74 research outputs found
Health Care Utilization in HIV-Infected Patients: Assessing the Burden of Hepatitis C Virus Coinfection
Health care utilization for HIV-1āinfected patients appears to be declining in the United States as a result of highly active antiviral therapy (HAART); yet the opposite appears true in the HIV/hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfected population. The reasons for this difference are not well understood. We examined the rates and reasons for emergency department visits and hospital admissions at an academic tertiary care medical center for HIV/HCV coinfected patients as compared to HIV-1 monoinfected patients, using a retrospective matched cohort study design. HIV/HCV coinfected patients had higher rates of health care utilization (emergency department visits 43.9 versus 7.1 per 100 person-years; hospital admissions 18.2 versus 6.7 per 100 person-years, for HIV coinfected and monoinfected, respectively). This increase was not solely due to liver related events. Instead, comorbidities such as diabetes, renal disease, and psychiatric/substance abuse played a larger role in the health-care utilization in the HIV/HCV coinfected population
Risk Factors for and Estimated Incidence of Community-associated Clostridium difficile Infection, North Carolina, USA1
Antimicrobial drug exposure is the most common modifiable risk factor for infection
Feasibility and willingness-to-pay for integrated community-based tuberculosis testing
BACKGROUND: Community-based screening for TB, combined with HIV and syphilis testing, faces a number of barriers. One significant barrier is the value that target communities place on such screening. METHODS: Integrated testing for TB, HIV, and syphilis was performed in neighborhoods identified using geographic information systems-based disease mapping. TB testing included skin testing and interferon gamma release assays. Subjects completed a survey describing disease risk factors, healthcare access, healthcare utilization, and willingness to pay for integrated testing. RESULTS: Behavioral and social risk factors among the 113 subjects were prevalent (71% prior incarceration, 27% prior or current crack cocaine use, 35% homelessness), and only 38% had a regular healthcare provider. The initial 24 subjects reported that they would be willing to pay a median 10 (IQR: 0-100) for TB testing when the question was asked in an open-ended fashion, but when the question was changed to a multiple-choice format, the next 89 subjects reported that they would pay a median 5 to get tested for TB, HIV, or syphilis. Among persons who received tuberculin skin testing, only 14/78 (18%) participants returned to have their skin tests read. Only 14/109 (13%) persons who underwent HIV testing returned to receive their HIV results. CONCLUSION: The relatively high-risk persons screened in this community outreach study placed low value on testing. Reported willingness to pay for such testing, while low, likely overestimated the true willingness to pay. Successful TB, HIV, and syphilis integrated testing programs in high risk populations will likely require one-visit diagnostic testing and incentives
Variants in the ITPA Gene Protect Against Ribavirin-Induced Hemolytic Anemia and Decrease the Need for Ribavirin Dose Reduction
In a genome-wide association study of patients being treated for chronic hepatitis C, 2 functional variants in ITPA that cause inosine triphosphatase (ITPase) deficiency were shown to protect against ribavirin (RBV)-induced hemolytic anemia during early stages of treatment. We aimed to replicate this finding in an independent cohort from the Study of Viral Resistance to Antiviral Therapy of Chronic Hepatitis C and to investigate the effects of these variants beyond week 4
Hydroxychloroquine for pre-exposure prophylaxis of COVID-19 in health care workers: a randomized, multicenter, placebo-controlled trial Healthcare Worker Exposure Response and Outcomes of Hydroxychloroquine (HERO-HCQ).
Properties of HCV direct-acting antivirals.
<p>Properties of HCV direct-acting antivirals.</p
Oral Combination Therapies for Hepatitis C Virus Infection: Successes, Challenges, and Unmet Needs
Sustained virologic response for all-oral direct acting antiviral regimens.
<p><sup>+</sup>Interferon ineligible/intolerant;</p><p>*24 weeks of treatment; GT1 (a/b), genotype-1; GT2, genotype-2; GT3, genotype-3; N/A, not available</p><p>Sustained virologic response for all-oral direct acting antiviral regimens.</p
All-oral direct acting antiviral regimens available for clinical use.
<p>*24 weeks of treatment; DAA, direct-acting antiviral; GT1 (a/b), genotype-1; GT2, genotype-2; GT3, genotype-3</p><p>All-oral direct acting antiviral regimens available for clinical use.</p
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