Prevalence of hepatitis C virus among HIV-infected patients

Background and Objectives: Hepatitis C virus and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) share the same rate of transmis- sion. HIV/HCV co-infected individuals may result in faster progression of liver fibrosis and highly increase the risk of cir- rhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma development. Thus this study was conducted to determine co-infection of HCV genotypes in positive HIV patients in Ahvaz city, Iran. Materials and Methods: The sera samples were collected from confirmed 78 infected HIV, 67 (85.89%) males and 11 (14.1%) females. All sera samples were tested for HCV Ab using ELISA test. The HCV Ab positive samples were tested for detection of 5' untranslated (UTR) and core regions of HCV genome using nested RT-PCR. The PCR products of 5UTR and core regions were sequenced to determine HCV genotypes. Results: Among the 78 infected HIV, 25 (32.05%) cases including 20 (25.64%) males and 5 (6.41%) females were positive for HCV Ab (p=0.316). 53 (67.94%) of HIV patients were negative for HCV Ab. Among 25 positive HCV Ab, 19 (24.35%) cases including 15 (19.23%) males and 4 (5.12%) females were positive for HCV RNA (p=0.447). The PCR products of 5 positive samples were randomly sequenced. The results of sequences and alignments showed that the detected HCV geno- types were three 3a and two 1a. The occurrence of genotype HCV 1a was found in one male injecting drug user Injecting Drug User (IDU) and one female. The HCV 3a genotype was detected in the three males IDU. Conclusion: The results of this survey indicated that 32.05% of HIV patients were positive for HCV Ab, among them 24.35% were positive HCV RNA. HCV genotype 3a was dominant and detected in the three males IDU. Regarding the consequences of HIV/HCV co-infection, it is suggested that HCV RNA detection should be regularly checked in individuals infected with HIV.

An Ethnographic Inquiry on Injecting Drug Users towards Vocational Training

In this study, I pursued to gain an in-depth understanding on vocational education and training (VET) of injecting drug users residing in rehabilitation in Kathmandu valley. Two rehabilitation centers that accommodate institutionalized injecting drug users were purposively selected for the study in which six participants voluntarily participated. An ethnographic narrative enquiry, which is the qualitative research methodology, was employed to gain insight into their lived experiences and perception towards VET. The themes that emerged from the findings were interspersed by focusing on a range of sociological theories. This study brings to the fore that injecting drug user has affirmative impression towards VET and understands the importance of VET but is not willing to study anymore. Participants’ perception understood earning money is more important than getting VET and they understood that it is too late to study and they are not able to study any more due to the use and abuse of drugs and their study habits have been destroyed by the drugs.

PROMOSI KESEHATAN HIV-AIDS DAN STIGMA TERHADAP PENGGUNA NARKOBA SUNTIK (PENASUN) DI KABUPATEN SUMEDANG

Di Indonesia, cara penularan HIV-AIDS melalui Injecting Drug User (IDU) atau Pengguna Narkoba Suntik(Penasun) yang merupakan populasi beresiko dan sulit dijangkau (hard to reach) mencapai angka 40,4%. Salah satunya penyebab mereka sulit dijangkau adalah sikap menstigma oleh masyarakat, karena stigma dapat mempersulit upaya intervensi pemerintah (melalui promosi kesehatan) dalam pengendalian HIV-AIDS.Tujuan penelitian ini adalah : 1) untuk memperoleh gambaran tentang pelaksanaan kegiatan promosi kesehatan penanggulangan HIV-AIDS oleh KPA Kabupaten Sumedang 2) untuk memperoleh gambaran mendalam tentang makna stigma bagi Penasun dan 3) untuk mengetahui makna promosi kesehatan dalam menghapuskan stigma bagi Penasun.Metode penelitian adalah kualitatif deskriptif dengan pendekatan Studi Kasus, serta teknikpengumpulandata melalui:a) wawancaramendalam(indepthInterview), b) observasi, c) studipustaka, dan d)focus group discussion. Hasil Penelitian menunjukkan Komisi Penanggulangan AIDS (KPA) Kabupaten Sumedang melaksanakan kegiatan promosi kesehatan sebagai upaya pencegahanpenularan HIV-AIDS menggunakan beberapa strategi secara simultan untuk sasaran yang berbeda. Di sisi lain, Penasun memaknai stigma secara positif dan negatif. Makna negatif melahirkan sikap menarik diri dari kehidupan sosial, masa bodoh, apatis, tidak peduli dan putus asa dalam menjalani sisa hidupnya, sedangkan makna postif justru memberikan sisa hidupnya untuk dapat berkontribusi di masyarakat dengan ikut menyampaikan informasi tentang bahayanya HIV-AIDS. Penasun juga memaknai kegiatan promosi kesehatan yang dilakukan KPA Sumedang dalam tiga kategori, yaitu bagus untuk ranah kognitif, cukup untuk ranah afeksi dan masih kurang untuk ranah konasi. Kata Kunci : Stigma, Penasun, HIV-AIDS, Promosi Kesehatan.

In vitro replication competence of a hepatitis B genotype D/A recombinant virus: dissimilar biological behaviour regarding its parental genotypes

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA recombinants contribute to ~30 % of the overall full-length sequences already deposited in GenBank. However, their biological behaviour has not been analysed so far. In this study, the in vitro replication kinetics of the first D/A recombinant from the American continent differed from its parental genotypes, exhibiting higher extracellular levels of HBV DNA and hepatitis B e antigen. Southern blots of intracellular core-associated HBV DNA were in agreement with such results. Because this recombinant was obtained from an Argentinian injecting drug user belonging to a vulnerable community, these results are of singular relevance for regional public health. Further in vivo studies are urgently needed to determine the pathogenicity of these replicative competent clones.