Efficacy of Interventional Awareness Program on HIV/AIDS among High School Students of West Bengal, India

Introduction: Worldwide Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection is a Public Health Problem. Adolescents and young people are inclined to experiment with sex and prone to have HIV infection. Interventional Education Program on HIV/AIDS may prevent spread of the infection. Materials and Methods : Knowledge and attitude of students (N=2373) of 10th to 12th grade from 38 schools of Kolkata about HIV/AIDS was assessed based on a questionnaire. Subsequently an interventional educational program was conducted for them. A follow-up study with the same questionnaire after 6-8 weeks of the interventional program was performed among the students (N=811) of 11th and 12th standard. Knowledge and attitude towards HIV/AIDS was evaluated by defining a ‘Knowledge’ and ‘Attitude’ score from responses of the students to relevant questions. Data was analyzed using SPSS, version 17 software. Observations : Interventional Program improved student’s (a) responses to more questions, (b) knowledge level and (c) positive attitude towards HIV/AIDS. Significant improvement occurred in the association of knowledge score with respect to the male students after the Intervention Program but not much with respect to girls. Association of the attitude score with respect to gender and three streams (Arts, Science, Commerce) of study were significantly enhanced after the program. Discussion : Several studies around the world indicate that Interventional Educational Programs almost certainly improve knowledge and attitude of the school students about HIV/AIDS. Some differences in findings may be due to qualitative differences of the study participants. Our observations may not be extrapolated to other Indian Student Groups who may differ in awareness and cultural status

High HPV load and sexually transmitted infections increase the risk of abnormal cervical cytology in HIVinfected women in India

Sexually transmitted infection (STI) is a major public health problem in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals. This study evaluated the effect of STIs, such as herpes simplex virus type-2 (HSV-2) and Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) on human papillomavirus (HPV) copy number and associated cervical cytological abnormalities in context of HIV infection. Cervical cells from 74 HIVseropositive and 50 seronegative women were examined for HPV, HSV-2 and CT DNA by PCR. HIVinfected women had higher HSV-2 (P =0.002) and HPV infection (P=0.001) in cervix. HPV 16 was detected as the most predominant genotype. Combination of HIV and other STIs (HSV-2 and CT) was associated with higher HPV prevalence in cervix (P <0.01). Cervical HPV viral load (VL) was increased in HIVinfected subjects co-infected with STIs compared to those with only HPV infection (P=0.008). Women with abnormal cervical cytology had higher HPV copy number/cell compared to those with normal cytology (P <0.001). In conclusion, STIs may not have direct effect on cervical cytological abnormalities, they increase HPV VL that in turn worsen cervical cytological complications in HIVinfected women. Therefore, screening of STIs in HIVinfected high-risk Indian women may be important to evaluate HPV burden and abnormal cervical dysplasia

Detection of HPV DNA in cervical carcinomas by PCR and hybrid capture assay.

HPV DNA was detected in exfoliated cervical cells of 73% (85/116) cervical cancer patients by PCR using HPV consensus primers and by hybrid capture assay (HC II) (Digene Corp., USA) in 77 of the 85 cases found HPV positive by PCR. Presence of HPV 16/18 DNA were investigated in the 79 cases by PCR using type specific primers. HPV 16 was detected in 31 (39%) patients, HPV 18 in 7 (8.8%), both HPV 16 and 18 in 19 (24%) and HPVs other than 16/18 in 22 (27.8%) cases. Age and clinical stages had no significant effect on HPV prevalence. Double infection of HPV 16 and 18 was significantly (p<0.05) high in the older patients (56 years or more) compared to younger group. Results indicated that cervical cancers in India are strongly associated with high-risk type HPV infection. HC II assays and PCR results for detection of HPV in cervical smears were comparable.

Human papillomavirus infection among Indian mothers and their infants.

OBJECTIVE: Several studies have demonstrated that infants can acquire human papillomavirus (HPV) infection at birth from their mothers. The aim of the present investigation was to determine prevalence of HPV infection among pregnant women and evaluate the extent of perinatal transmission of HPVs to infants. METHODS: The study included 135 pregnant women and their infants. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to detect HPV DNA in cervical cells of the women and buccal cells of the infants. RESULTS: HPVs detected were genotyped by PCR using type specific primers. HPV DNA was identified in 38 mothers (28.14%, 38/135) and 14 babies (10.37%, 14/135). The prevalence rate of HPV type 16 was highest both in HPV positive maternal (63.15%, 24/38) and baby samples (85.71%, 12/14). At birth, the frequency of HPV transmission from infected mothers to their infants was 18.42% (7/38). The proportion of infants with HPV infection delivered by cesarean section was 78.57% (11/14). CONCLUSION: Cesarean section was not found protective for infants against perinatal HPV transmission. Infection in the infants was cleared within one year. This is the first report of its kind from India.