Relationship of Racial Residential Segregation to Newly Diagnosed Cases of HIV among Black Heterosexuals in US Metropolitan Areas, 2008–2015

Social science and public health literature has framed residential segregation as a potent structural determinant of the higher HIV burden among black heterosexuals, but empirical evidence has been limited. The purpose of this study is to test, for the first time, the association between racial segregation and newly diagnosed heterosexually acquired HIV cases among black adults and adolescents in 95 large US metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in 2008–2015. We operationalized racial segregation (the main exposure) using Massey and Denton’s isolation index for black residents; the outcome was the rate of newly diagnosed HIV cases per 10,000 black adult heterosexuals. We tested the relationship of segregation to this outcome using multilevel multivariate models of longitudinal (2008–2015) MSA-level data, controlling for potential confounders and time. All covariates were lagged by 1 year and centered on baseline values. We preliminarily explored mediation of the focal relationship by inequalities in education, employment, and poverty rates. Segregation was positively associated with the outcome: a one standard deviation decrease in baseline isolation was associated with a 16.2% reduction in the rate of new HIV diagnoses; one standard deviation reduction in isolation over time was associated with 4.6% decrease in the outcome. Exploratory mediation analyses suggest that black/white socioeconomic inequality may mediate the relationship between segregation and HIV. Our study suggests that residential segregation may be a distal determinant of HIV among black heterosexuals. The findings further emphasize the need to address segregation as part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce racial inequities in HIV

Evidence for HIV transmission across key populations: a longitudinal analysis of HIV and AIDS rates among Black people who inject drugs and Black heterosexuals in 84 large U.S. metropolitan areas, 2008–2016

Purpose: To assess cross-population linkages in HIV/AIDS epidemics, we tested the hypothesis that the number of newly diagnosed AIDS cases among Black people who inject drugs (PWID) was positively related to the natural log of the rate of newly diagnosed HIV infections among Black non-PWID heterosexuals in 84 large U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in 2008–2016. Methods: We estimated a multilevel model centering the time-varying continuous exposures at baseline between the independent (Black PWID AIDS rates) and dependent (HIV diagnoses rate among Black heterosexuals) variables. Results: At MSA level, baseline (standardized β = 0.12) Black PWID AIDS rates and change in these rates over time (standardized β = 0.11) were positively associated with the log of new HIV diagnoses rates among Black heterosexuals. Thus, MSAs with Black PWID AIDS rates that were 1 standard deviation= higher at baseline also had rates of newly diagnosed HIV infections among Black non-PWID heterosexuals that were 10.3% higher. A 1 standard deviation increase in independent variable over time corresponded to a 7.8% increase in dependent variable. Conclusions: Black PWID AIDS rates may predict HIV rates among non-PWID Black heterosexuals. Effective HIV programming may be predicated, in part, on addressing intertwining of HIV epidemics across populations

State minimum wage laws and newly diagnosed cases of HIV among heterosexual black residents of US metropolitan areas

This ecologic cohort study explores the relationship between state minimum wage laws and rates of HIV diagnoses among heterosexual black residents of U.S metropolitan areas over an 8-year span. Specifically, we applied hierarchical linear modeling to investigate whether state-level variations in minimum wage laws, adjusted for cost-of-living and inflation, were associated with rates of new HIV diagnoses among heterosexual black residents of metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs; n=73), between 2008 and 2015. Findings suggest that an inverse relationship exists between baseline state minimum wages and initial rates of newly diagnosed HIV cases among heterosexual black individuals, after adjusting for potential confounders. MSAs with a minimum wage that was $1 higher at baseline had a 27.12% lower rate of newly diagnosed HIV cases. Exploratory analyses suggest that income inequality may mediate this relationship. If subsequent research establishes a causal relationship between minimum wage and this outcome, efforts to increase minimum wages should be incorporated into HIV prevention strategies for this vulnerable population

Functional and genetic analysis of regulatory regions of coliphage H-19B: location of shiga-like toxin and lysis genes suggest a role for phage functions in toxin release

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/74784/1/j.1365-2958.1998.00890.x.pd