Costs and effectiveness of partner counseling and referral services with rapid testing for HIV in Colorado and Louisiana, United States.

OBJECTIVE: Health departments offer partner counseling and referral services (PCRS) to HIV-infected index patients and their partners. Point-of-care rapid HIV testing makes it possible for partners of index patients to learn their HIV serostatus in nonclinical settings. STUDY DESIGN: We assessed costs and effectiveness of PCRS with rapid HIV testing in Colorado and Louisiana (April 2004-January 2006). Colorado provided PCRS to the index patients and partners statewide; Louisiana provided PCRS to those in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The key effectiveness measures were number of partners tested and number of partners informed of a new HIV diagnosis after rapid testing. We obtained program costs for personnel, travel, utilities, supplies, equipment, and facility space. RESULTS: Colorado identified a yearly average of 328 index patients and 253 partners and tested 43 partners. Louisiana identified a yearly average of 81 index patients and 138 partners and tested 83 partners. The rates of previously undiagnosed HIV infection among partners tested were 6.6% in Colorado and 9.9% in Louisiana. The average costs per partner tested and per partner informed of a new HIV diagnosis were $1459 and $22,243 in Colorado and $714 and $7231 in Louisiana. CONCLUSIONS: Program costs varied substantially by location. Our analysis helps program managers and health care providers to understand the resources needed for implementing the PCRS in diverse settings.

The use of a silymarin/phospholipid compound as a fetoprotectant from ethanol-induced behavioral deficits.

We have replicated an earlier study in which silymarin/phytosome appeared to prevent deficits in social memory function in male rats exposed in utero to ethanol (EtOH).1 Female rats were included in the current study as well as a second behavioral test, the radial arm maze. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were provided with liquid diets containing 35% ethanol derived calories (EDC). The silybin/phospholipid compound (SI) was co-administered with EtOH to the experimental group. The offspring were tested at age 90 days on the social recognition task and at 75 days on the radial arm maze. Female EtOH-exposed offspring performed more poorly on the radial arm maze than did female EtOH/SI offspring and the offspring of female controls. Male EtOH-exposed offspring were less able to form social memories than the male EtOH/SI offspring and the offspring of male controls.