scholarly journals Risky sexual behaviour and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) among healthcare workers

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasha Khamisa ◽  
Maboe Mokgobi

Background: South Africa is known to have one of the highest prevalence rates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) globally, with one in seven healthcare workers being HIV-positive. An HIV-positive healthcare workforce is less equipped to respond to the increasing spread of the epidemic.Objectives: Assessment of the factors contributing to high HIV prevalence rates among healthcare workers is important in planning the development of human resources. This review sought to identify and understand predominant risky sexual behaviours among healthcare workers in HIV and AIDS-affected countries.Methods: This study reviewed articles focusing on sexual behaviour among healthcare workers. Major health science databases (e.g. ProQuest, Cochrane, PubMed and CINAHL) were searched for combinations of keywords including ‘healthcare workers’, ‘risky sexual behaviour’ and ‘HIV and AIDS’. Articles from a range of countries met inclusion and exclusion criteria.Results: Findings of the study revealed three main contributing factors: unprotected sex, multiple sex partners and sexual violence. Sexual violence emerged as the dominant risk factor in the majority of the studies. Most research was conducted in developed countries where the HIV infection rate is much lower than it is in developing countries.Conclusion: More research needs to be conducted in developing countries and appropriate strategies should be implemented to reduce sexual violence among healthcare workers. Appropriate procedures on reporting sexual violence coupled with education on HIV and AIDS as well as influencing attitudes and belief systems could assist in reducing the spread of HIV and AIDS within the healthcare workforce while minimising the effect on patient care.

2003 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 314-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
George V. Gushue ◽  
Sarah J. Brazaitis

A new class of medications, protease inhibitors, has dramatically improved the health of many people with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). This development has had a major impact on the lives of those affected by HIV/AIDS. This article considers how a group is affected by the larger systems of which it is a part. The article examines changes in the content, process, and salient leadership tasks of an ongoing therapy group for people with HIV and AIDS before and following the initial introduction of new medical treatments. It also considers how the group process continues to be affected by the more recent failure of these medications for many patients. Implications for research, practice, and training are discussed.


1992 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-74
Author(s):  
Robert Tommasini ◽  
Ignatius W Fong

Meningitis is not an uncommon complication of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Purulent meningitis is not a well recognized infection in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive patients. Three cases of bacterial meningitis caused byStreptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidisandListeria monocytogenesare presented. These cases illustrate that common community organisms may present in HIV positive patients. An acquired B cell defect may predispose to bacterial infections responsible for meningitis in HIV-infected patients.


1996 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 23-25
Author(s):  
Ann E. Hackerman

There has been a professed fear about having a coworker with AIDS. The workers feel threatened, the customers and clients boycott, and the employers are faced with numerous decisions, both morally and legally. The Harkin-Humphrey Amendment, which amended the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987, has made it illegal to discriminate against employees or job applicants with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). With this in mind, the Tennessee government offices are making strident efforts to educate and protect its citizens and workers from discrimination and harassment in regards to HIV and AIDS.


1987 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 306-318

The appearance of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) has brought suffering and death to those who are afflicted and, at the same time, has posed daunting challenges to those who care for the sufferers, to biomedicai scientists, and to those responsible for public health and public policy. Among these challenges is the protection of the nation's blood supply from contamination by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV),1 the causative agent of AIDS. This challenge was met rapidly by the development of laboratory tests to detect the presence of antibody against the virus. The application of these tests makes it possible to determine whether the person has been infected by the virus at some time and thus to exclude persons from donating blood or to discard blood already donated. In the past 15 months, the widespread application of these tests along with self-deferral and removal of HIV-positive subjects from the pool of donors has sharply reduced the likelihood of the virus being spread by way of blood products.


Author(s):  
Befekadu S. Wodajo ◽  
Gloria Thupayagale-Tshweneagae ◽  
Oluwaseyi A. Akpor

Background: Stigma and discrimination attached to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) have been recognised as a major obstacle to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support throughout the world. Stigma and discrimination are more devastating when they occur in health care settings where it is least expected.Aim: To explore the factors attributable to stigma and discrimination of people living with HIV in two Ethiopian rural hospitals on what they thought of health care professionals (HCPs) attending to them.Methods: A qualitative exploratory approach was used. Data collection was by means of audio-taped interview and Tesch’s content analysis approach was used. The sample size for this study was determined by saturation of data and consisted of 16 participants who were people living with HIV admitted as inpatients to the two selected hospitals in Amhara region of Ethiopia.Results: Participants’ views were grouped into: fear of contact, delay of services, substandard services, denial of care, impoliteness of health care providers, breach of confidentiality and poor patient follow-up for persons infected with HIV.Conclusion: The health care settings have been recognised as one of the contexts where HIV and AIDS-related stigmatisation and discrimination can occur. Hospital policies and institutional support should be tailored to embrace people living with HIV as the provision of institutional support is imperative in creating a good working environment and improving the commitment of HCPs so as to enable them to provide holistic care for people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) without discrimination.


2001 ◽  
Vol 356 (1410) ◽  
pp. 795-798 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin M. De Cock

Although acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) was first described in the USA in 1981, there is evidence that individual cases occurred considerably earlier in Central Africa, and serological and virological data show human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was present in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as far back as 1959. It is likely that HIV–1 infection in humans was established from cross–species transmission of simian immunodeficiency virus of chimpanzees, but the circumstances surrounding this zoonotic transfer are uncertain. This presentation will review how causality is established in epidemiology, and review the evidence (a putative ecological association) surrounding the hypothesis that early HIV–1 infections were associated with trials of oral polio vaccine (OPV) in the DRC. From an epidemiological standpoint, the OPV hypothesis is not supported by data and the ecological association proposed between OPV use and early HIV/AIDS cases is unconvincing. It is likely that Africa will continue to dominate global HIV and AIDS epidemiology in the near to medium–term future, and that the epidemic will evolve over many decades unless a preventive vaccine becomes widely available.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristiana J. Silva ◽  
Delfim F. M. Torres

Tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can be considered a deadly human syndemic. In this paper, we formulate a model for TB and HIV transmission dynamics. The model considers both TB and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) treatment for individuals with only one of the two infectious diseases or both. The basic reproduction number and equilibrium points are determined and stability is analyzed. Through simulations, we show that TB treatment for individuals with only TB infection reduces the number of individuals that become coinfected with TB and HIV/AIDS and reduces the diseases (TB and AIDS) induced deaths. Analogously, the treatment of individuals with only AIDS also reduces the number of coinfected individuals. Further, TB treatment for coinfected individuals in the active and latent stage of TB disease implies a decrease of the number of individuals that passes from HIV-positive to AIDS.


1995 ◽  
Vol 85 (8) ◽  
pp. 434-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
RC Elbein

Nutrition is a fundamental intervention in the early and ongoing treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease. Nutrition therapy, in coordination with other medical interventions, can extend and improve the quality and quantity of life in individuals infected with HIV and living with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The author reviews the current literature and practice for nutrition use in the treatment of patients with HIV and AIDS.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (T2) ◽  
pp. 51-54
Author(s):  
Nuramalia Nuramalia ◽  
Ida Leida Maria ◽  
Nurhaedar Jafar ◽  
Aminuddin Syam

BACKGROUND: Educational media is a very important component as a means of interaction, one of which is audiovisual media. Health education through audiovisual media, I am proud I know (ABAT) is expected to be able to increase knowledge comprehensively about human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). AIM: This study aimed to determine the effect of ABAT audiovisual media on HIV and AIDS knowledge of school adolescents in Makassar City. METOHDS: The research design uses quasi experimental approach with the design of the nonequivalent control group design. Sampling using a random sampling technique, as many as 96 adolescents. RESULTS: The results showed that the majority of respondents were in the age group of 17 years (49%), female sex (52%), and grade 12 level (51%). Based on the results of the Mann–Whitney U Test, there were differences in knowledge before and after the intervention of ABAT audiovisual media playback with a frequency of playback three times and once in the intervention group and the control group (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: There are significant differences in adolescent knowledge about HIV and AIDS before and after the intervention. ABAT audiovisual media with playback frequency 3 times are more effective than once. Some comparison of counseling media is needed in order to better know the effectiveness of a media. Based on the research that has been done, it can be concluded that the effectiveness of ABAT audiovisual media on the knowledge of school adolescents can significantly improve HIV and AIDS before and after the intervention is given three times and one in Makassar City.


1995 ◽  
Vol 85 (8) ◽  
pp. 420-427
Author(s):  
JD Tinkle

The number of patients with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) has increased to the point that every podiatric physician in this country will be treating patients who are HIV positive, knowingly or not. Podiatric physicians continue to be part of the medical team that must bear responsibility for the rapid changes in HIV education. Attention must be focused on educating physicians about all aspects of this disease, especially the primary and secondary diseases of AIDS and new treatments and their side effects. Sterile technique and universal precautions have now taken on new importance.


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