The prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and hepatitis C virus among injection drug users who use high risk inner-city locales in Miami, Florida

In order to estimate the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infection in hard-to-reach intravenous drug users, 199 subjects from high-risk inner-city locales, the so called "shooting galleries", were consented, interviewed, and tested in Miami, FL, US. Positive HIV-1 status was based on repeatedly reactive ELISA and confirmatory Western Blot. Positive HCV status was based on reactive ELISA and confirmatory polymerase chain reaction techniques. Overall, 50 (25 percent) were not infected with either virus, 61 (31 percent) were HIV-1/HCV co-infected, 17 (8 percent) infected by HIV-1 only, and 71 (36 percent) infected by HCV only. The results of the multivariable analyses showed that more years using heroin was the only significant risk factor for HCV only infection (odds ratio = 1.15; 95 percent confidence interval = 1.07, 1.24) and for HIV-1/HCV co-infection (odds ratio = 1.17; 95 percent confidence interval = 1.09, 1.26). This paper demonstrates that HIV-1/HCV co-infection is highly prevalent among so called "shooting galleries".

An ecological analysis of childhood-onset type 1 diabetes incidence and prevalence in Latin America / Análisis ecológico de la incidencia y prevalencia en América Latina de diabetes tipo 1 con inicio en la niñez

OBJETIVO: Explorar para América Latina, mediante un análisis de correlación ecológico, las posibles relaciones entre tanto la incidencia como la prevalencia de diabetes sacarina tipo 1 con inicio en la niñez y algunos factores etiológicos hipotéticos, entre ellos la raza o etnia, la latitud geográfica, las tasas de lactancia materna, el abastecimiento de leche, el consumo de café per cápita y algunos indicadores de situación económica, tales como la tasa de mortalidad de menores de un año, la esperanza de vida al nacer y el índice nacional de desarrollo humano. MÉTODOS: Se usaron datos publicados recientemente acerca de la incidencia y prevalencia de diabetes tipo 1 en niños menores de 15 años en países latinoamericanos. Se escogieron los indicadores de riesgo en función de las hipótesis de carácter genético y ambiental que se contemplan actualmente. Los datos acerca de los indicadores se obtuvieron de fuentes públicas. Se emplearon coeficientes de correlación de Pearson para medir la asociación entre tanto la incidencia como la prevalencia de diabetes tipo 1 y los indicadores elegidos. RESULTADOS: Se detectó una fuerte correlación inversa entre la proporción de amerindios en la población de un país y la incidencia (r> ­0,75; P = 0,008) y prevalencia estimada (r> 0,55; P> 0,018) de diabetes tipo 1 de aparición en la niñez. El abastecimiento de leche per cápita mostró una fuerte correlación directa con la incidencia (r> 0,70; P> 0,025) y la prevalencia (r> 0,55; P> 0,018) de diabetes. Los indicadores de situación económica mostraron correlación con la prevalencia pero no con la incidencia. CONCLUSIONES: Según nuestros resultados, la presencia del componente amerindio en la población de América Latina protege contra la diabetes tipo 1 con incio en la niñez. Nuestros resultados también confirman la asociación notificada anteriormente en otros países y partes del mundo entre la diabetes tipo 1 y el consumo de leche. Se necesitan más estudios para formular y poner a prueba nuevas hipótesis de orden genético y ambiental que ayuden a entender mejor la interacción entre la susceptibilidad genética y factores ambientales en la aparición de diabetes tipo 1 en distintos grupos étnicos

Objective. To explore, for Latin America, by means of an ecological correlation analysis, the possible relationships between both the incidence and prevalence of childhood type 1 diabetes and selected hypothesized etiological factors, including race/ethnicity, geographical latitude, breastfeeding rates, per capita milk supply and coffee consumption, and wealth-related indicators such as infant mortality rate, life expectancy at birth, and national human development index. Methods. Recently published data on incidence and prevalence of type 1 diabetes in children ≤ 14 years of age in Latin American countries were utilized. Risk indicators were selected based on existing genetic and environmental hypotheses. Indicator data were obtained from publicly available resources. Spearman correlation coefficients were used to measure the association between both incidence and prevalence of type 1 diabetes and the selected indicators. Results. A strong negative correlation was found between the proportion of Amerindians in a country's population and both incidence (r = ­0.75; P= 0.008) and estimated prevalence (r = ­0.78; P < 0.0001) of childhood type 1 diabetes. The per capita supply of milk showed a strong positive correlation with both incidence (r = 0.70; P= 0.025) and prevalence (r = 0.55; P = 0.018). Wealth-related indicators correlated with prevalence but not with incidence. Conclusions. Our results suggest that the presence of the Amerindian component of the population in Latin America provides protection against childhood-onset type 1 diabetes. Our results also confirm the association previously reported in other countries and regions of the world of type 1 diabetes and milk consumption. Further studies are needed to develop and test potential genetic and environmental hypotheses that could help to better understand the interplay between genetic susceptibility and environment in type 1 diabetes different ethnic groups