Publications by authors named "J Slowikowski"

Myocarditis occurs with a variety of infectious agents including viruses, bacteria, protozoa and parasites. We present a rare case of myocarditis secondary to in a 23-year-old immunocompetent male presenting with acute chest pain. Workup revealed evidence of biventricular myocarditis on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, elevated Toxoplasma serologies with rising titers over time.

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Background: Ending the HIV epidemic requires linkage of at-risk individuals from diverse health care settings to comprehensive HIV prevention services. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are significant biomarkers of HIV risk and should trigger preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) discussion. We reviewed STI testing practices outside of sexual health clinics to identify opportunities for improvement in the provision of HIV prevention services.

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In December 2017, our academic medical center implemented universal hepatitis C virus screening among adult hospitalized patients. We reviewed charts of patients screening positive outside the birth cohort (1945-1965) in the first 6 months after implementation. Documented risk factors were common in younger patients but rare in patients born before 1945.

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Background: HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) reduces incident HIV infections, but efficacy depends on adherence and retention, among other factors. Substance use disorders, unmet mental health needs, and demographic factors are associated with nonadherence in HIV-infected patients; we studied whether these affect PrEP retention in care.

Methods: To investigate potential risk factors disengagement in a comprehensive HIV prevention program, we conducted a retrospective cohort analysis of individuals starting tenofovir-emtricitabine between January 1, 2015, and November 30, 2017.

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Even though over the last 25 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for HIV screening have expanded to encompass population-wide screening in all healthcare settings, and despite the availability of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a large proportion of individuals at risk of infection are not linked to prevention care. We evaluated missed opportunities for HIV screening and linkage to PrEP from 2006 through 2017 at an urban academic medical center serving a predominantly minority community. A missed opportunity for HIV screening was a provider visit that did not include HIV testing and occurred within the 12 months before the first positive HIV test.

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