RETRACTED: Confirmed marijuana use and lymphocyte count in black people living with HIV

Therapeutic and recreational marijuana use are common among people living with HIV (PLWH). However, the distinction between perceived "therapeutic" and "recreational" use is blurred, with little information about the specific reasons for use and perceived marijuana effectiveness in adults with chronic conditions. We aimed to compare reasons for use and reason-specific perceived marijuana effectiveness between therapeutic and recreational users among PLWH. In 2018-2019, 213 PLWH currently using marijuana (mean age 48 years, 59% male, 69% African American) completed a questionnaire assessing their specific reasons for using marijuana, including the "main reason." Participants were categorized into one of three motivation groups: therapeutic, recreational, or both equally. For each specific reason, participants rated marijuana effectiveness as 0-10, with 10 being the most effective. The mean effectiveness scores were compared across the three motivation groups via ANOVA, with p <0.05 considered statistically significant. The most frequent main reasons for marijuana use in the therapeutic (n=63, 37%), recreational (n=48, 28%), and both equally (n=59, 35%) categories were "Pain" (21%), "To get high" (32%), and "To relax" (20%), respectively. Compared to recreational users, therapeutic and both equally users provided significantly higher mean effectiveness scores for "Pain," and "To reduce anger." The "Both equally" group also provided significantly higher mean effectiveness scores for "To feel better in general," "To get high," and "To relax" compared to the other two categories. There is a significant overlap in self-reported reasons for marijuana use in primarily therapeutic or recreational users. Perceived marijuana effectiveness was lowest among recreational users.

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Barriers in accessing HIV care for Francophone African, Caribbean and Black people living with HIV in Canada: a scoping review

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-036885 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. e036885

Author(s):

Pascal Djiadeu ◽

Abban Yusuf ◽

Clémence Ongolo-Zogo ◽

Joseph Nguemo ◽

Apondi J Odhiambo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Black People ◽

Care Delivery ◽

Hiv Care ◽

Cochrane Library ◽

People Living With Hiv ◽

Inclusion Criteria ◽

Minority Communities ◽

French Speaking ◽

Living With Hiv

IntroductionIn 2001, 50%–55% of French-speaking minority communities did not have access to health services in French in Canada. Although Canada is officially a bilingual country, reports indicate that many healthcare services offered in French in Anglophone provinces are insufficient or substandard, leading to healthcare discrepancies among Canada’s minority Francophone communities.ObjectivesThe primary aim of this scoping systematic review was to identify existing gaps in HIV-care delivery to Francophone minorities living with HIV in Canada.Study designScoping systematic review.Data sourcesSearch for studies published between 1990 and November 2019 reporting on health and healthcare in Francophone populations in Canada. Nine databases were searched, including Medline, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, the Cochrane Library, the National Health Service Economic Development Database, Global Health, PsychInfo, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science.Study selectionEnglish or French language studies that include data on French-speaking people with HIV in an Anglophone majority Canadian province.ResultsThe literature search resulted in 294 studies. A total of 230 studies were excluded after duplicates were removed. The full texts of 43 potentially relevant papers were retrieved for evaluation and data extraction. Forty-one studies were further excluded based on failure to meet the inclusion criteria leaving two qualitative studies that met our inclusion criteria. These two studies reported on barriers on access to specialised care by Francophone and highlighted difficulties experienced by healthcare professionals in providing quality healthcare to Francophone patients in Ontario and Manitoba.ConclusionThe findings of this scoping systematic review highlight the need for more HIV research on linguistic minority communities and should inform health policymaking and HIV/AIDS community organisations in providing HIV care to Francophone immigrants and Canadians.

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Multiple Infections of Malaria and Typhoid Fever Among People Living With HIV/AIDS: Effect of Herbal Concoctions on CD4 Lymphocyte Count and Other Haematological Indices

Bio-Research ◽

10.4314/br.v11i1.103627 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 838

Author(s):

UME Dibua ◽

IE Nweze

Keyword(s):

Typhoid Fever ◽

Lymphocyte Count ◽

Multiple Infections ◽

People Living With Hiv ◽

Cd4 Lymphocyte Count ◽

Cd4 Lymphocyte ◽

Living With Hiv ◽

Haematological Indices ◽

Hiv Aids

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Humoral and Cellular Immune Response Elicited by mRNA Vaccination Against SARS-CoV-2 in People Living with HIV (PLWH) Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) According with Current CD4 T-Lymphocyte Count

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.3929972 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Andrea Antinori ◽

Stefania Cicalini ◽

Silvia Meschi ◽

Veronica Bordoni ◽

Patrizia Lorenzini ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Immune Response ◽

Antiretroviral Therapy ◽

T Lymphocyte ◽

Cellular Immune Response ◽

Lymphocyte Count ◽

People Living With Hiv ◽

Cellular Immune ◽

Living With Hiv

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Response to First-Line Antiretroviral Therapy Among PLHIV from a High-Risk, Low-Prevalence Setting

Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (JIAPAC) ◽

10.1177/2325958219867329 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 18 ◽

pp. 232595821986732

Author(s):

Shahria Mohammad Rashed Ul Islam ◽

Munira Jahan ◽

Afzalun Nessa ◽

Shahina Tabassum

Keyword(s):

Antiretroviral Therapy ◽

T Lymphocyte ◽

Lymphocyte Count ◽

Study Groups ◽

People Living With Hiv ◽

First Line ◽

Cd8 T Lymphocyte ◽

The Mean ◽

Low Prevalence ◽

Living With Hiv

The study reports the response of first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) by assessing CD4 and CD8 T-lymphocyte and viral load (VL) among Bangladeshi people living with HIV (PLHIV). This observational approach was conducted on 100 PLHIVs, grouped into therapy naive (n = 33), therapy initiators with CD4 T-cell count of <350 cells/µL (n = 33), and therapy receivers for >1 year prior to the study period (n = 34). Therapy initiators who continued the study (n = 20) were followed up after 12 and 24 weeks of therapy initiation. The CD4 and CD8 T-lymphocyte count estimation and (VL) were quantified. The mean CD4 T-lymphocyte count was significantly reduced among the therapy initiators in comparison to therapy naive and therapy receivers. Similar findings were observed for CD8 T-lymphocyte count among the study groups. The mean HIV-1 RNA VL among therapy initiators showed a significant decrease after 12 and 24 weeks, and 85% patients in this group obtained undetectable VL status indicating the good therapeutic outcome.

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Predictors for tuberculosis co-infection in people living with HIV/AIDS

African Health Sciences ◽

10.4314/ahs.v21i3.6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 995-1002

Author(s):

Esra Zerdali ◽

İnci Yılmaz Nakir ◽

Serkan Sürme ◽

Uğurcan Sayılı ◽

Mustafa Yıldırım

Keyword(s):

Viral Load ◽

Lymphocyte Count ◽

People Living With Hiv ◽

Characteristic Analysis ◽

Cell Counts ◽

Tertiary Teaching ◽

Cd4 Lymphocyte Count ◽

Cd4 Lymphocyte ◽

Living With Hiv ◽

Hiv Aids

Background/aim: Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most common chronic infectious conditions causing mortality and se- vere outcomes, particularly in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). In this study, we aimed to determine the prevalence and predictors of TB among PLWHA. Materials and methods: We conducted a retrospective and single-center study of adults (≥18 years) PLWHA registered at our tertiary teaching and research hospital between 2000 and 2016. Results: A total of 711 PLWHA were included. Of whom, 633 (89.0%) were male. Mean age was 36.53 ±11.55 years (range, 17-79). Thirty-eight (5.3%) patients were diagnosed with active TB. TB development was associated with low CD4+ lymphocyte count (p<0.001), high viral load (p=0.040) and alcohol consumption (p=0.004) but no association with age (p=0.392), gender (p=0.928) and duration since anti-retroviral therapy initiation (p=0.788) was found. Also, a receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that the area under the curves of CD4+ lymphocyte count as a predictor for TB development in PLWHA was 0.717 (p<0.001). Conclusion: There are still clinical challenges to predict TB diagnosis. However, CD4+ lymphocyte count and viral load may be considered as valuable predictors for TB development. Also, community strategies to reduce harmful effect of alco- hol use should be developed. Keywords: Tuberculosis; HIV viral load; CD4 cell counts.

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Driving Force of Covid-19 Among People Living With HIV/AIDS in Wuhan, China

10.21203/rs.3.rs-53351/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Wei Guo ◽

Fangzhao Ming ◽

Yu Dong ◽

Qian Zhang ◽

Lian Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

T Lymphocyte ◽

Lymphocyte Count ◽

Driving Force ◽

Driving Forces ◽

People Living With Hiv ◽

Hiv Diagnosis ◽

Hiv Viral Load ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Living With Hiv ◽

Hiv Aids

Abstract Background: Even people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) were considered to be at increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the driving force among this group of individuals is still not clear. Methods: We investigated 1,701 PLWHA through a telephone interview and found 11 COVID-19 patients in four districts of Wuhan, China. The demographic features and major clinical characteristics of these patients were retrieved from the information management systems for COVID-19 patients of four districts’ CDC. Statistical analysis was performed to find out the driving force of COVID-19 among PLWHA.Results: The incidence proportion of COVID-19 in PLWHA is 0.6% (95% CI: 0.2% - 1.0%), which is comparable to the overall population incidence rate in Wuhan city (0.6%). Nine out of the 11 COVID-19/AIDS patients had relatively high CD4+ T lymphocyte count (>200/μl) and undetectable HIV viral load (＜20 copies/ml), and ten of them were on antiretroviral therapy. PLWHA who were old, had low CD4+ T lymphocyte count, infected HIV through homosexual activity, and had been diagnosed for HIV for a long time, were more likely to develop COVID-19.Conclusions: PLWHA has comparable COVID-19 morbidity rates as the general population, and older age, low CD4 count, long length since HIV diagnosis, and treatment-naive were potential driving forces of COVID-19 occurrence among PLWHA. Strategies in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection among PLWHA with worse immune responses are needed. Article Summary Line: As COVID-19 continues to spread around the world, people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) are also at risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2. We investigated the factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection among PLWHA in Wuhan, China.

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