Women Living with HIV in Italian Prison Settings: Results from the Gender-Specific ROSE Network

Autor: Elena Rastrelli, Vito Fiore, Roberto Ranieri, Emanuele Pontali, Tullio Prestileo, Giorgio Barbarini, Anna Maria Ialungo, Serena Dell’Isola, Andrea De Vito, Matteo Bolcato, Giordano Madeddu, Giulio Di Mizio, Giulio Starnini, Sergio Babudieri
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: Viruses, Vol 15, Iss 2, p 497 (2023)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1999-4915
DOI: 10.3390/v15020497
Popis: Background: Incarcerated women are a minority in the Italian prison population. The lack of prevention and awareness of HIV infection and the lack of access to treatment make the treatment path difficult. Methods: we conducted a multi-center study including incarcerated women living with HIV (WLWH). Results: The study included 85 WLWH with a mean age of 41.7 ± 8.7 years, and 58.8% (50/85) of them were Italian. Principally, HIV transmission was related to sexual intercourse, 47% of all patients were PWIDs, and 62.5% of them were on opioid substitution therapy (OST). Overall, 56.4% of the included patients had a CD4+ cell count of >500 cells/mmc. Among the participants, 92.9% were on antiretroviral therapy, 87.3% had treatment before incarceration, and 83.5% were virologically suppressed. Among the 13 non-virally-suppressed patients, 53.8% were unaware of their serological status before incarceration and had started HAART but were still not virologically suppressed; 46.2% (6/13) had a lack of compliance or had suspended the treatment before incarceration and restarted it after admission. All patients with chronic hepatitis C underwent treatment with direct-acting antivirals and reached a sustained virological response. Conclusions: the detention of these women could represent an occasion for the patients’ healthcare provision and use, and the creation of a gender-specific network can be an effective strategy for reaching this population.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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