The Effects of a 15-Week Physical Activity Class on Health-Related Physical Fitness

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The hidden harm of home-based care: Pulmonary tuberculosis symptoms among children providing home medical care to HIV/AIDS-affected adults in South Africa

Millions of children in sub-Saharan Africa undertake personal and medical care for family members who are unwell with AIDS. To date, no research has investigated whether such care provision places children at heightened risk for pulmonary tuberculosis. This study aimed to address this gap by identifying risk factors for paediatric pulmonary tuberculosis symptomatology. In 2009–2011, 6002 children aged 10–17 years were surveyed using door-to-door household sampling of census enumeration areas. These were randomly sampled from six urban and rural sites with over 30% HIV prevalence, within South Africa's three highest tuberculosis-burden provinces. Validated scales and clinical tuberculosis symptom checklists were modelled in multivariate logistic regressions, controlling for socio-demographic co-factors.Findings showed that, among children, severe pulmonary tuberculosis symptomatology was predicted by primary caregiver HIV/AIDS-illness [odds ratio (OR): 1.63, confidence interval (CI): 1.23–2.15, p<0.001], and AIDS-orphanhood (OR: 1.44, CI: 1.04–2.00, p<0.029). Three-fold increases in severe tuberculosis symptoms were predicted by the child's exposure to body fluids through providing personal or medical care to an ill adult (OR: 3.12, CI: 1.96–4.95, p<0.001). Symptoms were also predicted by socio-economic factors of food insecurity (OR: 1.52, CI: 1.15–2.02, p<0.003) and household overcrowding (OR: 1.35, CI: 1.06–1.72, p<0.017). Percentage probability of severe tuberculosis symptoms rose from 1.4% amongst least-exposed children, to 18.1% amongst those exposed to all above-stated risk factors, independent of biological relationship of primary caregiver-child and other socio-demographics. Amongst symptomatic children, 75% had never been tested for tuberculosis. These findings identify the risk of tuberculosis among children providing home medical care to their unwell caregivers, and suggest that there are gaps in the health system to screen and detect these cases of paediatric tuberculosis. There is a need for effective interventions to reduce childhood risk, as well as further support for community-based contact-tracing, tuberculosis screening and anti-tuberculosis treatment for children caring for ill adults in contexts with a high burden of HIV and tuberculosis

'Just another vial…': a qualitative study to explore the acceptability and feasibility of routine blood-borne virus testing in an emergency department setting in the UK.

OBJECTIVES: Increased test uptake for HIV and viral hepatitis is fast becoming a health priority at both national and global levels. Late diagnosis of these infections remains a critical public health concern in the UK. Recommendations have been issued to expand blood-borne virus (BBV) testing in alternative settings. Emergency departments (EDs) offer a potentially important point of testing. This paper presents findings from a qualitative study which aimed to explore the acceptability and feasibility of a routine opt-out combined BBV testing intervention implemented at an inner London ED. METHODS: We conducted 22 semistructured interviews with patients and service providers in the ED over a 4-month period during the intervention pilot. A grounded analytical approach was employed to conduct thematic analysis of qualitative study data. RESULTS: Core interrelating thematic areas, identified and analytically developed in relation to test intervention implementation and experience, included the following: the remaking of routine test procedure; notions of responsibility in relation to status knowledge and test engagement; the opportunity and constraints of the ED as a site for testing; and the renegotiation of testing cultures within and beyond the clinic space. CONCLUSION: Study findings demonstrate how relational and spatial dynamics specific to the ED setting shape test meaning and engagement. We found acceptability of the test practice was articulated through narratives of situated responsibility, with the value of the test offset by perceptions of health need and justification of the test expense. Participant accounts indicate that the nontargeted approach of the test affords a productive disruption to 'at-risk' identities, yet they also reveal limits to the test intervention's 'normalising' effect. Evaluation of the intervention must attend to the situated dynamics of the test practice if opportunities of an opt-out BBV test procedure are to be fully realised. Findings also highlight the critical need to further evaluate post-test intervention practices and experiences

ETHICAL: Ethnic Disparities In COVID-19 Admissions in east London

This study aims to assess whether there is a difference in age and sex adjusted outcomes in different ethnicities of patients with confirmed COVID 19 admitted to Barts Health. The study will test the hypothesis that there is an association between health outcomes; in terms of need for ITU admission and mortality; and ethnicity in COVID-19 positive patients admitted to Barts Health; with patients of Black, Asian and other Minority Ethnicities having poorer outcomes as compared to patients of White ethnicity

A systematic review of risk of HIV transmission through biting or spitting: implications for policy.

OBJECTIVES: The perceived threat of HIV transmission through spitting and biting is evidenced by the increasing use of "spit hoods" by Police Forces in the UK. In addition, a draft parliamentary bill has called for increased penalties for assaults on emergency workers, citing the risk of communicable disease transmission as one justification. We aimed to review literature relating to the risk of HIV transmission through biting or spitting. METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted using Medline, Embase and Northern Lights databases and conference websites using search terms relating to HIV, AIDS, bite, spit and saliva. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to identified citations. We classified plausibility of HIV transmission as low, medium, high or confirmed based on pre-specified criteria. RESULTS: A total of 742 abstracts were reviewed, yielding 32 articles for full-text review and 13 case reports/series after inclusion and exclusion criteria had been applied. There were no reported cases of HIV transmission related to spitting and nine cases identified following a bite, in which the majority occurred between family (six of nine), in fights involving serious wounds (three of nine), or to untrained first-aiders placing fingers in the mouth of someone having a seizure (two of nine). Only four cases were classified as highly plausible or confirmed transmission. None related to emergency workers and none were in the UK. CONCLUSIONS: There is no risk of transmitting HIV through spitting, and the risk through biting is negligible. Post-exposure prophylaxis is not indicated after a bite in all but exceptional circumstances. Policies to protect emergency workers should be developed with this evidence in mind

Public understanding and awareness of and response to monkeypox virus outbreak: A cross-sectional survey of the most affected communities in the United Kingdom during the 2022 public health emergency.

OBJECTIVES: Our objective was to examine the public response to public health and media messaging during the human monkeypox virus (MPXV) outbreak in the UK, focusing on at-risk communities. METHODS: A co-produced, cross-sectional survey was administered in June and July 2022 using community social media channels and the Grindr dating app. Basic descriptive statistics, logistic regression, and odds ratio p values are presented. RESULTS: Of 1932 survey respondents, 1750 identified as men, 88 as women, and 64 as gender non-conforming. Sexual identity was described as gay/lesbian/queer (80%), bisexual (12%), heterosexual (4%), and pansexual (2%); 39% were aged <40 years; 71% self-identified as White, 3% as Black, 8% as Asian, 2%as LatinX, and 11% as 'Mixed or Other' heritage groups. In total, 85% were employed and 79% had completed higher education. A total of 7% of respondents identified themselves as living with HIV. Overall, 34% reported limited understanding of public health information, 52% considered themselves at risk, 61% agreed that people with MPXV should isolate for 21 days, 49% reported they would first attend a sexual health clinic if symptomatic, 86% reported they would accept a vaccine, and 59% believed that MPXV originated from animals. The most trusted sources of information were healthcare professionals (37%), official health agencies (29%), and mainstream media (12%). CONCLUSIONS: Vaccine acceptability was very high, yet the understanding and acceptance of public health information varied. Social determinants of health inequalities already shaping the UK landscape risk were compounded in this new emergency. Engagement with structurally disadvantaged members of affected communities and better dissemination of public health messaging by trusted healthcare professionals are essential for the public health response

Highlights from the 20th International Symposium on HIV and Emerging Infectious Diseases (ISHEID) 16-18 May 2018, Marseille, France: from HIV and comorbidities to global health.

The 20th International Symposium on HIV and Emerging Infectious Diseases took place in Marseille, France. It had a refreshing European look with reinforced partnerships with the European AIDS Clinical Society and the British HIV Association and with international speakers and participants. Topics included HIV and global health, HIV and hepatitis cure, the microbiome and immunotherapies, clinical research and methodology, as well as chemsex, pre-exposure prophylaxis, sexually transmitted infections and emerging infectious diseases. Novel areas of research were also described, such as electronic technology in order to improve HIV management, and the expert patient