Of all the infectious diseases first recognized in the 20th century, AIDS has had not only the most profound effect on human illness and death, it ended the developed world's complacency about infectious diseases. Caused by HIV, AIDS is, as far as we know, always fatal, even with effective therapy. Within the past 50 to 100 years, HIV went from being maintained primarily, if not exclusively, in sooty mangebeys (HIV-2) and chimpanzees (HIV-1) (1-3) to being the etiologic agent of a worldwide pandemic.
Mary E. Chamberland, Harvey J. Alter, Michael P. Busch, George Nemo, Maura Ricketts
Emerg Infect Dis 2001 Jun;7(3-Suppl):552-3
The risk of transfusion-transmitted viral infections is primarily due to the failure of serologic screening tests to detect recently infected donors in the preseroconversion "window" phase of infection. To reduce this window period, European Union regulators began to require in 1999 that all plasma be tested by nucleic acid testing (NAT) techniques for hepatitis C virus (HCV) if derivatives made from such plasma were to be sold in Europe.
Jonathan E. Kaplan, Kent Sepkowitz, Henry Masur, Thira Sirisanthana, Mark Russo, and Louisa Chapman
Emerg Infect Dis 2001 Jun;7(3-Suppl):541
Henry Masur, from the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, discussed the changing nature of opportunistic infections (OIs) in HIV-infected persons in the United States in light of the use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). While the incidence of nearly all OIs has decreased since 1996, several AIDS-related malignancies have maintained stable incidence rates and will likely assume greater importance.
Penicillium marneffei infection (PM) is an important disease among HIV-infected persons in Southeast Asia. Discovered in 1956 from the bamboo rat, Rhizomys sinensis, in Vietnam, PM was first identified in HIV-infected persons in 1988. The disease has now been reported among HIV-infected persons in Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, northeastern India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and southern China.
Ahidjo Ayouba, Philippe Mauclère, Paul M.V. Martin, Patrick Cunin, Jermie Mfoupouendoun, Bernadette Njinku, Sandrine Souquières, and François Simon
Emerg Infect Dis 2001 May-Jun;7(3):466-7
HIV-1 group O (HIV-1/O) was first identified in Cameroon in 1994, raising concern about the emergence of a new HIV-1 variant, with implications for public health and blood safety. Anti-HIV-1/O antibodies are weakly detected by some HIV-1 screening tests, and the natural resistance of most HIV-1/O strains to nonnucleoside inhibitors of reverse transcriptase limits their use in preventing vertical transmission.
The administration of postexposure prophylaxis has become the standard of care for occupational exposures to HIV. We have learned a great deal about the safety and potential efficacy of these agents, as well as the optimal management of health-care workers occupationally exposed to HIV. This article describes the current state of knowledge in this field, identifies substantive questions to be answered, and summarizes basic principles of postexposure management.
Epidemiology, Evolution, and Future of the HIV/AIDS Pandemic
This information is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.