Investigation and Analysis of HIV Infection among Unpaid Blood Donors in Wuzhou City

Objective: To take the unpaid blood donors in Wuzhou City as the research object, analyze the characteristics and prevalence of HIV infection, further explore its epidemiological characteristics, and lay a solid foundation for the recruitment of unpaid blood donors and the safety of blood transfusion, so as to reduce the risk of HIV transmission through blood transfusion. Methods: This paper collected the anti-HIV test results of unpaid blood donors and the confirmation results of reactive samples from 2015 to 2020, and carried out statistical analysis on the relevant information of positive samples. Result: From 2015 to 2020, a total of 233,242 unpaid blood donors were tested, and the positive rate of anti-HIV initial screening was 0.057% (132/233,242), and the positive rate of anti-HIV confirmed was 0.022% (51/233,242);the comparison of positive rates in each year was P < 0.05. Among the total number of infections, 76.47% (39/51) of confirmed positive persons were infected with HIV alone, followed by combined TP infection, accounting for 15.69% (8/51);for the people between 46 and 55 years old, the infection rate was the highest, reaching 37.3%;and more men (90.2%) were infected than women. In terms of education background, junior high school and below were the majority, accounting for 58.83% of the total;in terms of marital status, the number of unmarried people was 27, accounting for 52.9%. In terms of occupation, there were two main groups: farmers and workers, accounting for 66.7% of the total number of infections, and students accounting for 15.7%. Among the confirmed positives, the proportion of first-time blood donors and whole blood donors was higher than that of those who donated blood again or donated component blood. Conclusion: The situation of HIV infection among unpaid blood donors in Wuzhou City was relatively stable from 2015 to 2020, with no significant change in the absolute number of infected people compared to the previous period (the HIV infection rate from 2010 to 2013 was 0.03%), and most of them were males, unmarried people and those with low education. Therefore, attention must be paid to the consultation and recruitment of blood donors before blood donation, as well as the HIV screening in the laboratory after blood donation, so as to ensure the safety of clinical blood use.

Factors influencing HIV infection in men who have sex with men in China

To identify risk factors for HIV infection among men who have sex with men （MSM） and to provide a theoretical basis for prevention interventions. Between December 2011 and August 2012, a case-control study was conducted among MSM who underwent voluntary counselling and testing for HIV. Confirmed HIV-positive MSM were included in the case group, and HIV-negative MSM were included in the control group. Information on possible risk factors was collected by a survey questionnaire and a qualitative interview. The results of a conditional logistic regression showed that the following were influencing factors for HIV infection： average monthly income between 2001 and 3000 Yuan （odds ratio （0R）=6.341, 95% Ch 1.714-12.544）, only sometimes using condoms when having anal sex with men in the last 6 months （0R=7.601, 95% Ch 1.359-23.083）, having HIV-positive sex partners （0R=5.273, 95% Ch 1.572- 17.691）, rectal trauma with bleeding in the last 6 months （0R=2.947, 95% Ch 1.308-6.638）, not using condoms at last sexual encounter （OR-- 1.278, 95% Ch 1.012-5.595）, engaging in commercial sex （0R=5.925, 95% Ch 1.923-13.890） and having more than 16 sex partners in the last 6 months （0R=1.175, 95% Ch 1.021-1.353）. These seven factors were the risk factors of HIV infection （OR〉l）. However, having anal sex less than 10 times in the previous 1 month （OR=O.O02, 95% CI： 0.000-0.287） was a protective factor against HIV infection among MSM （OR〈l）, and insertive （0R=0.116, 95% Ch 0.000-0.236） （OR〈l） anal intercourse influenced HIV infection. Interventions should be targeted at MSM whose average monthly income is between 2001 and 3000 Yuan, and who engage in commercial sex. In addition, the importance of using condoms at every sexual encounter should be emphasised in health education, as should the treatment of rectal trauma with bleeding. Finally, MSM should decrease the number of sex partners and frequency of anal sex to decrease the rate of HIV infection.

A survey of HIV infection and related high-risk factors among men who have sex with men in Suzhou,Jiangsu,China

A cross-sectional study using the snowball sampling method was conducted in May 2008 to investigate human immunodeficiency virus （HIV） infection status and related high risk factors among men who have sex with men （MSM） in Suzhou city of Jiangsu province. The researchers carried out a face-to-face questionnaire interview among MSM, and collected their blood samples to test for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases （STDs）. Among the 280 respondents, 91.1% had homosexual acts in the past 6 months and 87.5% had multiple homosex- ual partners; 46.4% had heterosexual sex in the past 6 months and 33.1% had multiple heterosexual partners. The rate of continued condom use was 44.3% in homosexual sex in the past 6 months, while the rate in heterosexual sex was 33.9%. Laboratory test results showed that the prevalences of HIV and syphilis were 7.1% （20/280） and 15.0% （42/280）, respectively, but no HCV-positive person was found. In the multivariate logistic regression model, subjects with a monthly income of more than RMB $ 1,000 （OR=4.83,95% CI=1.44-16.22）, subjects who often went to bars for sexual partners （OR=2.25, 95%CI=1.21-4.20）, and subjects who had more than one sexual partner in the past 6 months （OR=0.49, 95%CI=0.25-0.97） and had sex with fixed sexual partners in the past 6 months （OR=0.42, 95%CI=0.25-0.75） were significantly associated with the rate of continued condom use in homosexual sex in the past 6 months. Unprotected sex and multiple sexual partners were more common among MSM in Suzhou city; furthermore, the prevalences of HIV infection and syphilis were relatively high. HIV preventive measures should be designed to address these risk factors and control the spread of HIV among MSM.

Utility of Pooled HIV RNA RT-PCR Assay in Diagnosing Acute HIV Infections

The P24 antigen test, HIV RNA PCR test, HIV isolation/culture and fourth-generation HIV uniform Ag/Ab assay are being utilized in diagnosing acute HIV infection in different labs. Many factors limit the use of screening for acute HIV in high-risk populations, in blood donors and during voluntary HIV testing, including, cost, technique, sensitivity and specificity. In this review we explore a new NAAT method which involves HIV RNA RT-PCR on pooled samples. This technique is able to screen for acute infections in a large testing volume and may be used as a screening method in high-risk populations and blood donors.

Intestinal Kaposi's sarcoma may mimic gastrointestinal stromal tumor in HIV infection

Diffuse intestinal Kaposi＇s sarcoma shares macroscopic and histopathologic features with gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Correct diagnosis may pose a clinical challenge. We describe the case of a young HIV-1-infected African lady without advanced immunodeficiency, who presented with a diffuse spindle cell tumor of the gut. Initial diagnosis was of a gastrointestinal stromal tumor, based on endoscopy and histopathology. Further evaluation revealed evidence for human herpesvirus 8 （HHV8） and the diagnosis had to be changed to diffuse intestinal Kaposi＇s sarcoma. Antiretroviral triple therapy together with chemotherapy was commenced, and has led to the rapid remission of intestinal lesions. With a background of HIV infection, the presence of HHV8 as the causative agent of Kaposi＇s sarcoma should be determined, as distinct treatment is indicated.

Efficient Numerical Scheme for the Solution of HIV Infection CD4^(+)T-Cells Using Haar Wavelet Technique

In this paper,Haar collocation algorithmis developed for the solution of first-order ofHIV infection CD4^(+)T-Cells model.In this technique,the derivative in the nonlinear model is approximated by utilizing Haar functions.The value of the unknown function is obtained by the process of integration.Error estimation is also discussed,which aims to reduce the error of numerical solutions.The numerical results show that the method is simply applicable.The results are compared with Runge-Kutta technique,Bessel collocation technique,LADM-Pade and Galerkin technique available in the literature.The results show that the Haar technique is easy,precise and effective.

HIV Infection in Senegalese Prisons: Prevalence and Associated Factors

HIV/AIDS is a serious health problem among prisoners and constitutes a big challenge for prison administration services, public health services and governments. Aims: Determine the prevalence of HIV infection among prisoners and describe associated factors. Population and Methods: This was a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study conducted from December 2015 to October 2016. A sample of 600 prisoners was randomly interviewed nationwide. They were selected directly from the sample frame from across the country and proportionally from all sites. Pre-established questionnaires providing information on the sociodemographic and biological characteristics of prisoners were used for the collection of data. Data entry and analysis were performed using EXCEL and SPSS 18 software. Results: The survey was based on a randomised sample of 600 prisoners, 593 of whom accepted blood extraction for the HIV testing. The series was mainly composed of males (89%). The median age was 33 years (18 - 69). The level of education among respondents was 60%. Regarding marital status, the proportion of married prisoners was 51.8%. Almost three-quarters (71.5%) were at their first imprisonment and 51.8% were on preventive detention. The reasons for imprisonment varied and were dominated by drug use (35.3%), while only 4.6% confessed that they continued using drugs while in prison. 97.8% of prisoners have had a sexual experience. Their median age was 19 years at their first sexual intercourse. 20.5% reported using a condom during their first intercourse. Multi partnership was estimated at 17.8%. The prevalence of HIV infection was high among prisoners (2%), the quadruple of the national rate. This prevalence was associated with female sex (4.5%) (p = 0.012) and housewives (12.5%) (p = 0.002). Conclusion: Prisoners are very vulnerable to HIV infection with a high prevalence compared to the national rate, hence the need for the enforcement of effective HIV prevention and care measures in prisons.

Pulmonary Function by Spirometry in Children with Perinatal HIV Infection

Background: In an age of antiretroviral therapy, the life expectancy of children perinatally infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has significantly increased. At the same time, however, pulmonary pathologies secondary to opportunistic infections have decreased thanks to increased diagnostics and access to antiretroviral therapy (ART). Despite this, in these children an immune dysregulation is maintained due to chronic infection. There is evidence that these patients have increased probability of presenting with abnormalities in pulmonary function, mainly with chronic obstructive clinical pictures (25% - 40% of perinatally infected adolescents display some anomaly in the spirometry), which predisposes them to increased risk of chronic pulmonary disease. Since lung development occurs mainly during infancy, patients perinatally infected with HIV may suffer consequences. This can be secondary to opportunistic infections, chronic inflammation due to the virus, and immunologic effects of ART, mainly in non-industrialized countries, where late diagnosis is frequent. Methodology: An analytical, observational, cross-sectional study was conducted at Roosevelt Hospital Pediatric infectious disease clinic, from January to December 2019. A sample of 76 patients was obtained, out of a population of 362 patients. A total of 62 subjects, who met the criterion of reproducibility in the spirometry, were analyzed. Results were analyzed with percentages and the association of variables using the chi-squared test (χ2). Results: A decrease in pulmonary function was found in 34% of patients, mild obstructive pattern (16%) predominating. Significant association between basal viral load greater than 100,000 cp/ml and a decrease in Forced expiratory flow 25 - 75 (FEF 25-75) (p 0.046) and in relationship between forced expiratory volume and forced vital capacity (FEV1/ FVC p = 0.024) was observed, as well as a non-statistically significant relationship between advanced clinical stage at diagnosis and decreased pulmonary function. Conclusions: The prevalence of decreased pulmonary function related to advanced clinical stage and elevated basal viral load (>100,000 cps/ml) is higher than that reported in other studies (25%) and has an influence in the long-term decrease in pulmonary function.

Heterosexually Acquired HIV Infection in a Chinese Population in Malaysia-HIV/AIDS control policy recommendations

HIV infection and AIDS has emerged as a major public health problem all over the world. In the1980s,the infection was first found to be transmitted through homosexual activity and blood product transfusion. Now it is spreading among heterosexuals and injection drug users, and can be transmitted from mothers to infants.

Skin Manifestations of HIV Infection in Children in Pediatric Services of Conakry University Hospital (Guinea)

Introduction: Dermatological manifestations during HIV infection play a diagnostic and prognostic role. They are observed in 83% - 98% of patients at the late stage of AIDS and 58% - 75% at an early stage of AIDS. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of skin diseases in HIV in children, describes the demographic profile and identify key dermatoses. Material and methods: This was a prospective study of descriptive kind conducted from August 25, 2009 to February 25, 2010. It involved children infected with HIV followed in pediatric services at the University Hospital of Conakry. All children were examined by an experienced dermatologist. The diagnosis of dermatosis was made according to the clinical signs. The stages of HIV infection were determined according to the WHO classification. Each child received retroviral serology rapid tests according to national algorithm. Results: Among 119 HIV-positive children 65 showed mucocutaneous manifestations, there are 34 girls and 31 boys, all HIV-1 infected with 66.16% in stage III disease. The average age was 7 years, ranging from 11 months to 15 years. 66.15% of the children were from married mothers and more than half of the mothers were illiterate. They were all positive for HIV1. Oral candidiasis (38.46%), prurigo (29.23%) and molluscum contagiosum (7.69%) were the most common skin diseases;52.31% had at least two associated dermatoses. The candidiasis-prurigo combination (26.47%) was the most common. Dermatosis was often associated with other conditions: malaria (30.76%), pulmonary tuberculosis (25.61%) and malnutrition (12.30%). Discussion: With 65 cases diagnosed in six months our study shows that skin diseases are common in HIV among children in Guinea. The prevalence and socio-demographic characteristics are close to those reported by sub saharian and North African authors. A special feature of the study is that most mothers are illiterate and are infected with HIV, which would have favored the contamination of these children. Conclusion: In Sub-Saharan Africa where the rate of pediatric HIV infection is increasing, it is important to identify the mucocutaneous manifestations for optimal care.

Dynamic analysis of a latent HIV infection model with CTL immune and antibody responses

This paper develops a mathematical model to investigate the Human Immunodeficiency Virus(HIV)infection dynamics.The model includes two transmission modes(cell-to-cell and cell-free),two adaptive immune responses(cytotoxic T-lymphocyte(CTL)and antibody),a saturated CTL immune response,and latent HIV infection.The existence and local stability of equilibria are fully characterized by four reproduction numbers.Through sensitivity analyses,we assess the partial rank correlation coefficients of these reproduction numbers and identify that the infection rate via cell-to-cell transmission,the number of new viruses produced by each infected cell during its life cycle,the clearance rate of free virions,and immune parameters have the greatest impact on the reproduction numbers.Additionally,we compare the effects of immune stimulation and cell-to-cell spread on the model's dynamics.The findings highlight the significance of adaptive immune responses in increasing the population of uninfected cells and reducing the numbers of latent cells,infected cells,and viruses.Furthermore,cell-to-cell transmission is identified as a facilitator of HIV transmission.The analytical and numerical results presented in this study contribute to a better understanding of HIV dynamics and can potentially aid in improving HIV management strategies.

Optimal control of combined antiretroviral therapies in an HIV infection model with cure rate and fusion effect

This paper mainly targets to deduce an optimal treatment strategy for combined antiretroviral drugs,which can maximize healthy CD4^(+)T cells level with minimum side effects and cost.For this purpose,we consider a within-host treatment model for the HIV infection with two controls incorporating full logistic proliferation of healthy CD4^(+)T cells,cure rate and fusion effect.These two controls represent the effects of reverse transcriptase inhibitors(RTIs)and protease inhibitors(PIs),respectively.The model analysis begins with proving different basic properties like non-negativity,boundedness of the model solutions and calculation of the basic reproduction number of the model under consideration.Then,stability results are obtained for HIV infection-free equilibrium point and also,a critical efficacy for the combined therapies is calculated.After that,the optimal control problem is proposed and solved numerically using a forwardbackward iterative method.Finally,we obtain an optimal treatment strategy that can maximize healthy CD4^(+)T cells count and control the viral load,and HIV-infected CD4^(+)T cells count to an undetectable level resulting in improved health conditions of infected individuals.

Hepatitis C and HIV co-infection:a review

Co-infection with hepatitis C virus and humanimmunodeficiency virus is common in certainpopulations. Among HCV(+) persons, 10 % are alsoHIV (+), and among HIV (+) persons, 25 % are alsoHCV(+). Many studies have shown that in intravenousdrug users, co-infection prevalence can be as high as90-95 %. There is increasing evidence supporting theconcept that people infected with HIV have a muchmore rapid course of their hepatitis C infection.Treatment of co-infection is often challenging becausehighly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) therapyis frequently hepatotoxic, especially in the presence ofHCV. The purpose of this review is to describe theeffects that HIV has on hepatitis C, the effects thathepatitis C has on HIV, and the treatment options inthis challenging population.

A Delayed HIV Infection Model with the Homeostatic Proliferation of CD4^(+)T Cells

In this paper,we investigate a delayed HIV infection model that considers the homeostatic prolif-eration of CD4^(+)T cells.The existence and stability of uninfected equilibrium and infected equilibria(smaller and larger ones)are studied by analyzing the characteristic equation of the system.The intracellular delay does not affect the stability of uninfected equilibrium,but it can change the stability of larger positive equilibrium and Hopf bifurcation appears inducing stable limit cycles.Furthermore,direction and stability of Hopf bifur-cation are well investigated by using the central manifold theorem and the normal form theory.The numerical simulation results show that the stability region of larger positive equilibrium becomes smaller as the increase of time delay.Moreover,when the maximum homeostatic growth rate is very small,the larger positive equilibrium is always stable.On the contrary,when the rate of supply of T cells is very small,the larger positive equilibrium is always unstable.

Frequency and Absolute Number of FoxP3^+ Regulatory T Cells Correlate with Disease Progression of Chronic HIV-1 Infection

CD4^＋CD25^＋ Regulatory T cells （Treg） have been found to down-regulate immune activation in HIV-1 infection. However, whether the depletion of Treg benefits to the disease status of HIV infection remains undefined. To address this issue, we enumerated the Treg absolute counts and frequency in 75 antiviral-naive HIV-1-infected individuals in this study. It was found that HIV-infected patients displayed a significant decline in Treg absolute counts but a significant increase in Treg frequency. In addition, with disease progression indicated by CD4 T-cell absolute counts, circulating Treg frequency gradually increased; while Treg absolute counts were gradually decreased, suggesting that the alteration of Treg number closely correlated with disease progression in HIV infection Functional analysis further showed that Treg efficiently inhibit both CD4 and CD8 T cell proliferation in vitro. Thus, our findings indicates that Treg actively participate in pathogenesis of chronic HIV infection, influencing the disease progression.

Parameters estimation of HIV infection model of CD4＋ T-cells by applying orthonormal Bernstein collocation method

The HIV infection model of CD4＋ T-cells corresponds to a class of nonlinear ordinary differential equation systems. In this study, we provide the approximate solution of this model by using orthonormal Bernstein polynomials （OBPs）. By applying the proposed method, the nonlinear system of ordinary differential equations reduces to a nonlinear system of algebraic equations which can be solved by using a suitable numerical method such as Newton＇s method. We prove some useful theorems concerning the convergence and error estimate associated to the present method. Finally, we apply the proposed method to get the numerical solution of this model with the arbitrary initial conditions and values. Furthermore, the numerical results obtained by the suggested method are compared with the results achieved by other previous methods. These results indicate that this method agrees with other previous methods.

A numerical method for the solutions of the HIV infection model of CD4＋ T-cells

In this paper, the human immunodeficiency virus （HIV） infection model of CD4＋ T-cells is considered. In order to numerically solve the model problem, an operational method is proposed. For that purpose, we construct the operational matrix of integration for bases of Taylor polynomials. Then, by using this matrix operation and approximation by polynomials, the HIV infection problem is transformed into a system of algebraic equations, whose roots are used to determine the approximate solutions. An important feature of the method is that it does not require collocation points. In addition, an error estimation technique is presented. We apply the present method to two numerical examples and compare our results with other methods.

Neuro-optimized numerical treatment of HIV infection model

In this paper,a neuro-optimized numerical method is presented for approximation of HIV virus progression model in the human body.The model is composed of coupled nonlinear system of differential equations(DEs)containing healthy and infected T-Cells and HIV free virus particles.The coupled system is transformed into feedforward artificial neural network(ANN)with Mexican hat wavelet function in the hidden layers.Two meta-heuristic algorithms based on chaotic particle swarm optimization(CPSO)and its hybrid version with local search technique are exploited to tune the parameters of ANN in an unsupervised manner of error function.A comprehensive testbed is established to observe the virus growth per day with performance metric containing fitness value,computational time complexity and convergence.The proposed solutions are compared with state of art Runge-Kutta method and Legendre Wavelet Collocation Method(LWCM).The core advantages of the proposed scheme are getting the solution on continuous grid,consistent convergence,simplicity in implementation and handling strong nonlinearity effectively.

UNEXPLAINED CD4+ T-LYMPHOCYTOPENIA WITHOUT EVIDENCE OF HIV INFECTION

<Abstract>The human immunodeficiency virus, HIV has long been known to be associated with CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia. In clinical practice, a low CD4 count usually implies an underlying HIV infection until proven otherwise. Non-HIV related CD4 depletion is a rare phenomenon, but has caused much public concern.1 A Chinese lady with unexplained CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia is presented, followed by a review of the condition as well as its practical implications.

Bio-inspired computational heuristics to study models of HIV infection of CD4＋ T-cell

In this work, biologically-inspired computing framework is developed for HIV infection of CD4＋ T-cell model using feed-forward artificial neural networks （ANNs）, genetic algorithms （GAs）, sequential quadratic programming （SQP） and hybrid approach based on GA-SQP. The mathematical model for HIV infection of CD4＋ T-cells is represented with the help of initial value problems （IVPs） based on the system of ordinary differential equations （ODEs）. The ANN model for the system is constructed by exploiting its strength of universal approximation. An objective function is developed for the system through unsupervised error using ANNs in the mean square sense. Training with weights of ANNs is carried out with GAs for effective global search supported with SQP for efficient local search. The proposed scheme is evaluated on a number of scenarios for the HIV infection model by taking the different levels for infected cells, natural substitution rates of uninfected cells, and virus particles. Comparisons of the approximate solutions are made with results of Adams numerical solver to establish the correctness of the proposed scheme. Accuracy and convergence of the approach are validated through the results of statistical analysis based on the sufficient large number of independent runs.