Socio-demographic and epidemiological characteristics associated with human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-1) infection in HIV-1-explosed but uninfected individuals, and in HIV-1-infected patients from a southern brasilian population

Abstract

The ability to control human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection and progression of the disease is regulated by host and viral factors. This cross-sectional study describes the socio-demographic and epidemiological characteristics associated with HIV-1 infection in 1,061 subjects attended in Londrina and region, south of Brazil: 136 healthy individuals (Group 1), 147 HIV-1-exposed but uninfected individuals (Group 2), 161 HIV-1-infected asymptomatic patients (Group 3), and 617 patients with AIDS (Group 4). Data were obtained by a standardized questionnaire and serological tests. The age of the individuals ranged from 15.1 to 79.5 years, 54.0% and 56.1% of the Groups 3 and 4 patients, respectively, were men. The major features of groups 2, 3, and 4 were a predominance of education level up to secondary school (55.8%, 60.2% and 62.4%, respectively), sexual route of exposure (88.4%, 87.0% and 82.0%, respectively), heterosexual behavior (91.8%, 75.2% and 83.7%, respectively), and previous sexually transmitted diseases (20.4%, 32.5%, and 38.1%, respectively). The patients with AIDS showed the highest rates of seropositivity for syphilis (25.6%), of anti-HCV (22.3%), and anti-HTLV I/II obtained by two serological screening tests (6.2% and 6.8%, respectively). The results documenting the predominant characteristics for HIV-1 infection among residents of Londrina and region, could be useful for the improvement of current HIV-1 prevention, monitoring and therapeutic programs targeted at this population.

Egocentric network data provide additional information for characterizing an individual's HIV risk profile

“…Volunteers with higher socioeconomic status were less likely to be HIV positive. This was true for men, but not for women, and confirms data indicating a shift of the epidemic to the poorer segment of the Brazilian population [19,20]. Our data indicate that MSM are still a core risk group for HIV.…”

Frequency and diversity of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 mutations associated with antiretroviral resistance among patients from Southern Brazil failing highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)

“…Regarding the number of documented cases of AIDS in the country, Londrina, an innermost municipality located in the Northern region of Paraná State, Southern Brazil, was in the 39th position, with 1,164 cases from 1980 to 2003 (14) but scarce data exist on the genetic variability of HIV-1 that is circulating in that area. The sociodemographic and epidemiological characteristics of the patients enrolled in this study were consistent with the major features of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Brazil and Londrina (13). The higher gender frequency was male, although a small male to female ratio was observed as a result of an increasing proportion of female patients.…”

“…The patients were from Londrina, a municipality located in the Northern region of Paraná State, in Southern Brazil, 390 km from Curitiba, the capital of Paraná, 500 km far from São Paulo (SP) and 1,000 km from Rio de Janeiro (RJ). A detailed sociodemographic and epidemiological characterization of the HIV-1 patients cohort from Londrina and the region were described previously (13). Medical appointments were offered at two different local outpatient clinics (Outpatient Clinic of State University of Londrina and Integrated Center of Infectious Diseases of 17th Health Regional of the Health Secretariat of Paraná State).…”

“…However, studies on HIV-1 genetic diversity in relatively small Brazilian municipalities are scarce (11). The HIV-1 Brazilian epidemic is spreading from large urban centers to small municipalities and the innermost parts of the country (12,13). During the period of 1980-2003, Londrina was in the 2nd and 39th positions for HIV/AIDS cases registered in Paraná State and in the country, respectively (14).…”

Dynamic intimate contact social networks and epidemic interventions

“…Based on collected data and statistical analysis, it is evident that certain demographic groups are at higher risk for contracting certain sexually transmitted diseases and infections. For example, previous research has indicated specific achieved levels of education have a positive correlation with higher incidence of HIV/AIDS infection (Reiche & et al 2005). This type of understanding, when applied to a computational social model, would allow the individual within the public health industry to model an awareness or educational campaign to the population with the greatest risk factors and to predict the potential impact on this target group from avoiding future infection.…”