| Autor: |
Saracino, A., El-Hamad, I., Prato, R., Cibelli, D. C., Tartaglia, A., Palumbo, E., Pezzoli, M. C., Angarano, G., Scotto, G. |
| Předmět: |
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| Zdroj: |
AIDS Patient Care & STDs; Sep2005, Vol. 19 Issue 9, p599-606, 8p |
| Abstrakt: |
Since 1996, AIDS has declined in the Italian population, but cases in foreign patients, including both recent immigrants and long-term residents, have increased from 3.9% in 1995–1996 to 15.4% in 2001–2002. This increase can only be partly explained by a higher migratory flow and might reflect a delayed access to health facilities and to antiretroviral therapy in migrants. We performed a survey for the year 2003 of HIV-infected immigrants to Italy from countries outside the European Union to verify which factors might influence a lack of access to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Italian centers of infectious diseases were requested to send sociodemographic and clinical data of HIV-infected immigrant patients. A total of 553 HIV-infected immigrants (49.9% women) were evaluated, representing 6.5% of all HIV-infected patients from these centers. The mean duration of residency in Italy was 6.6 ± 5.0 years. The country of origin was Africa (64.5%), North and South America (24.2%), Eastern Europe (7.0%), and Asia (3.8%). A total of 407 of 553 patients (73.6%) were taking antiretroviral drugs at the time of screening. Females presented a younger age ( p = 0.001), a lower frequency of Centers for Disease Control (CDC) stage B/C ( p = 0.008) and a more frequent heterosexual exposure to HIV ( p < 0.001), while no differences were observed for time of first positive serology ( p = 0.7). CD4 cell count ( p = 0.9) and log plasma HIV-RNA ( p = 0.1). Characteristics of HAART patients were compared to those of nontreated patients, despite a CD4 cell count less than 350 cells/mm3. No significant difference was found for gender, country of origin, risk factor, and years of Italian residence, while legal immigrants ( p = 0.018) and registered in the National Health Service ( p = 0.014) were significantly more likely to receive HAART compared to illegal immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Databáze: |
Complementary Index |
| Externí odkaz: |
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