optimal adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) among injection drug users (IDUs) is a significant concern. As such, there is an urgent need to identify psychosocial determinants of adherence that can be incorporated into interventions designed to promote optimal adherence. OBJECTIVE To identify psychosocial determinants of adherence to HAART, as well as self-...