Requiring help injecting independently predicts incident HIV infection among injection drug users.

Background: Requiring help injecting has been associated with syringe sharing among injection drug users (IDUs). No prospective study has fully examined this risk factor and its relation to rates of HIV infection. We investigated whether requiring help injecting illicit drugs was a predictor of HIV infection among a prospective cohort of IDUs.

Gender differences in HIV-1 RNA rebound attributed to incomplete antiretroviral adherence among HIV-Infected patients in a population-based cohort.

Background: There have been growing concerns about possible gender-related differences in rates of responses to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). We therefore examined the association between gender and time to HIV-1 RNA rebound in antiretroviral-naive HIV-infected patients initiating HAART in a population-based setting.

Methods: We evaluated all antiretroviral-naive HIV-infected men and women who achieved HIV-1 RNA suppression at least once (HIV RNA <500 copies/mL) after initiating HAART between August 1, 1996 and July 31, 2000 and who were followed until March 31, 2002 in a province-wide HIV treatment program.

Sexual risk profile of young men in Vancouver, British Columbia, who have sex with men and inject drugs.

We compared sexual risk behaviors of men who have sex with men and inject drugs (MSM/IDU) with those of other men who have sex with men (MSM). Of 910 MSM surveyed, 106 (12%) injected drugs in the previous year. MSM/IDU were younger than MSM and more likely to be HIV-seropositive, Aboriginal, economically disadvantaged, engaged in the trade of sex for money or drugs, and to report having female sexual partners.

Age, adherence and injection drug use predict virological suppression among men and women enrolled in a population-based antiretroviral drug treatment programme.

Objectives: To characterize 1-year virological response to antiretroviral therapy and its determinants by sex.

Methods: This is a population-based analysis of antiretroviral therapy naive HIV-positive adult men and women. Factors associated with sex and with plasma HIV RNA viral load suppression to below 500 copies/ml were examined using non-parametric tests and logistic regression analyses.

Willingness to participate and enroll in a phase 3 preventive HIV-1 vaccine trial.

Objectives: To assess the extent to which HIV-negative cohort study participants would be willing to participate (WTP) in future HIV vaccine trials, to explore enrollment into an ongoing phase 3 HIV vaccine trial, and to assess changing WTP in such trials over time.

Methods: The Vanguard Project is a prospective study of gay and bisexual men in the greater Vancouver region, British Columbia, Canada. Sociodemographic characteristics, sexual risk behavior, beliefs around HIV, and reasons for not participating in the AIDSVAX B/B trial were collected from self-administered questionnaires.