Abstract. The pathogen ecology of Amazonian regions may lead to specific differences in the most frequent clinical presentations of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). A retrospective cohort study was thus conducted to describe the main AIDS-defining events in French Guiana. Disseminated histoplasmosis was the most frequent opportunistic infection (15.4/1000 person years).

Thirty years after the first HIV case in French Guiana, the drivers of the epidemic are not clearly known, but the epidemic is usually conceptualized as generalized. Cross-linking results from a study in the general population and a study in the HIV-infected population in Cayenne suggests that in the general population of HIV-positive men, 45% of HIV cases are attributable to having sex with someone they paid. Similarly, for HIV-positive women exchanging sex for presents or money, 10.7% of HIV cases are attributable to transactional sex. A surprising finding was that 16.8% of HIV patients had tried crack cocaine before. On the Maroni river, the female-biased sex ratio suggests the drivers in that remote area may be related to cultural polygyny. These observations have important consequences on communication and prevention strategies.

A retrospective cohort study was conducted to determine the predictive factors and the incidence of anxiety and depression in a cohort of patients followed in French Guiana. A total of 2315 patients were followed for a total of 9116 years of follow-up. The incidence rate of first observed depression was 1.89 per 100 person years. The incidence rate of first observed generalized anxiety was 1.27 per 100 person years. A single failure Cox proportional hazards model showed that patients diagnosed <1 year (Hazard ratio (HR)=4.15; 95% CI=1.15-14.9; P=0.029), patients treated

ContextFrench Guiana is a South American French territory, where HIV prevalence consistently exceeds 1% in the adult population. In the only correctional facility, HIV prevalence fluctuates at around 4%.AimsAfter describing the population of HIV-positive inmates, we aimed to evaluate mortality after release from the correctional facility, and to identify its predictive factors.RationaleOutside North American settings, data on treatment outcome and vital status of HIV-positive former inmates are scarce. There were no data in French Guiana. Filling this gap represents a basis for potential improvements.MethodsAll HIV-infected adults released from an incarceration of 30 days or more, between 2007 and 2013, were enrolled in a retrospective cohort study. Mortality was described over time, one to seven years following release, using Kaplan-Meier estimates. Factors associated with mortality were identified through a non-parametric survival regression model.Results147 former inmates were included. The male to female ratio was 4.4. The median age was 37.3 years. The majority were migrants, 25.8% were homeless, 70.1% suffered from substance abuse, with 34.0% of crack-cocaine users. On admission, 78.1% had an early HIV-stage infection (CDC-stage A), with a median CD4 count of 397.5/mm3, 34.0% had one comorbidity, mainly hypertension. Upon release, 50.3% were on ART. Reasons for not being treated were not fulfilling the criteria for 74.6%, and refusing for 15.1%. Before release, 84.5% of the patients on ART had a viral load≤200cp/ml. After release, 8.2% of the cohort had died, with a crude incidence of 33.8/1000 person-years. All recorded deaths were males, with an incidence of 42.2/1000 person-years. Comparing with the age-specific mortality rates for males in French Guiana, the standardized mortality ratio was 14.8. In multivariate analysis, factors associated with death were age and CD4 count before release.ConclusionDespite access to ART while incarcerated, with good virological outcome, the post-release mortality was very high for males, almost 15 times what is observed in the general male population living in French Guiana, after age standardization. Access to ART in correctional facilities may be a necessary, but not sufficient condition to protect male inmates from death after release.

BackgroundIn order to compute the continuum of care for French Guiana, it is necessary to estimate the total number of persons living with HIV. The main objective was to determine how many persons were infected with HIV and how many were unaware of it.MethodsWe used 2 different models to calculate the total number of persons infected with HIV: Spectrum’s AIM module using CSAVR to compute incidence from case registration and vital statistics; and the ECDC model from the French Guiana HIV cohort data.ResultThe present results show that both models led to similar results regarding the incident number of cases (i.e. for 2016 174 versus 161) and the total HIV population (in 2016 3206 versus 3539) respectively. The ECDC modeling tool showed that the proportion of undiagnosed HIV infections declined from 50% in 1990 to 15% in 2015. This amounted to a stable or slightly increasing total number of undiagnosed patients of 520.ConclusionsThe estimations of the total HIV population by both models show that the HIV population is still growing. The incidence rate declined in 2000 and the decline of the number of newly acquired HIV infections, after a decline after 2003 is offset by population growth. The proportion of undiagnosed infections has declined to 15% but the number of undiagnosed infections remains stable. The HIV cascade shows that despite good results for treatment in care, reaching the 90*90*90 UNAIDS target may be difficult because a significant proportion of patients are lost to follow-up.

BackgroundIn French Guiana, health inequalities are patent for a broad range of pathologies for all age groups. The objective of the present study was to quantify the proportion of the population that had renounced care in the past year, to study predictive factors, and to compare results with other French territories.MethodsA two-stage random sample of 2015 individuals aged 15 to 75 years was surveyed by telephone. A descriptive analysis of variables relative to renouncing care, use of health care, screening, and vaccination was initially performed. Multivariate analysis was then used to determine variables associated with renouncing care for financial reasons and renouncing for reasons linked to time were directly estimated using a Poisson model on weighted data. Variables with a significance level < 0.2 in the bivariate analysis were included in the full multivariate model.ResultsIn French Guiana, during the past 12 months, 30.9% of surveyed persons renounced care whatever the type for financial reasons. Results of the multivariate analysis showed that gender, perceived financial situation, perceived health and complementary insurance status were independent predictive factors of care renouncement for financial reasons. Overall, 24% of the surveyed population declared having renounced to care for time-related motives. The independent predictors for time-related renouncing were different than those for renouncing care for financial reasons: a higher education level and a poor perceived health were independently associated with time-related renouncement; retired persons and students were found to renounce care less frequently than persons with a job.ConclusionsRenouncing for financial reasons, a major target of the 2016 health law, represented a public health problem in French Guiana. Renouncing for lack of time was an important motive for renouncing, which is aggravated by the insufficient number of health professionals, but may benefit from organizational solutions. There are avenues for improvement of health for the most vulnerable: promote health, act on risk factors, and facilitate the readability and accessibility of the health system. Recent reforms to stabilize health insurance may however have some adverse consequences for migrants.

BackgroundFrench Guiana is highly affected by HIV. The migrant population is particularly susceptible. The objective of this study was to evaluate the level of risk of HIV transmission and its perception among migrants in French Guiana and to identify predictive factors.MethodsAn HIV/AIDS Knowledge, Attitudes, Behaviors and Practices study was conducted in 2012 among migrants living in precarious neighborhoods of French Guiana.ResultsOf the 1039 participants surveyed, 893 were analyzed, of which 35.6% had risky sex during the past 12 months. Sexual risk taking was higher among the migrant population than in the general population. The predictors of sexual risk taking behavior were: younger age groups, males, having a job, not living with a spouse, having first had sex before age 16, using alcohol or drugs before sex, and having engaged in commercial sex recently. The factors associated with not being aware of one’s risk were: being a woman, being from Guyana or Suriname, non-systematic use of condoms with a regular partner, and never or not recently having been tested for HIV.ConclusionsThe results suggest there is still a need for information on HIV risks in a highly vulnerable population.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12914-018-0164-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

We conducted a retrospective cohort study to determine the influence of crack cocaine use on the outcomes of HIV infection. The use of crack cocaine was associated with an increased incidence of AIDS: 27.8 per 100 person-years versus 6.6 per 100 person-years for nonusers, adjusted hazard ratio = 3.8 (1.9-7.5), P < 0.001. More specifically, crack users had a greater incidence of disseminated histoplasmosis, pneumocystosis, pulmonary tuberculosis, bacterial pneumonia, oesophageal candidiasis, cerebral toxoplasmosis, salmonellosis, and genital herpes. The care of HIV-infected crack users is particularly challenging and requires additional efforts to reduce the high morbidity of these patients.