The Digital Classroom: How to Leverage Social Media for Infectious Diseases Education.

Social media (SoMe) platforms have been increasingly used by infectious diseases (ID) learners and educators in recent years. This trend has only accelerated with the changes brought to our educational spaces by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Given the increasingly diverse SoMe landscape, educators may find themselves struggling with how to effectively use these tools. In this Viewpoint we describe how to use SoMe platforms (e.g., Twitter, podcasts, and open-access online content portals) in medical education, highlight medical education theories supporting their use, and discuss how educators can engage with these learning tools effectively. We focus on how these platforms harness key principles of adult learning and provide a guide for educators in the effective use of SoMe tools in educating ID learners. Finally, we suggest how to effectively interact with and leverage these increasingly important digital platforms.

Association of culturally competent care with influenza vaccination coverage in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Cultural minority groups in the United States have lower vaccination rates or worse influenza-related outcomes. Culturally competent care, which aims to engage the social, cultural, and linguistic needs of all patients, may address some of these disparities. OBJECTIVE: We investigate how self-reported measures of culturally competent care is associated with influenza vaccination rates in the United States. METHODS: The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) 2017 was queried for respondents asked a set of questions which assessed respondents' access to culturally competent care in the past year. The outcome of interest was self-reported receipt of the annual influenza vaccine. Sample-weighted multivariable logistic regressions estimated the adjusted odds ratios and 95 % confidence intervals (95 %CI) of influenza vaccination with response to the cultural competency survey questions as the dependent variable of interest. Subsequent marginal modeling predicted the adjusted vaccination rates among cultural minorities (racial/ethnic minorities, LGBTQ + adults, foreign-born individuals, and non-English speakers) and respondents with high-risk comorbidities for worse influenza outcomes. Models were adjusted for other known determinants of vaccination coverage. RESULTS: 20,303 sample adults were included in the analyses. There were significantly higher odds of influenza vaccination among respondents who were "always" or "most of the time" treated with respect by their providers (aOR 1.53, 95 %CI [1.23-1.90], P < 0.001), given easy-to-understand information (aOR 1.37, 95 %CI [1.19-1.58], P < 0.001), asked about their opinions or beliefs about their care (aOR 1.29, 95 %CI [1.19-1.39], P < 0.001), and seen by providers who shared or understood their culture (aOR 1.15 95 %CI [1.01-1.30], P = 0.03), compared to their counterparts who responded with "some" or "none of the time" to the same survey questions. Higher adjusted influenza vaccination rates were seen among multiple racial/ethnic groups, LGBTQ + adults, foreign-born individuals, non-English speakers, and individuals with high-risk comorbidities who reported positive responses to the cultural competency survey questions. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate a positive association between self-reported frequency of access to culturally competent care and receipt of the annual influenza vaccine. These findings support future efforts to evaluate vaccination outcomes among patients who receive components of culturally competent care, such as linguistically appropriate services, race-concordant healthcare workforce, and community engagement.

Get Privacy Trending: Best Practices for the Social Media Educator.

Social media is an increasingly popular forum for medical education. Many educators, including those in infectious diseases, are now creating and sharing unique and educational patient cases online. Unfortunately, some educators unknowingly threaten patient privacy and open themselves to legal liability. Further, the use of published figures or tables creates risk of copyright infringement. As more and more infectious diseases physicians engage in social media, it is imperative to create best practices to protect both patients and physicians. This summary will define the legal requirements of patient de-identification as well as other practical recommendations as they relate to use of clinical case information, patient images, and attribution of primary references on social media.

Understanding mechanisms to promote successful aging in persons living with HIV.

The mortality rate associated with HIV infection plummeted after the introduction of effective antiretroviral therapy pioneered two decades ago. As a result, HIV-infected people now have life expectancies comparable to that of HIV-uninfected individuals. Despite this, increased rates of osteoporosis, chronic liver disease, and in particular cardiovascular disease have been reported among people living with HIV infection. With the aging HIV-infected population, the burden of these comorbid illnesses may continue to accrue over time. In this paper, we present an overview of the aging HIV-infected population, its epidemiology and the many challenges faced. How to define and measure successful aging will also be reviewed. Finally, opportunities that may help mitigate the challenges identified and ensure successful aging among people living with HIV infection will be examined.

HIV and its relationship to insulin resistance and lipid abnormalities.

Antiretroviral therapy has revolutionized the care of people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) by reducing morbidity and mortality from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-related conditions. Despite longer life expectancy, however, HIV-infected individuals continue to have a higher risk of death compared with the general population. This has been attributed to the increasing incidence of noncommunicable diseases, in particular, atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. This is driven, in part, by the emergence of metabolic disorders, particularly dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, and lipodystrophy, in those on antiretroviral therapy. The pathogenesis of these metabolic derangements is complex and multifactorial, and could be a consequence of an interplay between traditional age-related risk factors, HIV infection, antiretroviral therapy effects, and the inflammatory state and immune activation in this population. Understanding the contributions of each of these factors could not just impact the current management of these individuals and help mitigate the risk for premature cardiovascular disease, but also shape the future direction of research in HIV.

High Prevalence of Low Bone Mineral Density and Substantial Bone Loss over 4 Years Among HIV-Infected Persons in the Era of Modern Antiretroviral Therapy.

HIV-infected persons are living longer on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) but experiencing more comorbidities including low bone mineral density (BMD). Using data from the Study to Understand the Natural History of HIV and AIDS in the Era of Effective Therapy (SUN Study), we determined the prevalence of low BMD (T-score below one standard deviation of the reference mean) and compared it with matched controls from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). We also assessed 4-year longitudinal BMD changes among participants virologically suppressed on cART. Of 653 participants included in this analysis (77% male, 29% black, median age 41 years, median CD4(+) cell count 464 cells/mm(3), 89% with HIV RNA <400 copies/ml), 51% and 10% had baseline osteopenia and osteoporosis, respectively. Low BMD at the femoral neck was significantly more prevalent than for the NHANES controls (47% versus 29%, p<0.001). Lower body mass index, nonwhite race, longer tenofovir exposure, older age, being unemployed or retired, and lower apolipoprotein E were independently associated with baseline osteoporosis. Among 170 participants virologically suppressed on cART and with longitudinal BMD data, 31% experienced substantial bone loss (≥5% BMD decline from baseline) over 4 years. Female sex, current smoking, and longer stavudine use were more common among participants who had substantial bone loss, although these variables failed to reach statistical significance. Low BMD was highly prevalent among HIV-infected persons. One-third of participants experienced substantial bone loss despite cART, suggesting the need for monitoring and potential clinical interventions.

Short communication: The Veterans Aging Cohort Study Index is an effective tool to assess baseline frailty status in a contemporary cohort of HIV-infected persons.

The Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS) Index has previously been used to identify frail HIV-infected persons. However, data demonstrating the independent association between the VACS Index and baseline frailty status is lacking. Furthermore, the ability of the VACS Index to also reflect transitions in frailty status over time is unknown. We used data from the Study to Understand the Natural History of HIV and AIDS in the Era of Effective Therapy (SUN Study) to determine independent association of baseline frailty status with the VACS Index. We also evaluated VACS Index changes with frailty status transitions over time. We included 303 participants (median age 48 years, 76% men, 57% non-Hispanic white, 91% with plasma HIV RNA <400 copies/ml, and median CD4(+) cell count 595 cells/ml) with baseline and follow-up frailty assessments and used the Fried's criteria to define frailty status. There were 184 (61%) nonfrail, 112 (37%) prefrail, and seven (2%) frail participants at baseline. Prefrail/frail participants had significantly higher median VACS Index scores compared with nonfrail participants (18 versus 10, p<0.001). In multivariable analysis, prefrailty/frailty was independently associated with a higher VACS Index score (odds ratio 1.025, p=0.019). After a median follow-up of 12 months, participants who remained prefrail/frail compared to those who remained nonfrail continued to have higher median VACS Index scores. The VACS Index score did not significantly change with transitions in frailty status over time. Our study highlights the potential utility of the VACS Index in frailty assessment within the clinical setting.

Vitamin D and calcium abnormalities in the HIV-infected population.

The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among HIV-infected persons is substantial and comparable to the general population. The factors associated with vitamin D deficiency are similar for both populations but additional factors (ie, use of certain antiretroviral agents) also contribute to vitamin D deficiency among HIV-infected persons. The adverse outcomes associated with vitamin D deficiency considerably overlap with non-AIDS defining illnesses (NADIs) that are increasingly becoming widespread in the aging HIV-infected population. However, there is scant evidence to support any causal inference. Further studies are warranted as efforts to identify and address modifiable risk factors contributing to NADIs continue.