Assessing the Knowledge of HIV among Engineering College Students and their Attitude toward People Living with HIV | Chapter 2 | Medical Research and Its Applications Vol. 3

 

Aim: This study was conducted to assess the knowledge of HIV among engineering college students and their attitude toward people living with HIV.

Introduction: The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a serious worldwide public health issue that arises from a retrovirus that infects immune system cells in humans, either killing or severely weakening them. The patient exhibits no symptoms in the early stages of the infection. HIV can spread through unprotected sexual contact, contaminated needle exchanges, contaminated blood transfusions, and mother-child transmission. In 2022, globally, 39 million people are living with HIV and 630000 people died from HIV-related causes. The total number of people living with HIV in India is estimated at 24.01 lakh people in 2021.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was done among college students from engineering colleges in Pondicherry from April 2018 to September 2018. The selection of study subjects was done using simple random sampling. After getting informed consent from the individuals a pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire was administered. Data were entered and analysed using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Descriptive statistics were used and results were expressed as proportions.

Results: The majority of the students, about 92.4% had heard about HIV/AIDS, and about 92.4% of the participants were aware that HIV can spread through body fluids such as blood, sexual contact, and urine. More than half 52.7% of students are aware that migrant workers, lorry drivers, and commercial sex workers are high-risk groups for HIV/AIDS. 68.8% of students don’t know their HIV status. 65.2% were not willing to isolate HIV-infected people from society. Regarding the attitude toward people living with HIV, the results of this study, are still discriminatory. The majority of the students were willing to accept and support the HIV patient, but this was not adequate and still, some stigma persists.

Conclusion: More health education and campaigns to raise student knowledge of HIV/AIDS are urgently needed. The Ministry of Education discovered more effective ways to disseminate the required knowledge on HIV/AIDS via the Internet, social media, mobile apps, hotlines, booklets, and printed instructional materials.

 

Author(s)details:-

 

V. Pragadeesh Raja
Shri Sathya Sai Medical College and Research Institute, Ammapettai, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India.

 

Dharani Lenin
KMC Hospital, Mangalore, Karnataka, India.

 

Please See the book here :- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/mria/v3/8577E

Profiling Lipids in People Living with HIV Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy at Mpilo Central Hospital OIC: Hitherto Going Forth? | Chapter 10 | Recent Advances in Science and Technology Research Vol. 2

Introduction: Long term use of antiretroviral therapy subpopulation living with HIV is associated with disturbances in plasma lipids concentrations. Lipids profiles were not routinely used to monitor treatment in the course of treatment resulting in adverse outcomes. Supportive information for the use of lipid concentrations is necessary for the day to day monitoring of people living with HIV on antiretroviral treatment. Evidence of the importance of lipid profiles in monitoring treatment was hoped to influence end users to institute routine monitoring. To this end, the prevalence and timing of dyslipidemia onset in people living with HIV/AIDS on ART Bulawayo, Zimbabwe were determined. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted at Mpilo Central Hospital OIC in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe over 3 months. A cross-sectional study was conducted in people living with HIV who were on highly active anti-retroviral treatment at Mpilo Central Hospital OIC. Lipid assays were determined by Elisa methods. Viral loads and CD4 were measured using the COBAS® TaqMan® and BD FACSCount™ Flow Cytometer, respectively. Results: A total of 149 accepting participants were enrolled with most (63.2%) being females. The median age of the respondents was 43 years and their median CD4 count was 436 cells/μL after a median duration on ART of 36 months. Viral load was <40 in the majority (68.6%) of the participants. More females (63.1%) were on HAART and were aged >35 (60.4%) years. NNRTI (90.6%) were the more commonly prescribed HAART. The prevalence of dyslipidemia was 70.2%. Hypercholesterolaemia was detected in 72 (48.3%) patients with 26 being male and 46 being female. High levels of LDL-cholesterol (LDL-c ≥ 3.0 mmol/L) were found in 115 patients with 74 of them being female. Hypertriacylglycerolaemia (TAG ≥ 2.0 mmol/L) was present in 8 cases. The proportion of patients with a low HDL-cholesterol (HDL-c < 1.0 mmol/L) was 15.3% while those with a ratio of TC/HDL-c ≥ 4.1 were 87.5%. Conclusion: The study demonstrated a high prevalence of dyslipidemia in HIV-patients receiving HAART. There is a need for the HIV program to institute laboratory monitoring of blood lipids in patients over one year on HAART. In addition, testing and development of biomarkers of other novel pathophysiological changes and HAART outcomes that may develop in the subpopulation in time, is of paramount importance as adverse drug effects are still being experienced that may necessitate regimen changes. 

Author(s) Details

Dr. Greanious Alfred Mavondo
Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Science and Technology, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

View Book :- http://bp.bookpi.org/index.php/bpi/catalog/book/189