Publications by authors named "Harita Shah"

Latino/a/x sexual minority men (SMM) and transgender women remain disproportionately impacted by HIV, with higher HIV incidence and lower uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) than their non-Hispanic White peers. Disparities in PrEP uptake among Latino/a/x populations have been found to be due to structural, social, and personal barriers. Social marketing interventions have been shown to effectively address barriers and increase PrEP uptake in other populations, and thus offer potential as a tool to increase PrEP uptake for Latino/a/x populations.

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Background: Latino, Latina, and Latinx (Latino/a/x) individuals remain disproportionately impacted by HIV, particularly sexual minority men and transgender women. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective means of biomedical HIV prevention, but awareness and uptake remain low among marginalized Latino/a/x populations. Social marketing campaigns have demonstrated promise in promoting PrEP in other populations but are poorly studied in Latino/a/x sexual minority men and transgender women.

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A 25-year-old aesthetician was operating Q-switch pulse (SPECTRA) cosmetic laser machine of 1,064 nm wavelength, for the purpose of skin bleaching. The probe suddenly slipped over the plastic sheet that had been placed to avoid COVID-19 exposure after which she complained of sudden loss of vision. She was diagnosed as having vitreous hemorrhage in her right eye and was treated conservatively for one month.

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To address disparities in COVID-19 outcomes among Latinos with limited English proficiency in Maryland, our team developed a culturally congruent intervention that coupled a statewide social marketing campaign with community-based COVID-19 services. In the first year, we reached 305 122 people through social media advertisements and had 9607 visitors to the Web site. Social marketing campaigns represent an opportunity to promote COVID-19 testing and vaccine uptake among Latino populations, especially when they are paired with community services that simultaneously address structural barriers to care.

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HIV-related stigma exacerbates Latino immigrants' risk of HIV infection and delayed care. Following the implementation of the social marketing campaign Sólo Se Vive Una Vez (You Only Live Once) to increase HIV testing that addressed stigmatizing beliefs, we conducted a survey among Latinos in Baltimore, Maryland (N = 357). The aims of this paper are to 1) characterize the sociodemographic characteristics, HIV-related stigma beliefs, and testing behaviors of the survey respondents by campaign exposure, and 2) model the effects of Vive exposure on stigma beliefs and testing behaviors.

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Background: Latino communities are among the most heavily impacted populations by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States due to intersectional barriers to care. Crowdsourcing open contests can be an effective means of community engagement but have not been well studied in Latino populations nor in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: The aims of this study are to (1) implement and evaluate a crowdsourcing open contest to solicit a name for a COVID-19 social marketing campaign for Latino populations in Maryland and (2) conduct a thematic analysis of submitted entries to guide campaign messaging.

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Purpose: To report six patients with endogenous endophthalmitis as a complication of COVID-19 infection.

Methods: A multicentric retrospective database review of patients with a diagnosis of endogenous endophthalmitis and a history of COVID-19 infection.

Results: .

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Latinxs in the United States are disproportionately affected by HIV and present with more advanced disease than their non-Latinx peers, due to numerous barriers to care including HIV stigma. We describe the adaptation, implementation, and reach of (You Only Live Once), Baltimore's first social marketing campaign promoting HIV screening among Spanish-speaking Latinxs. The 6-month campaign promoted free HIV testing by addressing HIV stigma.

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Objective: Among children in low-income families 1) examine associations between parent activation and pediatric primary care outcomes and 2) explore parent perspectives on Parent-Patient Activation Measure (P-PAM) questions in relation to pediatric primary care experiences.

Methods: We examined associations between P-PAM score via Spanish- or English-language survey and healthcare outcomes abstracted from electronic medical records for parent/child dyads at an urban general pediatrics clinic. Parent perspectives were elicited via qualitative interviews with a subsample of parents who "thought aloud" during P-PAM completion.

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Patient activation (the knowledge, confidence, willingness, and skills to manage one's healthcare) and health literacy have well-established associations with health and healthcare outcomes in adults. However, little is known about parent activation on behalf of children and its relation to health literacy. Our objective was to examine relations between parent activation, health literacy, and parent-provider relationship quality.

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Latino children in the United States, whether immigrants themselves or children in immigrant families, are at high risk for mental health disorders stemming from poverty, exposure to trauma, assimilation stressors, and discrimination. The timely identification and treatment of mental health disorders in Latino children are compromised by limited healthcare access and quality as well as the lack of routine mental health screening in pediatric primary care. Here we review Spanish-language validity and implementation studies of Bright Futures previsit mental health screening tools and models of care.

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HIV-related stigma has been associated with a reluctance to test for HIV among Latinos. This study assessed community HIV-related stigma within an emerging Latino immigrant receiving city. We conducted a brief survey among a convenience sample of 312 Spanish-speaking Latinos in Baltimore, Maryland.

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Objective: (1) To measure healthcare activation among low-income parents by language (English/Spanish); and (2) to assess the psychometrics of the Parent-Patient Activation Measure (P-PAM) in the study population.

Methods: We surveyed parents/guardians of publicly-insured children who were established patients at a pediatrics clinic for ≥6months. Surveys included the Parent-Patient Activation Measure (P-PAM), a 13-item measure adapted from the well-validated Patient Activation Measure (PAM).

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Article Synopsis
  • Conventional tuberculosis detection methods in developing countries, like Panama, have long turnaround times, delaying treatment and allowing for community transmission.
  • The study evaluated the Genotype MTBDRplus version 2.0 molecular assay, which can quickly detect M. tuberculosis and identify resistance mutations directly from sputum samples.
  • Results showed that the assay had 100% sensitivity and specificity for detecting M. tuberculosis and rifampin resistance, while it was 90.7% sensitive for isoniazid resistance, enabling faster and accurate identification of drug-resistant cases within just 2 days.
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Background: There is scant data on young children receiving protease inhibitor-based therapy in real-life resource-limited settings and on the optimal timing of therapy among children who survive infancy. Our aim was to evaluate outcomes at the Hospital del Niño, Panama, where children have been routinely treated with lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r)-based therapy since 2002.

Methods: Retrospective cohort analysis of all HIV-infected children enrolled in care between January 1, 1991, and June 1, 2011.

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