Measuring the prevalence of autistic traits in a cohort of adults living with HIV or taking HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis and mapping safer-sex barriers and facilitators: a study protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Autistic individuals identify with a wider range of sexual orientations than non-autistic individuals, including higher rates of bisexual orientation in autistic men. Gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men are at greater risk for HIV. Prevalence data of autistic traits in people living with HIV or using Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV are lacking so far. Such data, combined with insights in barriers and facilitators for safer sex in autistic people living with HIV or using PrEP, are a first step to improve health support for autistic people in HIV clinics. This support is crucial since autistic individuals have worse physical and mental health outcomes. The objective of this research is to determine the prevalence of autistic traits within the group of people living with HIV or using PrEP in Belgium and to describe specific facilitators and barriers for sexual safer behaviour in people living with HIV and PrEP users with autistic traits. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The research is a cross-sectional, observational and multicentre study with recruitment of individual participants. The research consists of two phases. In phase 1, adults coming for HIV/AIDS care or HIV PrEP in participating Belgian HIV Reference Centres will be invited to fill in the validated Autism Spectrum Quotient questionnaire. In phase 2, participants with a score above the predefined cut-off for autistic traits (>26), who agreed to be informed about this score, will be invited to complete an additional survey, inquiring facilitators and barriers for sexual safer behaviour. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION OF RESULTS: Institutional Review Board Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, 25 July 2022, REF 1601/22 and University Hospital of Antwerp, 12 September 2022, Project ID 3679: BUN B3002022000111. Study results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented to Belgian HIV Reference Centres and at conferences.

Burden and outcome of HIV infection and other morbidities in health care workers attending an Occupational Health Program at the Provincial Hospital of Tete, Mozambique.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the burden and outcome of HIV infection and other morbidities amongst a Mozambican hospital staff. METHODS: Within an occupational health service set up in April 2008 in the provincial hospital of Tete, Mozambique, we offered to all staff members an initial clinical, laboratory and radiological screening and followed them up prospectively until April 2010. RESULTS: A total of 47.5% of 423 health workers attended the program. The cohort (female-to-male ratio: 2.2; mean age: 39 years) consisted mostly of auxiliary staff (43%) and nurses (29.8%). At initial screening, 71% were asymptomatic. HIV infection (28.4%) and tuberculosis (TB) (21%) were the main reported antecedent illnesses. Laboratory screening revealed anaemia (haemoglobin level <10 mg/dl) in 9% participants, abnormal liver enzymes in 23.9% and a reactive non-treponemal syphilis test in 5%. Of 145 performed chest X-rays, 13% showed abnormalities. All 113 health workers not recently tested for HIV were screened, and 31 were newly diagnosed with HIV infection (resulting in an overall HIV prevalence of 43.8%). Nine cases of TB were diagnosed at screening/during follow-up. In April 2010, all but one of the participants were alive. All HIV-infected health workers under antiretroviral therapy were actively followed-up. CONCLUSION: Serious conditions were frequently diagnosed in health workers, in particular HIV infection. Mid-term outcome was favourable within this program. Creation of screening and care services dedicated to caregivers should be of highest priority in similar African settings.

Management of Kaposi's sarcoma in resource-limited settings in the era of HAART.

The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has changed the natural history of AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). Although the use of HAART remains limited in low-resource settings, there are global initiatives to make these drugs available to several millions of HIV-infected persons. While there are multiple reports of KS regression during HAART with or without chemotherapy, there is little documentation on KS management in resource-limited settings. In this paper we review current KS treatments available worldwide and discuss the implications of the increased access to antiretrovirals for KS treatment strategies in resource-limited settings.

Telemedicine for HIV/AIDS Care in Low Resource Settings.

Telemedicine is a way to support health care delivery in remote areas. With our telemedicine project the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium, intended to facilitate the introduction of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for patients affected by Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in developing countries, providing training, distance support and education to healthcare providers working in those settings.

The added value of a CD4 count to identify patients eligible for highly active antiretroviral therapy among HIV-positive adults in Cambodia.

In a retrospective study of 648 persons with HIV infection in Cambodia, we determined the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the 2003 World Health Organization (WHO) criteria to start antiretroviral treatment based on clinical criteria alone or based on a combination of clinical symptoms and the total lymphocyte count. As a reference test, we used the 2003 WHO criteria, including the CD4 count. The 2003 WHO clinical criteria had a sensitivity of 96%, a specificity of 57%, and an accuracy of 89% to identify patients who need highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). In our clinic, with a predominance of patients with advanced disease, the 2003 WHO clinical criteria alone was a good predictor of those needing HAART. A total lymphocyte count as an extra criterion did not improve the accuracy. Nine percent of patients were wrongly identified to be in need of HAART. Among them, almost 50% had a CD4 count of more than 500 cells/muL, and 73% had weight loss of more than 10% as a stage-defining condition. Our data suggest that, in settings with limited access to CD4 count testing, it might be useful to target this test to patients in WHO stage 3 whose staging is based on weight loss alone, to avoid unnecessary treatment.