Hepatitis C infection among pregnant women in British Columbia: reported prevalence and critical appraisal of current prenatal screening methods.

Background: Despite the fact that hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a relatively common infection in Canada, particularly in British Columbia (BC), there is a paucity of information on actual HCV prevalence in pregnant women. At present, pregnant women are only screened if they fit risk criteria, which may result in under-identification of HCV in this population. The purpose of this study was to determine the overall prevalence rate, age and geographic distribution of reported HCV infection among pregnant women in BC, and compare results to a previously conducted anonymous seroprevalence survey.

Gender differences in HIV and hepatitis C related vulnerabilities among aboriginal young people who use street drugs in two Canadian cities.

Objectives: Vulnerability to HIV and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection for indigenous populations worldwide must be contextualized in experiences of current and past trauma. Aboriginal women entrenched in poverty face further gender-specific harms which place them at increased risk for HIV infection.

Methods: This study was cross-sectional and based on a community-based sample of Aboriginal young people (Metis, Aboriginal, First Nations, Inuit, and non-status Indians) between the ages of 14 and 30 years who used injection or non-injection non-cannabis illegal drugs (street drugs) in the previous month.

Prevalence and incidence of hepatitis C virus infection among Aboriginal young people who use drugs: results from the Cedar Project.

Background: We sought to estimate the prevalence and incidence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among Aboriginal young people who use drugs and to identify risk factors associated with HCV infection in this population.

Methods: The Cedar Project is a longitudinal study involving Aboriginal young people living in Vancouver and Prince George, British Columbia. Eligibility criteria include age from 14 to 30 years and self-reported use (smoking or injection) of illicit drugs (e.

The Cedar Project: historical trauma, sexual abuse and HIV risk among young Aboriginal people who use injection and non-injection drugs in two Canadian cities.

Recent Indigenist scholarship has situated high rates of traumatic life experiences, including sexual abuse, among Indigenous peoples of North America within the larger context of their status as colonized peoples. Sexual abuse has been linked to many negative health outcomes including mental, sexual and drug-related vulnerabilities. There is a paucity of research in Canada addressing the relationship between antecedent sexual abuse and negative health outcomes among Aboriginal people including elevated risk of HIV infection.

The Cedar Project: a comparison of HIV-related vulnerabilities amongst young Aboriginal women surviving drug use and sex work in two Canadian cities.

Background: In Canada, Aboriginal women and youth continue to be overrepresented amongst new cases of HIV, and are considered at increased risk for sex and drug-related harm. Young women involved in sex work are particularly vulnerable. The purpose of this study is to determine HIV-related vulnerabilities associated with sex work amongst young Aboriginal women in two Canadian cities.

The Cedar project: prevalence and correlates of HIV infection among young Aboriginal people who use drugs in two Canadian cities.

Introduction: During the past decade, the number of Aboriginal people diagnosed with HIV in Canada has grown more than any other ethnicity. Whereas the majority of infections are related to injection drug use, factors that explain elevated risk and transmission of HIV among Aboriginal young people who use illicit drugs are not well understood.

Study Design: Observational study.

Injury rates, predictors of workplace injuries, and results of an intervention program among community health workers.

Background: Few incidence studies of workplace injuries among community health workers exist, and evidence regarding the effectiveness of interventions in this population is lacking.

Objectives: To determine the incidence of workplace injury among community health workers in British Columbia; to identify predictors of injury; and to assess the effectiveness of a multicomponent intervention program in this population.

Methods: Data were collected from an intervention study of 648 community health workers from six agencies to calculate injury rates.

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.

Health and socioeconomic status differences among antibody hepatitis C positive and negative transfusion recipients, 1986-1990.

Objective: To characterize the socioeconomic and health status, disease symptoms of anti-HCV-positive and negative transfusion recipients.

Methods: A cross-sectional interviewer-administered survey of subjects identified through the British Columbia Blood Recipient Program. Study subjects were 18 years and over and had to have had a transfusion between August 1, 1986 and June 30, 1990 and completed an interview of satisfactory quality.

Length of ICU stay for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease varies among large community hospitals.

Objective: To determine whether differences exist among large community hospitals in length of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) stay, hospital stay or hospital mortality for patients admitted to ICU and whose most responsible diagnosis was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: All seven large community hospitals in British Columbia, Canada.

Risk factors for elevated HIV incidence among Aboriginal injection drug users in Vancouver.

Background: Because of established links between entrenched poverty and risk of HIV infection, there have long been warnings that HIV/AIDS will disproportionately affect Aboriginal people in Canada. We compared HIV incidence rates among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal injection drug users (IDUs) in Vancouver and studied factors associated with HIV seroconversion among Aboriginal participants.

Methods: This analysis was based on 941 participants (230 Aboriginal people) recruited between May 1996 and December 2000 who were seronegative at enrollment and had completed at least one follow-up visit.

Intensive care unit admission has minimal impact on long-term mortality.

Objective: To measure the association between intensive care unit (ICU) admission and both hospital and long-term mortality, separate from the effect of hospital admission alone.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: All hospitals in British Columbia, Canada, during 3 fiscal years, 1994 to 1996.

Changes in mitochondrial DNA as a marker of nucleoside toxicity in HIV-infected patients.

Background: Nucleoside analogues can induce toxic effects on mitochondria by inhibiting the human DNA polymerase gamma. The toxic effects can range from increased serum lactate levels to potentially fatal lactic acidosis. We studied changes in mitochondrial DNA relative to nuclear DNA in the peripheral-blood cells of patients with symptomatic, nucleoside-induced hyperlactatemia.

Case series assessing the safety of mycophenolate as part of multidrug rescue treatment regimens.

Background: Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), an inhibitor of lymphocyte proliferation, is emerging as a potential adjunct in the treatment of HIV-1 infection. By potentiating the activity of abacavir, MMF may improve antiviral efficacy. However, it may also lead to myelosuppression, such as was seen in patients taking hydroxyurea-containing regimens.