scholarly journals Continuing high levels of HIV diagnoses in men who have sex with men in the United Kingdom

2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 3-4
Author(s):  
B Rice ◽  
A Nardone ◽  
N Gill ◽  
V Delpech

The latest HIV data for 2007 has recently been published for the United Kingdom (UK). During the year, an estimated 6,840 (95% confidence intervals 6,600-7,050) persons (adjusted for reporting delays) were newly diagnosed with HIV in the UK. This represents a 12% decline from a peak of new HIV diagnoses reported in 2005 (7,800). Almost all this decline in new HIV diagnoses was in HIV-infected heterosexuals from sub-Saharan Africa who were probably infected in their country of origin.

2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (49) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Lattimore ◽  
Z Yin ◽  
L Logan ◽  
B Rice ◽  
A Thornton ◽  
...  

In the United Kingdom (UK) in 2007, an estimated 77,400 persons were living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) of whom 28% are unaware of their infection. A total of 7,734 persons were newly diagnosed with HIV infection in 2007, of which 31% were diagnosed late. This highlights the need for wider HIV testing, especially in those areas with a high diagnosed prevalence, as recommended in recent national guidelines. Among newly diagnosed cases of HIV in 2007, 41% acquired their infection through sex between men (four in five of whom acquired their infection in the UK) and 55% through heterosexual contact (four in five of whom acquired their infection abroad, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa). Young persons aged 16 to 24 years are disproportionally affected by sexually transmitted diseases (STIs) accounting for 65% of genital chlamydia infections, 50% of cases of genital warts and 50% of cases of gonorrhoea that were diagnosed in 2007.


Subject Effects of the UK decision to leave the EU on African states. Significance The decision of voters in the United Kingdom to leave the EU ('Brexit') will alter its relationships with countries across the world. London's engagement with countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) will change depending on the form the Brexit takes, but the vote to leave risks diminishing the United Kingdom's influence. Impacts Divides in EU and UK policy toward African issues could deepen. A weaker EU will reinforce the need for African states to build relationships with other areas of the world, particularly Asia. Diminishing UK influence could pressure countries such as Germany to expand their engagement with SSA states.


2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (22) ◽  
pp. 12169-12178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Candotti ◽  
Nermin Etiz ◽  
Armen Parsyan ◽  
Jean-Pierre Allain

ABSTRACT The presence of human erythrovirus DNA in 2,440 blood donations from the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa (Ghana, Malawi, and South Africa) was screened. Sensitive qualitative and real-time quantitative PCR assays revealed a higher prevalence of persistent infection with the simultaneous presence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and viral DNA (0.55 to 1.3%) than previously reported. This condition was characterized by a low viral load (median, 558 IU/ml; range, 42 to 135,000 IU/ml), antibody-complexed virus, free specific IgG, and potentially infectious free virus. Human erythrovirus genotype 1 (formerly parvovirus B19) was prevalent in the United Kingdom, Malawi, and South Africa. In contrast, only human erythrovirus genotype 3 (erythrovirus variant V9) was prevalent in Ghana. Genotype 3 had considerable genetic diversity, clustering in two probable subtypes. Genotype 1-based antibody assays failed to detect 38.5% of Ghanaian samples containing antibodies to genotype 3 virus but did not fail to detect cases of persistent infection. This study indicates a potential African origin of genotype 3 human erythrovirus and considerable shortcomings in the tools currently used to diagnose erythrovirus infection.


Author(s):  
Angelina Jayakumar ◽  
Zahir Osman Eltahir Babiker

Malaria is a tropical parasitic infection of the red blood cells caused by the protozoal species Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, P. malariae, and P. knowlesi. It is transmitted through the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito. The average incubation period is twelve to fourteen days. Congenital and blood-borne transmissions can also occur. P. falciparum and P. vivax account for most human infections but almost all deaths are caused by P. falciparum, with children under five years of age bearing the brunt of morbidity and mortality in endemic countries. P. falciparum is dominant in sub-Saharan Africa whereas P. vivax predominates in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. P. ovalae and P. malaria are less common and are mainly found in sub-Saharan Africa. P. knowlesi primarily causes malaria in macaques and is geographically restricted to southeast Asia. While taking a blood meal, the female anopheline mosquito injects motile sporozoites into the bloodstream. Within half an hour, the sporozoites invade the hepatocytes and start dividing to form tissue schizonts. In P. vivax and P. ovale, some of the sporozoites that reach the liver develop into hypnozoites and stay dormant within the hepatocytes for months to years after the original infection. The schizonts eventually rupture releasing daughter merozoites into the bloodstream. The merozoites develop within the red blood cells into ring forms, trophozoites, and eventually mature schizont. This part of the life cycle takes twenty-four hours for P. knowlesi; forty-eight hours for P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale; and seventy-two hours for P. malariae. In P. vivax and P. ovale, some of the sporozoites that reach the liver develop into hypnozoites and stay dormant within the hepatocytes for months to years after the original infection. The hallmark of malaria pathogenesis is parasite sequestration in major organs leading to cytoadherence, endothelial injury, coagulopathy, vascular leakage, pro-inflammatory cytokine production, and tissue inflammation. Malaria is the most frequently imported tropical disease in the UK with an annual case load of around 2000. P. falciparum is the predominant imported species, and failure to take chemoprophylaxis is the commonest risk factor.


2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (21) ◽  
pp. 10430-10434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaspard Kerner ◽  
Noe Ramirez-Alejo ◽  
Yoann Seeleuthner ◽  
Rui Yang ◽  
Masato Ogishi ◽  
...  

The human genetic basis of tuberculosis (TB) has long remained elusive. We recently reported a high level of enrichment in homozygosity for the common TYK2 P1104A variant in a heterogeneous cohort of patients with TB from non-European countries in which TB is endemic. This variant is homozygous in ∼1/600 Europeans and ∼1/5,000 people from other countries outside East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. We report a study of this variant in the UK Biobank cohort. The frequency of P1104A homozygotes was much higher in patients with TB (6/620, 1%) than in controls (228/114,473, 0.2%), with an odds ratio (OR) adjusted for ancestry of 5.0 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.96–10.31, P = 2 × 10−3]. Conversely, we did not observe enrichment for P1104A heterozygosity, or for TYK2 I684S or V362F homozygosity or heterozygosity. Moreover, it is unlikely that more than 10% of controls were infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, as 97% were of European genetic ancestry, born between 1939 and 1970, and resided in the United Kingdom. Had all of them been infected, the OR for developing TB upon infection would be higher. These findings suggest that homozygosity for TYK2 P1104A may account for ∼1% of TB cases in Europeans.


2003 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 284-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leon Tikly ◽  
John Lowe ◽  
Michael Crossley ◽  
Hillary Dachi ◽  
Roger Garrett ◽  
...  

This article reports on an international policy research study funded by the United Kingdom (UK) Government's Department for International Development (DfID), entitled Globalisation and Skills for Development in Tanzania and Rwanda: implications for education and training policy and practice. The research is a contribution to a broader ‘Skills for Development Initiative’ launched by the UK Secretary of State for International Development (Short, 1999). The study was a collaborative effort between the Universities of Bristol, Bath, Dar es Salaam and the Kigali Institute of Education. The findings and the analysis generated by this research are rich and complex.


F1000Research ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris R. Kenyon ◽  
Irith De Baetselier ◽  
Tania Crucitti

Background: It is unclear why antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae in the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States has tended to first appear in men who have sex with men (MSM). We hypothesize that increased exposure to antimicrobials from intensive STI screening programmes plays a role. Methods: We assess if there is a difference in the distribution of azithromycin, cefixime and ceftriaxone minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) between MSM and women in the United Kingdom (UK) where 70% of MSM report STI screening in the past year vs. Belgium where 9% report STI screening in the past year. Our hypothesis is that MICs of the MSM should be higher than those of the women in the UK but not Belgium. Data for the MICs were taken from the Gonococcal Resistance to Antimicrobials Surveillance Programme (GRASP) in the UK in 2010/2011 and 2014 and a similar national surveillance programme in Belgium in 2013/2014 (the first most complete available data). We used the Mann–Whitney test to compare the MIC distributions between MSM and women within each country Results: In the UK the MICs for all three antimicrobials were significantly higher in MSM than women at both time points (P all <0.0005). In Belgium only the MIC distribution for azithromycin was higher in MSM (P<0.0005). Conclusion: The findings for cefixime and ceftriaxone, but not azithromycin are compatible with our hypothesis that screening-intensity could contribute to the emergence of AMR. Numerous other interpretations of our results are discussed.


Author(s):  
Valentyna Trotska

The author in the article explores the provisions of «The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act», concerning exceptions to copyright (Copyright Exceptions). The article describes the provisions of the Chapter III of the UK law «Acts Permitted in relation to Copyright Works».It is established that Copyright Exceptions allow the use of works by any person that will not be considered as copyright infringement in compliance with the conditions specified by law. This formulation differs from the norms of national legislation.Articles 21−25 of the Law of Ukraine define the norms on free use of works. In general, works may be used without the permission of the copyright subject and without payment of remuneration for compliance with the conditions specified in these articles of the Law.Unlike national law, UK law provides exceptions where the use of work will not be considered as copyright infringement. This approach is considered the basis of the doctrine of «fair dealing». The doctrine defined by UK law is used to establish in practice in each case legality of actions of the person. A comparison is made between «the free use» and «fair dealing». The difference between these concepts are established. Despite these differences, the doctrines of «fair dealing» and «free use » do not contradict each other. They are similar in terms of defining exceptions to copyright, when the property rights of copyright holders are limited, sothe use of works by any person will not be considered as infringement of this right.The article analyzes main exceptions, provided by the UK Act:1. Exceptions in the interests of persons with visual disabilities.2. Exceptions for educational establishments.3. Exceptions for libraries, archives.4. Exceptions for the purpose of parliamentary and judicial proceedings.5. Exceptions to copyright in computer programs, databases.6. Other exceptions.The author describes in detail Copyright Exceptions that are new to national legislation.Based on the analysis, the author draws conclusions. Unlike the Law of Ukraine, the list of copyright exceptions in the UK Law is expanded.The law of this country takes into account almost all exceptions and limitations to copyright provided by European law. The conditions under which the use of a work by a person will not be considered as copyright infringement are quite detailed.Unlike the law of the United Kingdom, the Law of Ukraine does not currently have such restrictions on property copyrights as «Making of temporary copies», «freedom of panorama», «reproduction of works for the purpose of parliamentary proceedings», «reproduction of works for demonstration or repair of equipment». The current provisions of the Law of Ukraine about the free use of works need to be supplemented. Regulations about the free reproduction of works for study, reproduction of works by libraries, archives need to be clarified. The author in the article analyses the other issue of application of copyright exceptions and provides proposals for amendments to national copyright law.


2005 ◽  
Vol 50 (01) ◽  
pp. 69-92
Author(s):  
MOAZZEM HOSSAIN

Privatization of public utilities in the United Kingdom has been the key vehicle for attaining further improvement in living standards since the mid-1980s. The United Kingdom was the first of the developed nations to privatize public utilities in 1984 when it sold British Telecom (BT). In subsequent years, almost all developed and developing nations followed suit. Simultaneously, the UK's privatization initiatives established independent regulatory agencies to oversee the performance of the newly privatized natural monopolies to protect all the parties (consumers, operators and government) from any adverse consequences of privatization. Most importantly, the regulators oversee and manage the affects of privatization on price increases. This paper investigates the price control regulation of privatized utilities in the UK with a view to gaining further lessons from these experiences for the developing Asian nations where privatization of utilities is currently being seriously considered for adoption. The lessons are investigated from the economic viewpoints.


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