There is concern that orphans may be at particular risk of HIV infection due to earlier age of sexual onset and higher likelihood of sexual exploitation or abuse; however, there is limited empirical evidence examining this phenomenon. Utilizing data from 1,694 Black South African youth aged 14-18, of whom 31% are classified as orphaned, this analysis explores the relationship between orphan status and sexual risk. The analysis found both male and female orphans significantly more likely to have engaged in sex as compared to non-orphans (49% vs. 39%). After adjusting for socio-demographic variables, orphans were nearly one and half times more likely than non-orphans to have had sex. Among sexually active youth, orphans reported younger age of sexual intercourse with 23% of orphans having had sex by age 13 or younger compared to 15% of non-orphans. Programmatic implications of these findings for the care and protection of orphans are discussed.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10461-006-9104-8 | DOI Listing |
J Infect Dis
January 2025
Department of Infectious Diseases, The University of Melbourne at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Infection with Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the causative agent of gonorrhoea, causes significant morbidity worldwide and can have long-term impacts on reproductive health. The greatest global burden of gonorrhoea occurs in low- and middle-income settings. Global public health significance is increasing due to rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which threatens future gonorrhoea management.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHum Genomics
January 2025
Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Richards Building B304, 3700 Hamilton Walk, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
Background: Disease comorbidities and longer-term complications, arising from biologically related associations across phenotypes, can lead to increased risk of severe health outcomes. Given that many diseases exhibit sex-specific differences in their genetics, our objective was to determine whether genotype-by-sex (GxS) interactions similarly influence cross-phenotype associations. Through comparison of sex-stratified disease-disease networks (DDNs)-where nodes represent diseases and edges represent their relationships-we investigate sex differences in patterns of polygenicity and pleiotropy between diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Anim Ecol
January 2025
Section of Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
The hoarding behaviour of animals has evolved to reduce starvation risk when food resources are scarce, but effects of food limitation on survival of hoarding animals is poorly understood. Eurasian pygmy owls (Glaucidium passerinum) hoard small mammals and birds in natural cavities and nest boxes in late autumn for later use in the following winter. We studied the relative influence of the food biomass in hoards of pygmy owls on their over-winter and over-summer apparent survival.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
Sexually Transmitted and Bloodborne Infections Surveillance and Molecular Epidemiology, Sexually Transmitted and Bloodborne Infections Division at the JC Wilt Infectious Diseases Research Centre, National Microbiology Laboratories, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, MB, R3E 3L5, Canada.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV) set-point viral load is a strong predictor of disease progression and transmission risk. A recent genome-wide association study in individuals of African ancestries identified a region on chromosome 1 significantly associated with decreased HIV set-point viral load. Knockout of the closest gene, CHD1L, enhanced HIV replication in vitro in myeloid cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Am Board Fam Med
January 2025
From the University of Tennessee College of Medicine Family Medicine Residency, Chattanooga, TN.
Consider prescribing doxycycline as prophylaxis for bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in certain clinical scenarios. New data suggests that a one-time dose of 200 mg doxycycline taken within 72 hours of an unprotected sexual encounter may reduce transmission of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia by a combined two thirds in a high-risk population.
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