The purpose of this study was to validate the Spanish version of the Berger HIV Stigma Scale in an urban Spanish-speaking population in Peru and create a valid and reliable abridged version of the scale. Participants were HIV-infected adults enrolled in an observational study to examine the effectiveness of a community-based antiretroviral therapy adherence intervention. Approximately half of participants were female, and the median age at enrollment was 30.5 years. The Spanish version of the full HIV Stigma Scale was internally reliable, demonstrated good construct validity, and was sensitive to change over time. The full HIV Stigma Scale was abbreviated by removing items that impaired subscale internal reliability, did not correlate with other subscale items, or demonstrated low factor correlations. The resulting abridged scale contained 21 of the 40 original items and revealed properties similar to the full Spanish version.

Measurements of dielectrophoretic collection spectra of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus suspensions are used for obtaining dielectric characteristics of both types of bacteria. The experiments are interpreted using a numerical method that models the cells as compartmented spherical or rod-like particles. We show the usefulness of this simple method to extract significant information about the electrical properties of Gram-negative and -positive bacteria.

From December 2005 to April 2007, we enrolled 60 adults starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) in a health district of Lima, Peru to receive community-based accompaniment with supervised antiretroviral (CASA). Paid community health workers performed twice-daily home visits to directly observe ART and offered additional medical, social and economic support to CASA participants. We matched 60 controls from a neighboring district by age, CD4 and primary referral criteria (TB status, female, neither). Using validated instruments at baseline and 12 months (time of DOT-HAART completion) we measured depression, social support, quality of life, HIV-related stigma and self-efficacy. We compared 12 month clinical and psychosocial outcomes among CASA versus control groups. CASA participants experienced better clinical and psychosocial outcomes at 12 months, including proportion with virologic suppression, increase in social support and reduction in HIV-associated stigma.

Background In the Andean Region, HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STI) are most prevalent among men who have sex with men (MSM), but incidence estimates and associated factors have never been prospectively assessed. Methods A cohort of 1056 high-risk HIV-negative MSM in Lima, Peru, was recruited during 1998–2000 (The ALASKA Cohort) and a nested case-control analysis conducted between seroconverters and non-seroconverters, matched 1:3 by age and duration of follow-up for comparison of risk behaviors, acute retroviral symptoms, circumcision, and STI. Results During average follow-up of 335 days, 34 men seroconverted, providing a HIV incidence estimate of 3.5/100 person-years (95% CI: 2.3–4.7). High syphilis (9.2/100 person-years, 95% CI: 6.7–10.1) and HSV-2 infection (10.4/100 person-years, 95% CI: 8.6–11.9) incidence estimates were obtained. HIV seroconverters were more likely than men who remained seronegative to report fever ≥3 days (46% vs. 7%), to seek medical care (62% vs. 27%), and to have ≥1 casual partner (86.2% vs. 74.1%) since their last visit. HIV seroconverters also were more likely to have acquired syphilis or HSV-2 infection (31% vs. 8% among initially HSV-2 seronegative men) while were less likely to be circumcised (4.2% vs. 20.6%, a non-significant difference). In multivariate analysis, incident syphilis or HSV-2 infection (OR: 5.9, 95% CI 1.5–22.7) and sex with any casual partner (OR: 4.8, 95% CI: 0.9–26.2) were associated with HIV seroconversion. Conclusions STI that may cause anogenital ulcers are important risk factors for HIV acquisition among high-risk MSM in Lima, a population with a very high HIV incidence estimate. Synergistic interventions focusing in preventing both HIV and HSV-2, like male circumcision, are warranted to be assessed, especially in MSM populations with low levels of circumcision and high incidence estimates of ulcerative STI.