Assessing HIV Care Outcomes Among Persons Who Use Drugs in Puerto Rico Before and After Hurricane Maria.

Objectives: To explore the health impacts of Hurricane Maria (HM) on HIV care outcomes among people living with HIV who use drugs.

Methods: Using data from an ongoing cohort study in San Juan, Puerto Rico (Proyecto PACTo), we measured differences in HIV care outcomes (viral load, viral suppression, and CD4 counts) before and after HM using assessments conducted at 6-month intervals. Generalized estimating equations were used to assess factors associated with HIV care outcomes.

Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of Mpox in Persons Who Had Previously Received 1 Dose of JYNNEOS Vaccine and in Unvaccinated Persons - 29 U.S. Jurisdictions, May 22-September 3, 2022.

As of November 14, 2022, monkeypox (mpox) cases had been reported from more than 110 countries, including 29,133 cases in the United States.* Among U.S.

Social Media and Mobile-App use for Sexual Encounters among Men Who Have Sex With Men in Puerto Rico.

Objective: To describe the use and frequency of use of mobile apps (internetand/ or smartphone-based geospatial networking apps) among men who have sex with men (MSM) and how these platforms are used to engage with sexual partners in PR.

Methods: A local module including questions regarding mobile apps and sexual engagement and derived from the 2017 Puerto Rico National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System, fifth MSM cycle, was used for this analysis. A subsample of 127 eligible participants was recruited through venue-based sampling and assented to participate.

Elimination of the Perinatal Transmission of HIV and Syphilis in Puerto Rico and Sustained Success since 2007: Convergence of Science, Women-Centered Care, and Policy.

Objective: There have been significant successes in the fight against HIV/AIDS due to the access to rapid HIV testing, interventions to reduce the mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) risk, potent and effective antiviral medications, and other biomedical prevention strategies. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate that Puerto Rico eliminated Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV (MTCT) following the 2017 World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for validating the elimination of MTCT and Syphilis.

Methods: Existing epidemiological data from Puerto Rico was used to document the elimination of MTCT and Syphilis.

HIV Care Outcomes among Hispanics/Latinos with Diagnosed HIV in the United States by Place of Birth-2015-2018, Medical Monitoring Project.

Relocation from one's birthplace may affect human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) outcomes, but national estimates of HIV outcomes among Hispanics/Latinos by place of birth are limited. We analyzed Medical Monitoring Project data collected in 2015-2018 from 2564 HIV-positive Hispanic/Latino adults and compared clinical outcomes between mainland US-born (referent group), Puerto Rican (PR-born), and those born outside the United States (non-US-born). We reported weighted percentages of characteristics and used logistic regression with predicted marginal means to examine differences between groups ( < 0.

New Diagnoses among HIV+ Men and Women in Puerto Rico: Data from the HIV Surveillance System 2003-2014.

Objective: Describe the age-standardized rates of new HIV diagnoses and compare sex and time disparities using data from the HIV/AIDS Surveillance System in Puerto Rico (PR).

Methods: The study comprises data of new HIV diagnoses of persons 13 years of age and older in PR reported from 2003-2014. Other variables included were age, sex, and health regions.

[Survival analysis in people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in Puerto Rico].

After the introduction of HAART, the HIV/AIDS epidemiological trends has shown an increasing in the survival rates. HAART has dramatically improved the life expectancy of HIV/AIDS. The objective of this study was to estimate survival in people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in Puerto Rico (PR) from 2003-2011.

When "the Cure" Is the Risk: Understanding How Substance Use Affects HIV and HCV in a Layered Risk Environment in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Background: Substance use, particularly injection drug use, continues to fuel the HIV/HCV (hepatitis C virus) epidemics in San Juan, Puerto Rico (PR).

Aim: This article examines individual and sociostructural factors that affect HIV/HCV risk among people who use drugs (PWUD) living with or at risk for HIV/HCV in San Juan, PR. Findings were used to inform a community-level intervention to enhance HIV care access and retention for this population.

Population-Based Study of Tobacco Use Among People Living With HIV in Puerto Rico.

Background: Despite substantial advances in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy, HIV-positive persons are at high risk of tobacco-related disease and mortality. This study describes the prevalence and sociodemographic factors associated with current tobacco use among HIV-positive men and women 18 years and older receiving HIV care in Puerto Rico.

Methods: Data from the 2009 Medical Monitoring Project (MMP) was used.

Rural and urban injection drug use in Puerto Rico: Network implications for human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C virus infection.

Understanding the short- and long-term transmission dynamics of blood-borne illnesses in network contexts represents an important public health priority for people who inject drugs and the general population that surrounds them. The purpose of this article is to compare the risk networks of urban and rural people who inject drugs in Puerto Rico. In the current study, network characteristics are drawn from the sampling "trees" used to recruit participants to the study.

Original title: HIV infection and unawareness among men who have sex with men in Puerto Rico: data from The National HIV behavioral surveillance system 2011-2014.

Background: Unawareness of HIV infection is a public health challenge that needs to be addressed, particularly in the case of men who have sex with men (MSM), since recent data are reporting increasing rates of HIV in this population in Puerto Rico.

Objectives: We examined differences in the prevalence of HIV infection and unawareness among MSM in 2011 and 2014 using data from the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System, 2011 and 2014.

Methods: Bivariate analyses was used to compare demographical and behavioral characteristics in both cycles (2011 and 2014).

The structural and health policy environment for delivering integrated HIV and substance use disorder treatments in Puerto Rico.

Background: HIV prevalence in Puerto Rico is nearly twice that of the mainland United States, a level that was substantially fueled by injection drug use. Puerto Rico has a longstanding history of health provision by the public sector that directly affects how HIV and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services are provided and funded. As part of pre-implementation research for a randomized trial of a community-level intervention to enhance HIV care access for substance users in San Juan, Puerto Rico, we sought to understand the structural and health policy environment for providing HIV and SUD treatments.

Mortality Disparities among HIV+ Men and Women in Puerto Rico: Data from the HIV/AIDS Surveillance System 2003-2014.

Objective: Describe the trend of the indirect standardized death rate of HIV for different modes of HIV transmission from 2003 to 2014 in Puerto Rico. Estimate the magnitude of the association between mode of HIV transmission and mortality at different time periods in Puerto Rico.

Methods: ISDRs by sex and mode of transmission were computed using data from the PR National HIV/AIDS Surveillance System (2003-2014).

Differential access to syringe exchange and other prevention activities among people who inject drugs in rural and urban areas of Puerto Rico.

Background: Injection drug use and its associated blood-borne infections has become a rapidly increasing problem in rural areas of the US recently. Syringe exchange programs have been shown to be effective for reducing transmission of blood borne infections, however access to these prevention efforts may be limited in rural areas.

Methods: This paper utilizes two separate community samples of people who inject drugs (PWID) in Puerto Rico to achieve the following research objectives: (1) compare rural and urban access to syringe exchange programs, free sterile syringes and other HIV/HCV prevention activities, and (2) examine whether utilization of prevention activities is associated with lower injection risk behaviors.

Factors Associated With Recent Human Immunodeficiency Virus Testing Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in Puerto Rico, National Human Immunodeficiency Virus Behavioral Surveillance System, 2011.

Background: Annual human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing is considered a key strategy for HIV prevention for men who have sex with men (MSM). In Puerto Rico, HIV research has primarily focused on injection drug use, yet male-to-male sexual transmission has been increasing in recent years.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance system collected in 2011 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, were analyzed to identify factors associated with HIV testing in the past 12 months (recent testing).