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Some patients develop AIDS within a year of HIV infection ('accelerated progression'). Classifying such cases as late HIV diagnosis may lead to inaccurate evaluation of HIV testing efforts. We sought to determine this group's contribution to overall late diagnosis rates. To identify cases of accelerated progression (development of AIDS within 12 months of a negative HIV test), we reviewed published HIV seroconverter cohort studies and used New York City's (NYC) HIV/AIDS surveillance registry. From the literature review, three seroconverter cohort studies revealed that 1.0-3.6% of participants had accelerated progression to AIDS. Applying this frequency estimate to the number of new infections in NYC (4762) for 2006 calculated by the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention's incidence formula, we estimated that 3.6-13.0% of 1317 NYC HIV cases who are diagnosed with AIDS within 12 months of HIV diagnosis are accelerated progressors, not persons HIV infected for many years who did not test and present with AIDS (i.e., delayed diagnosis). In addition, our analysis of the 2006 NYC surveillance registry confirmed the occurrence of accelerated progression in a population-based setting; 67 accelerated progressors were reported and 9 (13%) could be confirmed through follow-up medical record review. With increased HIV testing initiatives, the irreducible proportion of AIDS cases with accelerated progression must be considered when interpreting late diagnosis data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the continued high incidence of HIV infection in the United States among racial/ethnic minority young men who have sex with men (YMSM), and an appreciation that antiretroviral therapy (ART) can provide personal and public health benefits, attention is needed to enhance the detection of HIV-infected youth and engage them in medical care and support services that encourage sustained HIV treatment and suppression of viremia. Poor retention in clinical care has been associated with higher mortality, an increase in HIV RNA, and decreased CD4 cell count. The goal of the current study was to evaluate the health care utilization and health outcomes of HIV-infected racial/ethnic minority YMSM enrolled in an outreach, linkage, and retention study funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB). We hypothesized that among racial/ethnic minority YMSM, baseline CD4 counts and usage of ART are influenced by age, race, drug and alcohol use, and mental health symptoms. Overall, 155 subjects had at least a baseline CD4 count recorded at study entry. There was a low rate of ART use in this population with only one-half of the cohort with CD4 counts ≤350 cells/mm3 being prescribed ART to treat their infection. However, of those youth who were started on ART, the majority (74%) did achieve undetectable viral loads (<400 copies). Given the continued increase in cases of HIV infection among racial/ethnic minority YMSM, efforts to increase both the provision of ART and support services that encourage adherence in this population are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Longitudinal Epidemiologic Study to Gain Insight into HIV/AIDS in Children and Youth (LEGACY) study is a prospective, multisite, longitudinal cohort of U.S. HIV-infected youth. This analysis was limited to perinatally HIV-infected youth ( n=197), 13 years and older, with selected variables completely abstracted from HIV diagnosis through 2006. We evaluated relationships between ever having one or more nonsubstance related medically documented psychiatric diagnoses and three risky health behaviors (substance abuse, preadult sexual activity, and treatment adherence problems) recorded between 2001 and 2006. Logistic regression was used for all binary outcomes and participant age was included as a covariate when possible. All 197 participants included in the analysis were prescribed antiretroviral therapy during the study period; 110 (56%) were female, 100 (51%) were black non-Hispanic, and 86 (44%) were Hispanic; mean age at the last visit was 16.8 years, ranging from 13 to 24 years. One hundred forty-six (74%) participants had a history of at least one risky health behavior. There were 108 (55%) participants with at least one medically documented psychiatric diagnosis, 17 (9%) with at least one record of substance abuse, 12 (6%) with documented preadult sexual activity, and 142 (72%) participants with reported adherence problems. In the final model, a history of at least one psychiatric diagnosis was associated with having at least one of the three risky behaviors (odds ratio [OR]=2.33, p=0.015). There is a need for a continued close partnership between HIV specialty care providers and mental health services treating perinatally HIV-infected youth with an added focus on improving treatment adherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data on outcomes of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in the HIV-infected population are mixed and the perception of worse outcomes in HIV may lead to excess hospitalization. We retrospectively evaluated the utility of the Pneumonia Severity Index, or PORT score, as a prediction rule for mortality in 102 HIV-infected adults hospitalized at an urban public hospital with CAP. Primary outcome was survival at 30 days. Secondary outcomes included survival on discharge, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, length of stay, and readmission within 30 days. The cohort was predominantly male (70%) with a mean age of 45.4 years (standard deviation [SD]±7.4). Mean CD4 cell count was 318 cells per microliter; 40 (39%) had CD4 less than 200 cells per microliter. Forty-three percent were on antiretroviral therapy at the time of admission and 31% on prophylactic antibiotics. Twelve patients had bacteremia on admission, predominantly with Streptococcus pneumoniae. Of the 46 patients with admission sputum cultures, 20 yielded an organism, most commonly Haemophilus influenzae and S. pneumoniae. Overall survival in the cohort was high, 96%. Most patients (81%) had a low PORT risk score (class I-III). PORT score predicted 30-day survival ( p=0.01) and ICU admission ( p=0.03), but antiretroviral use did not. In contrast to a prior study, we did not find that CD4 cell count predicted CAP outcome. Lack of stable housing was not associated with worse outcomes. The PORT score may be a valid tool to predict mortality and need for hospital admission in HIV-infected patients with CAP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]