Journal of AIDS & Clinical Research

Background: Discordant couple refers to couples with mixed Sero status where one is positive and the other is HIV-negative. They are at permanent risk of getting the infection. But many individuals in healthy relationships are unaware of their partner and their own Sero status and chance of gaining the virus. Therefore, we conducted this cohort study to determine the incidence and predictors of Sero conversion among adult discordant couples at Amhara region selected public hospitals, Northwest, Ethiopia, 2019.

Methods: A mixed cohort study was conducted from October 2018 to November 2019 at selected public hospitals in the Amhara region. The study included two hundred twelve (212) discordant couples who had regular follow-up at selected ART clinics hospitals, and the data were collected using checklists. Epi-data 4.1 was used to data entry, and STATA 14 for analysis. Seroconversion incidence rate was 8/100 PY among discordant couples. Using the Kaplan-Meier curve the survival status between categorical variables were calculated and compared using the log-rank test. The Cox proportional hazard models used to examine independent time-related factors for HIV development.

Results: A total of 212 patients were followed and produced 598 person-years (PY) of observation, and 51 new HIV cases were observed during the follow up period with the overall incidence density of 8 per 100 PY. Female sex (AHR (95%CI: 1.67 (0.85, 3.3), not abstained within the last 12 months (AHR (95%CI: 2.11 (0.65, 6.75), viral load >= 1000 copies (AHR (95%CI: 1.33 (0.38, 1.49), being merchant 1.2 (0.3, 3), p: 0.01), desire to have children, AHR (95%CI: 2.27 (.89-5.81) P: 0.04) and having no history of alcohol (AHR (95%CI: 0.48 (0.21, 1.41) were independent predictors of Seroconversion. among discordant couples.

Conclusion: The overall incidence of Seroconversion among discordant couples is high and factors that affect the incidence are negative female spouse, not abstained in the past 12 months, high viral load, being merchant, desire to have children and having no history of alcohol.

Although the incidence of HIV-associated lung infections has changed due to the use of antiretrovirals, and the knowledge of the contributions of respiratory viruses, including subtypes of seasonal human coronavirus (HCoV) has increased, studies to analyze and compare prognosis and risk factors between HIV-positive and negative individuals with HCoV respiratory infections are scarce. Patients with HIV are at a higher risk of getting infected with various pathogens, including viruses, therefore, it is important to comprehend the epidemiology of these infections. This study aimed to expose the epidemiological aspects of HCoV infections, comparing HIV-positive and negative patients. This study used a retrospective design and the data analyzed were collected from November 2013 to March 2018, a comparison of characteristics between patients with HIV and without HIV infected with HVoC using χ2, Student's T or Mann-Whitney U tests was performed. The detection of coronavirus species by the Luminex system in patients with HIV showed that HCoV-NL63 was the most frequent, with a prevalence of 45.5%, followed by HCoV-OC43 and HCoV- 22E9, with 36% and 18.2%, respectively. Overall, the HCoV-OC43 species was detected more frequently and winter was the season when more cases occurred. Pneumonia was the most frequent clinical manifestation and the main coinfection was due to Pneumocystis jirovecii. Seasonal human coronaviruses are an important cause of infection in HIV-infected patients, resulting in several clinical repercussions. Further studies are necessary to determine the implications of HCoV in these patients, as well as the epidemiological significance of HCoV infections in HIV-positive individuals in Mexico and throughout the globe.

Therapeutic pressure by protease inhibitors (PIs) contributes to accumulation of mutations in the HIV type 1 (HIV-1) protease (PR) leading to development of drug resistance with subsequent therapy failure. Current PIs target the active site of PR in a competitive manner. Identification of molecules that exploit non-active site mechanisms of inhibition is essential to overcome resistance to current PIs. Potential non-active site HIV-1 protease (PR) inhibitors (PI) were identified by in silico screening of almost 140,000 molecules targeting the hinge region of PR. Inhibitory activity of best docking compounds was tested in an in vitro PR inhibition biochemical assay. Five compounds inhibited PR from multiple HIV-1 sub-types in vitro and reduced replicative capacity by PI-sensitive or multi-PI resistant HIV-1 variants in human cells ex vivo. Antiviral activity was boosted when combined with Ritonavir, potentially diminishing development of drug resistance, while providing effective treatment for drug resistant HIV-1 variants.

Background: Health worker Needle-stick injury (NSI) by internal body fluids can transmit serious pathogens like HIV. Considering Principles of personal and occupational care, plays an important role in prevention of such events.

Case presentation: A health worker suffered needle stick injury by aqueous humor of a PCR-positive HIV patient while he was recapping needle despite necessary preparations.

Conclusions: NSI by Aqueous humor which is secreted from blood, can theoretically transmit blood borne pathogens like HIV. Nevertheless, there is neither any report of aqueous humor NSI nor HIV transmission in this way. Based on our best knowledge this case is the first report represents HIV+ aqueous humor NSI and further evidence is required. Considering literature, we cannot conclude whether there was a need for PEP in our case.

Background: Risky sexual behaviors are any behavior that increases the probability of adverse sexual and reproductive health problems. Risky sexual behaviors predispose adolescent and young people to a variety of sexually associated problems such as sexually transmitted infection, Human immune virus and unwanted pregnancy. Yet, little has studied about risky behaviors in the context of night students in Ethiopia at large and study area in particular.

Objective: To assess the magnitude and factors of risky sexual behaviors among grade 9-12-night students in Awi Zone, North west Ethiopia, 2020.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. The total sample size was 801. Participants were selected through simple random sampling technique and data were collected using a pretested and structured self-administered questionnaire. Epi data for data entry and SPSS for analysis were used. P-value less than 0.05 at multiple logistic regressions was considered as statistically significant.

Results: One hundred twenty (40.4%) have risky sexual behavior. Mean age of first sexual initiation was 18.64 (SD ± 2.16) and quite large proportion of respondents (30%) had initiated sex before 18 years. Grade level (AOR=2.52, 95% CI, 1.12-5.69), practicing sex in hotels (AOR=2.82, 95% CI, 1.11-6.94), having sex at school compounds (AOR=3.27, 95% CI, 1.05-10.17), exposure to pornographic films (AOR=5.49, 95% CI, 2.45- 12.28), peer pressure (AOR=4.86, 95% CI, 2.31-10.22) and permissive type of parenting style (AOR=0.27, 95% CI, 0.10-.70) are significantly associated factors with risky sexual behavior at P- value <0.05.

Conclusion: Considerable proportions of night students engage in sexual activity and practice risky sexual behaviors. Place of sexual intercourse were associated with risky sexual behavior. Students from grade 9-10, Pornographic film exposures, parenting style and peer pressure, were factors exposing participants to risky sexual behavior.