The severity of COVID-19 across the spectrum of HIV.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: We review the intersection between the HIV and COVID-19 pandemics, particularly the impact of HIV infection on the development of severe COVID-19. RECENT FINDINGS: Studies early in the COVID-19 pandemic did not find a clear link between HIV infection and increased COVID-19 severity or mortality. People with HIV (PWH) were more likely to have severe COVID-19, but much of the risk for worse outcomes was related to high rates of comorbidities and social determinants of health. Although comorbidities and social determinants of health are certainly critically important reasons for severe COVID-19 among PWH, recent large studies have found HIV infection - particularly when the CD4 cell count is low or HIV RNA is not suppressed - is an independent risk factor for COVID-19 severity. The link between HIV and severe COVID-19 highlights the need to diagnose and treat HIV as well as the importance of COVID-19 vaccination and treatment among PWH. SUMMARY: People with HIV have faced increased challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic because of high rates of comorbidities and social determinants of health as well as the impact of HIV on COVID-19 severity. Information on the intersection of the two pandemics has been crucial to improving care for people with HIV.

Physician Assistant's Knowledge and Confidence Regarding Prescribing Preexposure Prophylaxis for HIV Prevention.

Physician assistants (PAs) have an important role to play in increasing preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) prescriptions. We surveyed PAs regarding knowledge of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for PrEP and confidence regarding PrEP. Physician assistants in primary care reported more accurate knowledge and higher confidence. However, knowledge and confidence gaps were present among all PAs, regardless of specialty.

Hadza hunter-gatherer men do not have more masculine digit ratios (2D:4D).

OBJECTIVES: The ratio between the length of the second and the length of the fourth digit (2D:4D) is sexually dimorphic such that males of many species possess a lower ratio than females, particularly in the right hand. Still, men and women often exhibit overlapping 2D:4D ranges and the ratio is highly variable between populations. In order to further explore populational variability, we chose to analyze 2D:4D in the Hadza, a population of hunter-gatherers living in Tanzania. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were collected separately by two researchers over the course of three years (1998, 2001, 2006) from 152 adult participants (male: n = 76, female: n = 76). Independent samples t-tests were used to explore sex differences, paired samples t-tests were used to explore directional effects within each sex, and linear regression and one-way ANOVA were used to test possible age effects. RESULTS: In none of the years, or pooled (n = 152), did we find evidence that adult men have a lower 2D:4D than adult women. If anything, the data suggest that women in this population have a significantly lower right hand 2D:4D than men (P < 0.001, d = 0.57). In contrast, left hand 2D:4D did not exhibit a sex difference (P = 0.862, d = 0.03). DISCUSSION: These findings challenge the current view that lower 2D:4D in men is a uniform characteristic of our species. Cross-populational variance in 2D:4D may be related to known patterns of hormonal variation resulting from both genetic and environmental mechanisms, though this relationship merits further investigation.