HIV-1 seroprevalence rates in women and relinquishment of infants to the state in St Petersburg, Russia, 2002.

The effectiveness of rapid HIV-1 testing and nevirapine prophylaxis for HIV-infected mothers without prenatal care has been shown. We found that from 1998 to 2002, HIV-1 seroprevalence in women giving birth in St Petersburg, Russia increased 100-fold: from 0.013% to 1.3% (p<0.0001). HIV-1 seroprevalence was 8% (114 of 1466) in women without prenatal care and 1% (376 of 37645) in those with prenatal care (p<0.0001). All 376 HIV-1-infected women with, and 41% (47 of 114) of HIV-1-infected women without prenatal care received intrapartum antiretroviral therapy (p<0.0001). In women who were HIV-1 positive, 26% (30 of 114) of those without prenatal care and 4% (13 of 371) of those with prenatal care relinquished their infants to the custody of the state, compared with 1% (354 of 37 621) of HIV-1-negative women (p<0.0001).

[Tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-1beta in the blood plasma of patients with HIV infection]. / Faktor nekroza opukholi-alpha i interleikin-1beta v plazme krovi bol'nykh VICh-infektsiei.

The paper presents examination findings of 67 HIV-infected patients: 32 children aged 2.5 to 16 years and 35 adults aged 21 to 46 years. The proportion of patients with higher alpha-tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-1 beta increased with progression of the disease, the two parameters being higher in the children than in the adults. A correlation was found between the appearance of cytokines in the plasma and some clinical signs, such as fever, weight loss, anemia, neurological disorders. A parallel study of the patients' immunograms indicated significant correlations between the degree of impairments in the composition of lymphocyte subpopulations and the appearance of plasma cytokines.