HIV-care access among people with incarceration experience in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Background: Little is known about the clinical care experiences of HIV-infected persons in St. Petersburg who have experience with incarceration. To address this question, we conducted a capture-recapture study to identify individuals who had been diagnosed with HIV infection while incarcerated and who subsequently presented for medical care in St. Petersburg, Russia following release from prison. Methods: We matched 292 HIV-positive prisoners tested by the prison system in 2010 to the medical records at the St. Petersburg AIDS Center in the following 4 years. Results: The data analysis shows that as many as half of HIV+ prisoners fail to seek treatment in the community upon release. Of those who had sought care post-release, only 36% were receiving HAART. Of the 109 individuals for whom tuberculosis testing was indicated post-release, 36.7% were found to be reactive. Conclusion: Despite the limitations of the data, this study is the first of its kind to review records documenting HIV care among prisoners in Russia post-incarceration. In addition to providing important descriptive information about this marginalized population, the findings from this study highlight areas where HIV control efforts could be improved in order to address the HIV epidemic in the Russian Federation.

[Comparative clinical and epidemiologic characteristic of HIV infection in women from discordant pairs].

Forty HIV-positive women living with HIV-infected sexual partner as well as 40 HIV-positive women from discordant pairs (HIV-positive wife and HIV-negative husband) were surveyed. Less than half of HIV-infected patients (40%) specified the use of condoms for sexual contacts. In the group of women living with HIV-infected partner more expressed immunosupression (CD4 count 427 cells/mcl versus 528 cells/mcl) was observed. Statistically significant increased viral load in the 1st group compared with the women from discordant pairs was revealed.

[Factors of nonspecific resistance in hepatitis B and acute hepatic insufficiency]. / Faktory nespetsificheskoi rezistentnosti pri virusnom gepatite B s ostroi pechenochnoi nedostatochnost'iu.

Studies of nonspecific resistance factors in grave forms of viral hepatitis B (VHB) have revealed their significance in the prediction of acute hepatic insufficiency (AHI) development and its unfavorable outcome. IgM and IgA levels were found the most informative as far as the prognosis is concerned; these levels were the highest in the patients with precoma eventuating in hepatic coma. C3 complement concentration was reduced in all the patients whatever the disease severity, but more so in those developing AHI, which fact may serve the criterion predicting AHI development in VHB; to add to this, C3 complement level reflects the degree of hepatocyte destruction whereas the degree of transferrin level reduction is explained by its impaired synthesis by the liver as well. Transferrin levels were reduced in all the patients with AHI.