The progress and immunity response to HIV/AIDS in Cao Bang and the struggle against this epidemic

Cao Bang is a mountainous province in North frontier, with a population of 482.839 persons in 12 districts and towns, 186 communes. The first case of HIV infection was detected in 1997 and in Nov.2002 there were 577 cases. The most common patients are young persons (79,53%). 95,66% are men . The education for HIV/AIDS control was developed continuously in mass media but it was not proper, the couselling and self-examination was low efficacy. The care, management and treatment for HIV/AIDS patients were limited. It must strengthen the quality of HIV/AIDS control education and profession practice. For HIV/AIDS control a proper policy and big ressources are necessary

Current state of HIV/AIDS epidemic in some Northern Vietnam provinces

Background: From the first case of HIV/AIDS in Vietnam on December 1990, up to June 30th 2007, there were 126,543 cases of HIV infections, 24,788 AIDS patients and 13,874 AIDS-related deaths. Strong political commitments were given by the government to develop HIV/AIDS prevention and control programs. Objectives: To discover the current state of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and HIV/AIDS prevention as well as control in a number of northern provinces and to discover various related factors. Subjects and method: An analytic cross-sectional study was carried out from 2006 to 2007 on the leaders of local authorities, health facilities and HIV-infected people in 7 northern provinces. The documents and reports related to HIV/AIDS prevention and control were reviewed. Results: HIV/AIDS epidemic is not the problem of only the health system; it was increasing as a complex problem. HIV infection rate was higher in Quang Ninh, Ha Noi, and Son La. Among HIV-infected people, drug-injected users accounted for 93%. The prevention of HIV/AIDS has been planed, carried out in all communities, but is not very efficient and it requires high-quality solutions that should be widened to control and reduce this disease. Conclusion: The efficacy of current HIV/AIDS prevention and control program was not proficient.

Immunologic Characterization of Newly Found Koreans as HIV Seropositives by the Year / 감염

BACKGROUND: Although HIV is introduced relatively late into Asia, the amount of HIV-positive population has been continuously growing in this area. UNAIDS/WHO estimate that 6.5 million people are living with HIV in the Asia/Pacific region at the end of 1999. To expect the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 21st century in Korea, it is necessary to monitor the changes of the number of newly found HIV-infected individuals and their immune status by year including their epidemiological data. METHODS: We have selected 591 HIV-infected individuals whose first CD4 count was checked within 6 months from the time of diagnosis of HIV infection from 1990 to 1999. For the measurement of CD4+T and CD8+T cells, blood samples of HIV-1 infected individuals were collected into three potassium ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (K3EDTA)-treated tubes and stained within at least 24 hours after drawing and analysed by flow cytometer (FACStar or FACScount). The immune status were classified into 4 groups as follows: group I (> or =500 CD4+T cells/mm3), group II (201~499 CD4+T cells/mm3), group III (51~200 CD4+T cells/mm3), and group IV (< or =50 CD4+T cells/mm3). RESULTS: The mean of number of CD4+T cells of HIV-infected individuals at the time of HIV diagnosis was 677 cells/mm3 and the percentage of CD4+T cells was 22.5% in 1990~1991 but 350 cells/mm3 and 14.7% in 1999, respectively. The number of newly found HIV-infected individuals belong to Group III increased rapidly from 1997 to 1999. Also, the proportion of newly found HIV-infected individuals having the CD4+T cell counts of < or =50 cells/mm3 increased slowly by the time of diagnosis of HIV infection. The proportion of newly found HIV-infected individuals who were found in general hospitals increased during the second half of the 1990s. CONCLUSION: These results show that not only the number of newly found HIV-infected individuals has increased annually but also their immune status at the time of HIV diagnosis have been more depressed by the year. Therefore, we should enforce education for prevention of HIV/AIDS about general population as well as high risk groups.