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Africa: Daily HIV/Aids Report


 

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Kaisernetwork.org (Washington, DC)

1 May 2008
Posted to the web 1 May 2008

Science & Medicine

Specific Adverse Effects of Antiretroviral Therapy Vary Depending on Race, Gender, Study Says

Global Challenges

Two PEPFAR-Funded Methadone Clinics Open in Vietnamese Port City

HIV/AIDS Services in Northern Cote d'Ivoire Still Unavailable

Media & Society

mtvU, Kaiser Family Foundation, POZ Magazine Launch Online Game To Confront HIV/AIDS-Related Stereotypes

Public Health & Education

Antigua, Barbuda Government, UNFPA Hold Training Workshop for Groups To Promote Condom Use

Namibia's New Era Examines Increased Risk of HIV Among Fishermen

Science & Medicine

Specific Adverse Effects of Antiretroviral Therapy Vary Depending on Race, Gender, Study Says

[May 01, 2008]

Although the overall rate of adverse events among HIV-positive people initiating antiretroviral treatment does not differ significantly among different races and genders, there are significant differences in the incidence of specific adverse events, according to a study recently published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, Reuters Health reports. For the study, Ellen Tedaldi of Temple University's School of Medicine and colleagues compared the frequency and types of adverse effects among 1,301 patients who were initiating antiretroviral therapy. The study included 701 black participants, 225 Latinos and 273 women. The study did not find significant differences among races or gender in regard to death from any cause or treatment withdrawal rates because of drug toxicity (Reuters Health, 4/30).

According to the study, several "baseline characteristics" differed based on gender and race -- including age, HIV transmission risk, hepatitis B or C coinfection, viral load, diagnosis of AIDS, body mass index and baseline hypertension (Tedaldi et al., JAIDS, 4/1). Cardiovascular and kidney side effects were 2.64 and 3.83 times more frequent, respectively, among the black participants than among white participants, the study found. This finding was consistent with the increased rates of heart disease, diabetes and kidney disease found among all black men and women, the researchers noted.

Black men experienced 2.45 times higher rates of psychiatric-related adverse events than white men, the study showed. Tedaldi and her team said that it is "likely that grade four psychiatric adverse events represent a constellation of factors that include psychosocial and biologic associations," such as undiagnosed mental illness or the virus' effects on the central nervous system.

The study found 409 grade four adverse events during an average five-year follow-up period, or a rate of 8.9 events per person per 100 years. Grade four events are considered the most severe types based on a scale of one to four. The study found that women were 2.34 times more likely to experience grade four anemia, compared with men, according to the study. This finding was "not unexpected" because most of the women were premenopausal and black, the researchers wrote. Researchers also recorded 176 deaths -- a rate of three per person per 100 years. The study also recorded 523 antiretroviral discontinuations for any toxicity -- a rate of 13 per person per 100 years.

The researchers note that published data on the rate and types of adverse events by gender and race are limited, concluding that the findings "could inform HIV treating clinicians about particular issues to consider in the selection of antiretroviral regimens for diverse populations" (Reuters Health, 4/30).

The study abstract is available online.

Link to this story.

Global Challenges

Relevant Links

Two PEPFAR-Funded Methadone Clinics Open in Vietnamese Port City

[May 01, 2008]

The United Nations mission in Vietnam recently announced that two new methadone clinics in the northern port city of Hai Phong, Vietnam, have opened to treat injection drug users and reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, AFP/Thanhnien News reports. According to the U.N. mission, the clinics will be able to serve about 700 IDUs this year (AFP/Thanhnien News, 4/29). According to the Vietnam News Agency, the clinics are funded by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Vietnam News Agency, 4/29).

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