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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in humans; symptoms can range from asymptomatic to mild or severe, including severe respiratory distress and sometimes death (1). [...]

A qualitative study using focus group approach reveals major concerns, personal beliefs, and coping responses of African-American women at risk for human immunodeficiency virus infection. © 1991 The Jacobs Institute of Women's Health.

Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) is associated with high morbidity and mortality in the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). In 2010, a genetically distinct RHDV named RHDV2 emerged in Europe and spread to many other regions, including North America in 2016. Prior to this study it was unknown if eastern cottontails (ECT(s); Sylvilagus floridanus), one of the most common wild lagomorphs in the United States, were susceptible to RHDV2. In this study, 10 wild‐caught ECTs and 10 New Zealand white rabbits (NZWR(s); O. cuniculus) were each inoculated orally with either RHDV (RHDVa/GI.1a; n = 5 per species) or RHDV2 (a recombinant GI.1bP‐GI.2; n = 5 per species) and monitored for the development of disease. Three of the five ECTs that were infected with RHDV2 developed disease consistent with RHD and died at 4 and 6 days post‐inoculation (DPI). The RHDV major capsid protein/antigen (VP60) was detected in the livers of three ECTs infected with RHDV2, but none was detected in the ECTs infected with RHDV. Additionally, RHD viral RNA was detected in the liver, spleen, intestine and blood of ECTs infected with RHDV2, but not in the ECTs infected with RHDV. RHD viral RNA was detected in urine, oral swabs and rectal swabs in at least two of five ECTs infected with RHDV2. One ECT inoculated with RHDV2 seroconverted and developed a high antibody titre by the end of the experimental period (21 DPI). ECTs inoculated with the classic RHDV did not seroconvert. In comparison, NZWRs inoculated with RHDV2 exhibited high mortality (five of five) at 2 DPI and four of five NZWRs inoculated with RHDV either died or were euthanized at 2 DPI indicating both of these viruses were highly pathogenic to this species. This experiment indicates that ECTs are susceptible to RHDV2 and can shed viral RNA, thereby suggesting this species could be involved in the epidemiology of this virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concern about possible exposure of hospital staff to HIV-infected patients has recently increased, leading to a situation of potential conflict between staff members' need to know whether patients are infected, and patients' rights to confidentiality. To learn more regarding HIV-testing policies in acute-care hospitals, a random sample of 561 private and public hospitals was studied. The chief administrator of each facility received a letter explaining the study, followed some time later by a 15-minute telephone interview. The questions concerned the hospital's history with respect to the admission of AIDS patients, its HIV-testing policies, and the origin of those policies. Results showed that 83 percent of the institutions had admitted at least one patient with AIDS. Fewer than 10 percent had admitted more than 20 AIDS patients during 1988. Slightly more than 83 percent of the hospitals had a written HIV-testing policy, and the factor that had been most influential in developing such a policy was staff members' fear of being infected. A detailed presentation of the elements of the hospitals' testing policies appears. Many (78 percent) required that the patient's informed consent be obtained before testing for HIV; however, notification of the patient in the event of a positive result was required in only three out of four hospitals. Half the hospitals required that test results be placed in patients' charts, to "protect" insurers. Certain policies, such as review of treatment plans for HIV-positive patients, could result in substitution of a less dangerous for a more dangerous procedure; more administrators said such reviews were commonly made because of staff fears of infection (25 percent) than because of potential benefit to the patient (23 percent). Balancing patients' rights against the rights of health care providers is not an easy task for institutions in the face of the AIDS epidemic. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)