Diversity of release patterns for jail detainees: implications for public health interventions.

Objectives: We sought to develop a detailed description of the variety of jail release patterns and to learn what factors affect the length of stay (LOS).

Methods: The main data set for the study came from a biennial Bureau of Justice Statistics survey on felony defendants in large urban counties.

Results: The median LOS for the felony defendants was 7 days.

Acute retroviral syndrome and high baseline viral load are predictors of rapid HIV progression among untreated Argentinean seroconverters.

Background: Diagnosis of primary HIV infection (PHI) has important clinical and public health implications. HAART initiation at this stage remains controversial.

Methods: Our objective was to identify predictors of disease progression among Argentinean seroconverters during the first year of infection, within a multicentre registry of PHI-patients diagnosed between 1997 and 2008.

Attitudes toward opioid substitution therapy and pre-incarceration HIV transmission behaviors among HIV-infected prisoners in Malaysia: implications for secondary prevention.

Background: Pre-incarceration HIV transmission behaviors and current attitudes toward opioid substitution therapy (OST) among HIV-infected male prisoners in Malaysia have important implications for secondary HIV prevention efforts.

Methods: In June 2007, 102 HIV-infected male prisoners within 6 months of community-release were anonymously surveyed in Kota Bharu, Malaysia.

Results: Nearly all subjects (95%) met criteria for opioid dependence.

A prospective controlled trial of routine opt-out HIV testing in a men's jail.

Background: Approximately 10 million Americans enter jails annually. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends routine opt-out HIV testing in these settings. The logistics for performing routine opt-out HIV testing within jails, however, remain controversial.

Routine opt-out HIV testing strategies in a female jail setting: a prospective controlled trial.

Background: Ten million Americans enter jails annually. The objective was to evaluate new CDC guidelines for routine opt-out HIV testing and examine the optimal time to implement routine opt-out HIV testing among newly incarcerated jail detainees.

Methods: This prospective, controlled trial of routine opt-out HIV testing was conducted among 323 newly incarcerated female inmates in Connecticut's only women's jail.

Nonstructured treatment interruptions among injection drug users in Baltimore, MD.

Background: We characterized patterns of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) use and predictors of nonstructured treatment interruptions (NTIs) among injection drug users (IDUs) in Baltimore, MD.

Methods: Three hundred thirty-five IDUs who initiated HAART from 1996 to 2006 were studied. NTIs were defined as any subsequent 6-month interval where HAART was not reported.

Limited uptake of hepatitis C treatment among injection drug users.

We characterized hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment knowledge, experience and barriers in a cohort of community-based injection drug users (IDUs) in Baltimore, MD. In 2005, a questionnaire on HCV treatment knowledge, experience and barriers was administered to HCV-infected IDUs. Self-reported treatment was confirmed from medical records.