Publications by authors named "Laurie D Ayala"

Objective: This article aims to assess statewide uptake of HIV repeat testing in the first 2 years after the implementation of an amendment to the Illinois Perinatal HIV Prevention Act (IPHPA) mandating universal repeat HIV testing in the third trimester.

Study Design: This is a retrospective, population-based study of all birthing individuals in Illinois (2018-2019). Data were collected using the state-mandated closed system of perinatal HIV test reporting.

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Since the 1990s, perinatal transmission of HIV has decreased substantially, largely as a result of improved detection secondary to routine HIV screening in pregnancy and the use of antiretroviral therapy. However, despite reductions in HIV transmission, elimination of perinatal transmission, defined as an incidence of perinatal HIV infection of <1 per 100,000 live births and a transmission rate of <1%, remains elusive. An estimated 80% of perinatal transmissions occur after 36 weeks' gestation, which highlights the importance of diagnosis and treatment of maternal HIV infection before the highest-risk period for perinatal transmission.

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The objective was to assess sustainability of a statewide program of HIV rapid testing (RT) for pregnant women presenting for delivery with unknown HIV status. This is a population-based retrospective cohort study of women delivered in Illinois hospitals (2012-15). Deidentified data on RT metrics from state-mandated surveillance reports were compared using descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests of trend.

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The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of women with breast cancer as teachers of the importance of breast cancer screening to their first-degree female relatives. The sample was restricted to low-income working age women recruited from four hospitals. The study design was a randomized clinical trial.

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