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Query: UMLS:C0019693 (HIV)
 170,526 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Researchers from the Kenya Medical Research Centre in Nairobi, Kenya interviewed 250 women food handlers who attended a routine medical exam in Thika town in Central Province to learn social characteristics and sexual behavior of women at high risk of acquiring HIV in urban areas. They only included the 47 who charged for sex. 1 researcher spoke with them later in their local dialect. All but 2 were bar attendants. 96% of their clients were nationals and none reported foreigners. 85% were not originally from Thika town and 51% of these came from the neighboring district of Muranga. 51% of these high risk women had lived in Thika town from 1 monthw5 years. 36.2% had 6-7 years of schooling and only 1 had 12 years. 85% reported to not have reached the level of education they wanted to reach. 49% of these said they did not reach the desired level due to insufficient funds and 19% became pregnant and left school. Age of menarche corresponded with the age when the 47 women left school. 85% had 1-4 children. Moreover 43% had had at least 1 abortion. 53% had been divorced and 45% never had a husband. 60% reported having used at least 1 form of contraceptive. Yet none of these women had used condoms. Some of the reasons for not using them included not knowing the advantages of using condoms, no need to use then, and no sexual pleasure. Only 1 reported having both vaginal and anal sex. 36% had 2 partners/week. 66% said that they go to different parts of Kenya at least once a month. Most of these trips resulted in an overnight stay. 81% had been circumcised and 83% had pierced ears. These results demonstrated a strong need for AIDS and sexually transmitted disease prevention education for high risk women.
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PMID:Social characteristics and sexual behaviour of women at high risk of HIV infection in a town in Central Province of Kenya. 206 Apr 79

We have investigated in utero human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) transmission by analyzing human fetal tissues for the presence of viral DNA by means of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Thirty three fetal samples: thymus, spleen, and peripheral mononuclear blood cells (PMBC) were obtained at abortion (16 to 24 weeks) from HIV-1-infected asymptomatic women. The results of HIV-1-DNA detection were considered only in 9 cases where contamination of fetal samples by infected mother cells could be definitely eliminated by using primers specific for a polymorphic cellular locus. PCR allowed the identification of HIV-1 DNA sequences in 6/8, 8/9, and 5/9 of specimens from thymus, spleen, and PMBC, respectively. Positive results were shown in fetuses as early as 16 weeks. Viral cultures as well as assays for serum p24 HIV-1 antigen were negative in 9.9 and 33/33 tested, respectively. Therefore, our results indicate early and frequent in utero HIV-1 infection. Different patterns of viral activation after birth might then lead to either rapid or delayed onset of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
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PMID:Frequent and early in utero HIV-1 infection. 206 30

The paper presents the results of a survey about risk perception, knowledge, and attitudes towards HIV infection among 397 pregnant women in France. The survey was carried out between December 1987 and March 1988 in two Paris-region maternity hospitals where HIV testing is routinely proposed during the first prenatal visit. Uptake of HIV prenatal testing has been rapid in France: before coming to the maternity hospitals, 26.5% of women had already been tested. Social acceptability of testing is high, 68.8% of the sample even supporting mandatory prenatal HIV screening. Such acceptability appears to be based less on an in-depth knowledge about the risks of transmission from mother-to-fetus than on the general French context of free-of-charge mandatory prenatal care and on the potentially reassuring effect of a true negative test. Consensus about abortion for HIV-infected pregnant women is strong (80.1%) and is not influenced by religious beliefs, in contrast to attitudes toward abortion in the case of fetal handicaps. This social environment creates special difficulties for the management of the complex dilemmas regarding pregnancy and childbearing for HIV-infected women.
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PMID:Social acceptability of HIV screening among pregnant women. 208 16

Researchers enrolled 600 prostitutes from an AIDS control and prevention program in a study to determine the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis in prostitutes and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The prostitutes worked in the port city of Santos, Brazil where many people use intravenous (IV) drugs. Only 45 prostitutes met the study criterion of 5-100 sexual partners/day. Health practitioners took sera from each woman to test for HIV-1, HIV-2, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibody (HBsAb), Treponema species (syphilis), and C. trachomatis. All the women tested positive for C. trachomatis. This high percentage may have been due to previous contact with the microbe and not necessarily due to an active infection. 42% had been exposed to Treponema. 20% were HBsAb seropositive and 9% HBsAg seropositive. 9% tested positive for HIV-1 and 2% for HIV-2. In another study in Campinas, Brazil, HIV-1 and seropositivity was 21.5% for prostitutes and transvestites. In addition, in a study in metropolitan Sao Paulo, HIV infection prevalence varied from 18-73% among 935 women and 22% among prostitutes. 58% of the prostitutes in Santos had had sexual intercourse with bisexuals or IV drug users. 44% had previously experienced an STD. 42% used IV drugs. 42% practiced both oral and vaginal sex. 36% practiced oral, vaginal, and anal sex. Only 22% limited themselves to oral sex. Since C. trachomatis can cause infertility, chronic pelvic pain, and spontaneous abortion and since every prostitute in the study had been exposed to it, health workers should institute regular STD screening for prostitutes.
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PMID:Seropositivity to Chlamydia trachomatis in prostitutes: relationship to other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). 210 Oct 95

Human immunodeficiency virus, type 1 (HIV), seroprevalence studies are needed to determine the level and trends of HIV infection among women attending family planning, abortion, and prenatal care clinics in the United States. A review of published and unpublished studies showed that HIV seroprevalence among women attending women's health clinics was 0 to 2.6 percent, although the studies were difficult to compare because of differences in methodology. The Centers for Disease Control, in association with State and local health departments, has developed a standardized protocol to determine HIV seroprevalence among women attending women's health clinics in selected metropolitan areas. Blinded HIV serosurveys (serologic test results not identified with a person) are being conducted annually in selected sentinel clinics in order to obtain estimates of HIV seroprevalence unbiased by self-selection, as well as to monitor trends in infection among clients attending these clinics. In areas with high HIV seroprevalence, nonblinded serosurveys (in which clients voluntarily agree to participate) will be used to assess behaviors that may place women at increased risk of exposure to HIV. Data from the surveys can be used in developing age-specific and culturally appropriate AIDS educational materials, assessing the amount and type of counseling activities required, and evaluating acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) prevention activities. The information will provide epidemiologic data to complement the results of other surveys in characterizing the scope of HIV infection among women of childbearing age in the United States.
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PMID:Determining HIV seroprevalence among women in women's health clinics. 210 57

Problems connected with HIV infection, especially with its transmission, problems of HIV infection as an indicator of the termination of pregnancy, the role of pregnancy in the activation of latent HIV infection, and the possibility of the transmission of HIV infection by breast feeding are put forward and discussed. The authors present the results of their own studies of the presence of HIV antigen in the genital secretion, fetal tissue, and amniotic fluid in 4 anti-HIV positive pregnant women, in whom pregnancy was interrupted because of HIV infection. HIV antigen was positive in the cervical secretion and fetal tissue of one of the four pregnant women, whose diagnosis was ab. imminens. The presence of HIV virus, probably also of HIV antigen, in the cervical secretion appears significant for the transmission of infection from mother to child and for the occurrence of spontaneous abortion. When it is not possible to apply the method of HIV virus isolation, the determination of HIV antigen could have a prognostic importance of the effect of HIV on the course and outcome of pregnancy.
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PMID:[HIV infection and human reproduction]. 221 53

Over a period of 3 years (mean 16, extremes 3 and 36 months), we compared clinical and laboratory parameters of 128 female, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients, all in clinical stage II or III (CDC classification). 34 patients were pregnant and delivered a viable infant after at least 28 weeks of amenorrhea (group I), 29 patients were pregnant and had a spontaneous or induced abortion during the first or second trimester (group II), and 64 were non-pregnant female control patients (group III). The changes in the clinical stages over time were not statistically significant between the groups. The only laboratory parameters that were significantly higher in group I at the time of the delivery were: leucocyte count (p less than 0.001), lymphocyte count (p less than 0.05), and sedimentation rate (p less than 0.001). These changes are known to be related to pregnancy and not to HIV disease. All other laboratory parameters showed no significant differences within and between the groups. We conclude, that pregnancy--carried to term or interrupted--does not aggravate the natural evolution of HIV infection in clinical stage II and III patients.
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PMID:Influence of pregnancy on human immunodeficiency virus disease. 222 65

In response to the finding of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection rates of 1-5% among pregnant women in areas where high-risk behaviors are widespread, the Centers for Disease Control and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists are recommending that reproductive-age women at risk of HIV infection be tested. Although this policy was formulated to facilitate informed reproductive decision making, there is--at this point--little evidence that knowledge of HIV serostatus is having a significant impact on decisions about pregnancy. Data from New York City indicate that HIV-positive women become pregnant at a rate similar to that for seronegative women and are no more likely to abort. It appears that cultural and psychosocial factors exert a more important influence on decisions about pregnancy than the possibility of perinatal transmission and acceleration of the disease process in the mother. In many cases, the 50% risk of having an uninfected infant makes continuation of the pregnancy an acceptable risk. Many women are not diagnosed as HIV-seropositive until the 2nd trimester of pregnancy, when abortion is more difficult to accept as an option. Many black women equate abortion with genocide, while others oppose abortion on religious grounds. In some cultures, a woman is not considered "complete" until she has a child, and the male partner may exert significant pressure to continue with the pregnancy. Infected intravenous drug users are likely to have faulty judgment and be unable to follow through with either abortion or prenatal care. Finally, even when HIV-infected women do choose to abort, they often face barriers in obtaining services and discrimination from health care facilities. It is essential that physicians are aware of these complexities and learn more about the underlying causes of reproductive decisions on a case-by-case basis.
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PMID:Influence of human immunodeficiency virus infection on reproductive decisions. 224 92

This study investigated perinatal transmission of HIV and perceptions among women at risk for AIDS through IV drug use. In 1985 the U.S. Public Health Service announced recommendations advising women at risk to postpone pregnancy if they or their sexual partners were known to be HIV positive. It was implied that infected pregnant women should consider abortion. This provoked controversy. In response, this exploratory ethnographic study was conducted. The following questions were addressed: 1) What do women at risk know about HIV transmission from mother to child? 2) What are the perceptions of this risk? 3) How do these women view abortion? 4) What is the role of children in their lives? The study was conducted in a Northeastern city where 25% of the reported AIDS cases are in women, the majority of which are IV related. Of the 21 women interviewed, 15 had a history of parenteral drug use, 6 had never injected drugs by had male partners who did. 12 women were white, 7 were African-American, 2 were Puerto Rican. Individual interview lasted about an hour and were tape recorded. These recordings were transcribed and noted for process and content. The results were descriptive and often moving, but shouldn't be used to build generalizations due to the small and informal nature of the study group. 3 women weren't sure if maternal-infant HIV transmission was possible. 18 knew that it was. Most women believed that pregnant women at risk should be HIV tested. Asked for an opinion on abortion in relation to a HIV positive mother, pro-abortion sentiment was strong. One woman declined to discuss abortion due to religious conviction. Abortion was seen, for the most part, as the caring decision. The women believed that carrying to term in the situation was a selfish decision that could later lead to guilt feelings. Children were central to the lives of all these women. 4 of the women in the study had personally confronted the dilemma of being pregnant and HIV positive. Although all 4 had voiced strong pro-abortion views given the hypothetical situation, they all 4 had dismissed the abortion option in their own lives. They all had different experiences and came to their decisions in different ways, but all 4 described feelings of guilt and selfishness regarding this choice.
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PMID:Reproductive concerns of women at risk for HIV infection. 225 58

The major goals of this study were to measure the current prevalence and estimate the annual incidence of HIV-1 infection in young pregnant women from urban Malawi, to identify factors that were associated with HIV-1 infection, and to examine adverse pregnancy outcomes. Four hundred and sixty-one consecutive pregnant women were studied when they presented for prenatal care. The overall seroprevalence for HIV-1 infection in these urban populations was 17.6% (81 out of 461) during early 1989. Based on previous seroprevalence in similar unselected pregnant women, the estimated annual incidence of HIV-1 seroconversion in urban pregnant women ranged from 3 to 4% per annum between 1985 and 1987 and from 7 to 13% between 1987 and 1989. HIV-1 infection was significantly associated with reactive syphilis serology. Reported history of sexually transmitted disease was also correlated with HIV-1 infection but was not statistically significant. Other variables, such as history of transfusion, history of tuberculosis, parity or occupation were not associated with HIV-1 infection. History of spontaneous abortion was significantly associated with reactive syphilis serology, HIV-1 infection and history of sexually transmitted disease. In logistic regression analysis, HIV-1 infection remained the only significant variable that was correlated with spontaneous abortion. This study suggests that HIV-1 infection may play a role in fetal wastage.
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PMID:HIV-1 and pregnant women: associated factors, prevalence, estimate of incidence and role in fetal wastage in central Africa. 226 Nov 31


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