The use of DRV/r-based regimens for salvage therapy is an effective strategy in the clinical care setting of a developing country.

There still is no cure for the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Its etiologic agent is the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and transmission occurs through sexual relationships, contacts with blood, and vertically (mother to child). In this study, we sought to determine the prevalence of HIV among blood donors at a blood bank in Curitiba. We studied 213,666 blood donations made from March 1, 1992, to April 25, 1999. Each potential blood donor first answered a questionnaire, submitted to a clinical examination, and filled out a self-exclusion card. Blood was collected and analyzed only from the candidates approved by the first two criteria. Two tests were used to detect HIV: ELISA for screening, and Western-Blot for confirmation. The results were analyzed statistically by determining the 95% confidence interval. Of the total number of donors, 156,942 were men, and 56,724 were women. There were 319 cases of HIV infection (244 men, 75 women). There were no significant differences between genders, or among the different age groups, or between first-donation and repeated-donation donors. There was a significant predominance of HIV infection among single individuals compared to married, widowed, and other individuals. The same occurred among married and divorced individuals compared to widowed subjects. The prevalence of HIV among blood donors was 0.149% (0.155% among men and 0.132% among women). The frequency of HIV was statistically identical among new blood donors and repeat donors. A large number of HIV-infected married women was also observed.

surgery and the second after 23 months. The analysis tool built into the Topcon SP-3000P SM reported the ECD as 2282 cells per square millimeter after 12 months and 1800 cells per square millimeter after 23 months. However, no single cell changed position, shape, or size in the overlapping area (colorcoded stripe-wise comparator image not shown). We conclude that the ECD loss of 482 cells per square millimeter is an artifact as a result of sampling errors.Cell-by-cell comparisons may help in tackling the problem of insufficient sampling sizes when assessing endothelial stability. Our novel method uses all morphological information from the SM images rather than limiting analysis to the cell dotting, as is the case in ECD counting. We therefore suggest comparison of subsequent SM images cell by cell in clinical trials instead of focusing on ECD alone. For this reason, we have developed an image registration program for SM images (manuscript in preparation). FIGURE 2. Superimposition (average) of 2 SM images after homologous limbokeratoplasty. The first image was recorded 12 months and the second one 23 months after surgery.