Brief Educational Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Intervention in an Infectious Disease Clinic: Protocol for a Case Series Study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Men who have sex with men (MSM) remains the highest group infected with HIV despite treatment with medications knows as preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP). PrEP in combination with safer sex practices has shown efficacy in preventing HIV infection. Despite awareness campaigns, PrEP uptake remains low with African American MSM. While brief educational interventions have value in fast-paced clinical settings with limited appointment times a brief PrEP educational intervention had not been initiated with MSM in a fast-paced outpatient infectious disease clinic in North Carolina. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of initiating a brief PrEP brief educational intervention with African American MSM in a sexually transmitted disease clinic. METHODS We will examine the effects of the brief educational PrEP intervention at three time points, baseline, 4 weeks later (first visit) and at the 3-month follow-up (2nd visit). The primary outcomes will be PrEP knowledge, medication adherence, and sexually transmitted infections outcomes. We will also examine a secondary outcome of high-risk sexual behaviors. RESULTS To date, a total of seven participants have consented to participate in the study. Data analysis is ongoing. We anticipate that the results will be published by Fall 2021. CONCLUSIONS This study will report the effectiveness of implementing a brief PrEP educational intervention in a fast-paced clinic setting on reducing the incidences of HIV infection.

Prevalence and Pattern of Skin Disorders among Human Immuno Deficiency Virus (HIV) Infected Children in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) Kano, Nigeria

Introduction: In HIV infected children, skin disorders are important as they serve as clue to diagnosis of the HIV disease. The Skin is one of the early systems affected by HIV/AIDS, which can affect almost all organs and systems in the body. Prevalence of skin disorders among HIV infected children is up to 90% in some studies. Objective: To determine the prevalence of skin disorders among HIV infected children attending paediatric infectious disease clinic in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital Kano, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of skin manifestations among HIV infected children attending paediatric infectious disease clinic of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria. A total of 223 HIV infected participants aged 6weeks to14 years were recruited for this study. Results: The prevalence of skin disorders among HIV infected children was 78.0%. The leading categories were infections and infestations accounting for 55.1% then inflammatory skin disorders (20.6%) Dermatophytoses were the commonest specific skin disorders observed. Conclusion: Therefore, the prevalence of skin disorder among HIV infected children in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital is high (78%). Infections and infestations were the commonest category found followed by inflammatory skin disorders.

Prevalence and Factors Associated with Contraceptive Use among HIV-Infected Women of Reproductive Age Attending Infectious Disease Clinic at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital, Northern Uganda

Background. Reproductive planning by HIV-infected women is essential, as it helps to prevent transmission of HIV to their unborn babies. Integrating contraceptive services to routine HIV care significantly increases the use of modern contraceptive methods, thus reducing vertical transmission of HIV. Objectives. To determine the prevalence and factors associated with contraceptive use among HIV-infected women attending Infectious Disease Clinic (IDC) at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital (GRRH) in Northern Uganda. Methodology. A hospital-based cross-sectional study was performed. We used simple random sampling to recruit HIV-infected women receiving routine care from IDC, GRRH, into our study. Sample size was estimated using modified Kish-Leslie formula and semistructured questionnaire was used for data collection. Data was entered into EpiData version 3.1 and analysed using Stata v11.0. We used logistic regression model to assess the associations and any factor with p≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results. The prevalence of contraceptive use was found to be 36% (95% CI 31 – 40%). Factors which promoted contraceptive use were as follows: being married (aOR=2.68, 95% CI 1.54-4.65, p<0.001) and monthly income of $35 -250 (aOR= 2.38, 95% CI: 1.39- 4.09, p=0.002). Factors that hindered contraceptive use were having no child (nulliparity) (aOR= 0.16; 95% CI: 0.05-0.49; p=0.002) and age range of 31-49 years (aOR= 0.53; 95% CI: 0.33 - 0.84; p=0.007). Conclusion. In this study, just over a third of sexually active HIV-infected women reported use of modern contraceptives. This is a low level of usage and, therefore, clinicians and stakeholders should sensitise HIV-infected women on the importance of contraceptive use in the fight against HIV/AIDS and encourage them to use contraceptives to avoid vertical transmission of HIV through unintended pregnancy.