Cryptococcal infection in HIV-infected patients with CD4+ T-cell counts under 100/µL diagnosed in a high-income country: a multicentre cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: The World Health Organization recommends routinely screening HIV-infected patients with CD4+ T-cell counts <100/µL for cryptococcal infection to prevent cryptococcal meningitis (CM), based on studies in Sub-Saharan Africa where the prevalence of positive cryptococcal antigen (CrAg+) is ≥ 3% in this subgroup. Data about such prevalence in Spain are unavailable and rare in other European countries. Thus, the Spanish AIDS Study Group guidelines do not recommend routinely screening. We aim to determine the prevalence and outcomes of cryptococcal infection in this subgroup of patients in Spain. METHODS: We determined CrAg using a lateral flow assay in banked plasma from participants in the cohort of the Spanish AIDS Research Network. Eligible patients had CD4+ T-cell counts ≤100/µL at the time of plasma collection and a follow-up >4 weeks, unless they died. RESULTS: We included 576 patients from June 2004 to December 2017. Of these, 43 were CrAg+ for an overall prevalence of 7.5%. There were no differences depending on birthplace. The CrAg+ was independently associated with a higher mortality at eight weeks (hazard ratio (HR) 5.36, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.46-19.56) and 6 months (HR 3.12, 95% CI 1.19-8.21). CM was reported in 10 of the 43 CrAg+ patients. There were no cases among negatives. Five patients had CM when the plasma was collected and five developed it during the follow-up. The number of subjects needed to screen to anticipate the diagnosis of one CM case was 114. CONCLUSIONS: The CrAg+ prevalence among HIV-infected patients with CD4+ T-cell counts ≤100/µL diagnosed in Spain, both immigrants and native-born Spanish, is >7%. Consequently, the Spanish AIDS Study Group guidelines have to be updated and recommend routine screening for cryptococcal infection in these patients. Future studies should explore whether this recommendation could be firmly applied to other European populations.

Drug-related and psychopathological symptoms in HIV-positive men who have sex with men who inject drugs during sex (slamsex): Data from the U-SEX GESIDA 9416 Study.

OBJECTIVES: Sexualized intravenous drug use, also known as slamsex, seems to be increasing among HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM). Physical and psychopathological symptoms have previously been reported in this population, although research on the subject of slamsex is scarce. The objectives of our study were to describe the psychopathological background of a sample of HIV-positive MSM who engaged in slamsex during the previous year and to compare physical, psychopathological, and drug-related symptoms between these participants and those who engaged in non-injecting sexualized drug use. DESIGN AND METHODS: Participants (HIV-positive MSM) were recruited from the U-Sex study in 22 HIV clinics in Madrid during 2016-17. All participants completed an anonymous cross-sectional online survey on sexual behavior and recreational drug use. When participants met the inclusion criteria, physicians offered them the opportunity to participate and gave them a card with a unique code and a link to access the online survey. The present analysis is based on HIV-positive MSM who had engaged in slamsex and non-injecting sexualized drug use. RESULTS: The survey sample comprised 742 participants. Of all the participants who completed the survey, 216 (29.1%) had engaged in chemsex, and of these, 34 (15.7%) had engaged in slamsex. Participants who engaged in slamsex were more likely to have current psychopathology (depression, anxiety, and drug-related disorders) than participants who engaged in non-injecting sexualized drug use. In addition, participants who engaged in slamsex more frequently reported high-risk sexual behaviors and polydrug use and were more often diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and hepatitis C than those who did not inject drugs. Compared with participants who did not inject drugs, participants who engaged in slamsex experienced more severe drug-related symptoms (withdrawal and dependence), symptoms of severe intoxication (loss of consciousness), and severe psychopathological symptoms during or after slamsex (eg, paranoid thoughts and suicidal behaviors). CONCLUSION: Slamsex is closely associated with current psychiatric disorders and severe drug-related and psychiatric symptoms.