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HIV infection is presented in the chapters of the Clinical Protocol and Therapeutic Guidelines for Comprehensive Care for People with Sexually Transmitted Infections, published by the Brazilian Ministry of Health in 2020. Health professionals and managers must learn the signs and symptoms of HIV infection and know how to diagnose it to provide appropriate treatment and reduce complications. HIV infection has become a chronic disease. Its treatment includes addressing common comorbidities such as arterial hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia, in addition to cardiac risk assessment, cancer prevention, and guidance on immunization. Initiation of treatment for HIV patients is recommended regardless of clinical or immunological criteria as adopted by the Ministry of Health since 2013. Lately, it has been simplified with more tolerable first-line medications and fewer drug interactions, making its management easy to implement, including by primary health care. HIV cases are concentrated in specific population groups, such as sex workers, men who have sex with men, transexuals, people who use alcohol or other drugs, and vulnerable people, such as black, incarcerated, or people living on the streets.

HIV infection is the subject of one of the chapters of the "Clinical Protocol and Therapeutic Guidelines for Comprehensive Care for People with Sexually Transmitted Infections", published by the Brazilian Ministry of Health in 2020. It is important that health professionals and managers learn the signs and symptoms of HIV infection and know how to diagnose it, in order to provide appropriate treatment and reduce complications. HIV infection has become a chronic disease and its treatment includes addressing common comorbidities in clinical practice such as arterial hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia, in addition to cardiac risk assessment, cancer prevention and guidance on immunization. Initiation of treatment for all HIV patients, regardless of clinical or immunological criteria, adopted by the Ministry of Health since 2013, has now been simplified with more tolerable first-line medications and with fewer drug interactions, which makes its management easy to implement, including by Primary Health Care.

Despite the availability of effective antimicrobials, tuberculosis (TB) is still a serious health threat. Mortality is even higher in people living with HIV who are diagnosed with TB. New therapies are needed to shorten the time required to cure TB and decrease fatality rates in this population. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a glutathione precursor and has shown recently in experimental setting to present in vitro and in vivo anti-mycobacterial activity. We test the hypothesis that NAC is safe, well tolerated and secondarily efficacious as adjunctive anti-TB therapy in hospitalized individuals with HIV-associated TB. Patients were enrolled sequentially in a tertiary care center, in the Brazilian Amazon. We performed a randomized, parallel group, single-center, open study trial of two arms, in hospitalized patients over 18 years of age, with microbiologically confirmed pulmonary TB in HIV: one with rifampicin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide and ethambutol at standard doses (Control Group), and a second in which NAC 600 mg bid for eight weeks was added (NAC Group). A total of 21 and 18 patients were enrolled to the Control Group and NAC Group, respectively. Adverse event rates were similar in the two arms. Our findings suggest that in the more critical population of hospitalized patients with HIV-associated TB, the use of NAC was not unsafe, despite the low sample size, and a potential impact on faster negative cultures needs to be further explored in larger studies., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Objective: to describe the implementation of the Fast Test (FT) of syphilis and HIV in prenatal care in primary healthcare units in Fortaleza, Ceará., Method: a descriptive study with a quantitative approach. There were training supervisions carried out in 24 units between May and August 2014, and the inclusion criterion was to have at least one trained professional., Results: the physical space, the availability, validity and the performance of FT in prenatal were analyzed. The data were presented in simple frequency tables. It was identified adequate space in 79.2% of the units, availability of FT in 62.5%, performing the tests in 37.5%, and of these, 55.6% doing these procedures in routine prenatal care., Conclusion: the primary units have difficulties in implementing FT in syphilis and HIV in the prenatal routine. This activity is seen as an effective strategy to reduce vertical transmission of these infections.

The objective of this study is to analyze the perinatal results of the prophylactic measures adopted in the prevention of the vertical transmission of HIV. The study was carried out using the medical records of 168 women with HIV and their newborns in a public maternity unit of Fortaleza, in the state of Ceará, from 2005 to 2009. The data was obtained between the months of March and September 2010 and was analyzed using the program SPSS 10.0. The women diagnosed before pregnancy received timely care that permitted them an effective antiretroviral therapy and a greater number of check-ups (p<0,05). Antiretroviral therapy was administered to 97.6% of the pregnant women, and triple therapy in 88.7%. AZT was administered intrapartum in 95.2% of the women and oral AZT in syrup to 100% of the newborns. Birth by cesarean section was predominant (92.8%) and was associated to the intrapartum use of AZT when compared to vaginal birth (p<0.001). Cesarean section favored intrapartum administration of AZT.

The medical care of occupational accidents in Tropical Medicine Foundation Dr. Heitor Dourado (FMT-HVD), involving blood and body fluids, started routinely in 1999. The objective of this report is to emphasize the importance of the measures used for the control of accidents with biological material. This study is carried out after a detailed epidemiological investigation confirmed one case of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seroconversion after an occupational accident involving bodily fluids and sharp instruments.

The study aims to apprehend the subjectivity production possibilities concerning sexuality in a group of women living with HIV/aids, based on the sociopoetic method. The subjects were nine women with HIV/aids attended at the public referral hospital for infectious diseases in Fortaleza-CE. The results appoint that sexuality appears in several dimensions: in the sexual act, in knowing their own body, in professional accomplishment, in feelings of desire and love, besides the feeling of freedom. We concluded that sexuality is present in the individual's totality; it is not limited to the sexual act, but goes much further and is characterized as a dynamic reality.

Free access to prenatal care and HIV tests represent the first step in the prevention of vertical transmission and guarantees early prophylactic measures. This study aims at analyzing the coverage of HIV testing in pregnant women in a Basic Family Health Unit in the city of Fortaleza, Ceará. The theoretical-methodological basis of the study was the grounded theory, which proposes generation of theory from data derived from the social reality. Data were collected through participant observation, open interviews with physicians, nurses and pregnant women and in focal groups with pregnant women and health agents. The women faced institutional barriers to prenatal care and HIV testing. Difficulties in making the appointments for prenatal care hampered early identification of pregnant women and delayed their assistance. With respect to HIV testing, the study found that the Basic Health Unit does not collect the biologic material; there are few laboratories performing this kind of exam and those who do are very far from the pregnant women's residences. This study concludes that even in the Family Health Unit, the access to prenatal care for pregnant women remains difficult, and that the prevention of vertical HIV transmission depends on political, institutional and structural changes.

Detect the experiences of pregnants and mothers that bear the HIV viruses using quimioprophylaxlis to prevent the upright transmission. A research of qualitative approach developed between march and april of 2006 on main mother-hoods in Fortaleza - Ceará. The persons were pregnants and mothers with positive HIV in the accompaniment and in the accommodations. The colect of informations happened with interviews appointments and analisys in three categories: the revelations of diagnosis to relatives, the advice and how live these persons with the advices to profilaxy of the upright transmission. We can see these women fought against conflicts and negative fellings in their lives and a individualize accompaniment by a capacitate team minimizes the emotional side of the patients.