Preventive care in diabetes mellitus. Current practice in urban health-care system.

Early identification and treatment of complications of diabetes mellitus may reduce the severity of the complications. As part of a program to reduce these complications in the Denver Department of Health and Hospitals patient population, our study determined how frequently preventive care, e.g.

Occupational exposure to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) among embalmers: a pilot seroprevalence study.

We performed a serosurvey of 133 embalmers in an urban area where human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is prevalent. Although we found histories of needlesticks to be common, and the seropositivity rate of hepatitis B virus (HBV) (13%) was approximately twice that of a blood donor comparison group, HIV antibody was uniformly absent in 129 embalmers who denied HIV risk factors, and present in one of four with self-described risk behaviors. The risk of HBV infection was higher among embalmers who have worked more than 10 years, relative risk (RR) 16.

Serosanguineous pleural effusions in AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma.

We describe the clinical course and pleural fluid findings in patients with AIDS-associated pleural KS and survival analysis of cases from the Colorado registry with and without pleuropulmonary KS. Twenty-one of 105 (20 percent) of AIDS cases with KS had pleuropulmonary involvement with KS and 13 (62 percent) had pleural effusions. All cases were homosexual males with cutaneous lesions of KS that antedated pleural involvement by several months.

Practitioners' forum: public health and the primary prevention of adolescent violence--the violence prevention project.

The Violence Prevention Project is a community-based outreach and education project directed toward reducing the negative social and medical outcomes of violence among adolescents. Community agency personnel are trained to work with youth on issues of anger and conflict resolution. A mass media campaign advertises the issue to the broader population.

Medical costs of ambulatory patients with AIDS-related complex (ARC) and/or generalized lymphadenopathy syndrome (GLS) related to HIV infection, 1984-85.

A cost-of-illness study July 1, 1984-June 30, 1985 evaluating 28 patients with AIDS-Related Complex (ARC) and/or Generalized Lymphadenopathy Syndrome (GLS) found the average cost to be $489 per patient per year. None of the ARC or GLS patients in our study was hospitalized during the one year period, and none progressed to AIDS. No AIDS-specific treatment such as AZT was available at the time this study was completed.

Patterns of blood donations among individuals at risk for AIDS, 1984.

Of 978 respondents to an anonymous questionnaire targeted to reach homosexuals in Boston during October 1984, 88 (9 per cent) reported recent blood donation. When compared to non-recent donors, high-risk respondents who were recent blood donors were younger, less open about their sexual preference, and more likely to obtain their information about AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) from television and newspapers. These results suggest that particular subgroups of the population at risk for AIDS would benefit from expanded educational programs.

Hepatic inflammation, hepatitis B replication, and cellular immune function in homosexual males with chronic hepatitis B and antibody to human immunodeficiency virus.

We measured serum aspartate transaminase (AST) concentration and serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA concentration in homosexual men with chronic HBV infection and a spectrum of immune deficiency as a result of exposure to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Serum AST and HBV DNA concentrations were similar in patients with varying immune function as indicated by in vivo criteria (diagnosis and skin tests reactivity) and in vitro criteria (lymphocyte transformation responses to mitogens and Candida and tetanus antigens) and were unrelated to the number of circulating T cells, suppressor/cytotoxic cells, helper cells, natural killer cells, and the helper:suppressor ratio. Serum AST concentration and indices of cellular immune function were similar in patients with varying HBV replicative activity (high and low HBV DNA concentrations).

Child sex initiation rings.

The workings of child sex initiation rings are outlined in a study of 36 prepubescent children involved in six such rings. Organizational factors include the adult capitalizing on a legitimate role in the children's lives and programming them to provide sexual services in exchange for psychological, social, monetary, and other rewards; operational factors include peer group pressures and secrecy. Symptoms noted in the children prior to disclosure, and affective and cognitive response by parents upon disclosure, are discussed.