Where Can Hiv Infected Patients And Their Families Find Resources

Request A Hospice Evaluation

The patients personal physician may recommend HIV/AIDS palliative care or hospice when the time is right. But patients and partners/family members often must act as their own advocates to receive the care they need. You, your loved one or your physician may request an evaluation to see if HIV/AIDS palliative care or hospice is an appropriate option. Call 844.831.0028 to see how hospice can help.

What Can Hospice Do For A Patient With Hiv/aids

Your hospice team evaluates the patients status and updates the plan of care as symptoms and condition change, even on a day-to-day basis. The goal of hospice is to relieve physical and emotional distress so patients can retain their dignity and remain comfortable.

Hospice offers comprehensive services for patients with HIV/AIDS:

Hospice Care For Aids Patients

• When is the right time to ask about hospice?
• What can hospice do for a patient with HIV/AIDS?
• What can hospice do for the family of a patient with HIV/AIDS?
• What are the overall benefits of hospice care?
• How can I approach the hospice discussion with my loved one?
• When is the right time to ask about hospice?

Considering the slow decline of a patient with HIV/AIDS over months or years, it can be difficult to determine the final stages of HIV/AIDS and when the time is right for hospice. In general, hospice patients are thought to have six months or less to live. When patients with HIV/AIDS decide to discontinue the use of a feeding tube or breathing machine, they are likely to benefit from HIV/AIDS hospice services.

Only a doctor can make a clinical determination of life expectancy. However, look for these common signs that HIV/AIDS has progressed to a point where hospice care for HIV/AIDS patients might be appropriate:

• Serious co-morbid illness, such as anal or cervical cancer, lymphoma or heart disease
• Repeated emergency department visits for the same problem
• Repeated hospitalizations, with desire for no further hospitalization
• Low CD4 count and high viral loads, with poor antiviral therapy compliance

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Metabolism: Other Cyp450 Isoenzymes

The majority of antiretroviral drug interactions involve CYP3A4, but agents metabolized through other CYP450 isoenzymes, including CYP2B6, CYP2D6, CYP2C8, CYP2C19 and CYP2C9, may also interact with antiretrovirals. Such medications include antidepressants, oral hypoglycemic agents and warfarin.

Antidepressants

Oral hypoglycemic agents

Diabetes mellitus is increasingly seen in HIV-infected individuals, especially as this population ages. Furthermore, some antiretroviral agents may impair glucose tolerance or even lead to hyperglycemia.

Warfarin

Warfarin is a racemic mixture: the CYP2C9 isoenzyme is primarily responsible for metabolism of the more potent S-warfarin, whereas R-warfarin is metabolized by CYP1A2 and CYP3A4. A pharmacokinetic study in healthy volunteers showed a 21% decrease in the area under the curve for S-warfarin when combined with darunavirâritonavir. Numerous case reports have shown the need to monitor international normalized ratio closely when initiating protease inhibitor therapy, with substantial increases in the warfarin dose often being needed.â The effects of NNRTIs, including efavirenz, are less clear. One case described the need for an increase in warfarin dose with efavirenz, but another reported a decrease in warfarin dose after initiation of the same NNRTI.

Screen And Understand Results

The only way to diagnose chronic viral hepatitis is blood testing. Viral hepatitis screening includes multiple tests and can be complex. These resources may help to identify which tests are most appropriate for your patient.

• The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has published recommendations to screen for hepatitis B in pregnant women as well as hepatitis B and hepatitis C in persons at high risk for infection.
• CDC provides these resources on viral hepatitis screening:
• Hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C testing guidelines and recommendations that include PDF resources for testing sequences and interpreting test results
• Hepatitis B testing guidelines, recommendations, and resources for pregnant women and infants to prevent perinatal transmission of hepatitis B and
• Hepatitis B and hepatitis C testing and diagnosis FAQs for health professionals.

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Study Design And Study Setting

This descriptive study was performed between January and June 2007. Because Izmir has a high number of reported HIV cases, it is considered the second highest risk region. The infectious diseases department at the Regional Ministry of Health contributed to this study, and three large state hospitals in the metropolitan area of the city participated in the study. The participating hospitals are tertiary care centers and serve the Aegean area, which contains 14% of Turkeys population and has the second highest population density in the country.

Hepatitis B Vaccination In Hiv

It is known that HIV-infected persons are more prone to develop chronic hepatitis B infection when they get infected with this virus. After developing chronic hepatitis B these patients are more likely to get livercirrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma .

Hepatitis B vaccination is available and the vaccine is about 95% protective in preventing immunocompetent persons from developing chronic hepatitis B infection . The response on this vaccin is less effective in HIV-infected persons . Furthermore there is a compliance problem in the standard scheme.

800 persons are needed to show non-inferiority with lower margin of 10% of the short schedule in comparison with the control group. Powercalculation is 80%. Randomization is stratified according to CD4 count.

The hypothesis of the study is a better compliance and a comparable immune response in the short schedule, through which persons will be protected against hepatitis B in an early stage.

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Tailoring Therapy For Specific Populations

2.1 Women

Women and families living with HIV pose unique challenges for pharmacists. The HIV-infected woman who may be caring for her infected partner and/or children often requires additional support from all members of the health care team. The incidence of adverse effects of antiretrovirals may be greater among women than among men. These adverse effects include nevirapine-induced hepatotoxicity and lactic acidosis, and distinctive metabolic complications. These factors should be carefully considered and discussed with women to ensure selection of the most appropriate combination antiretroviral regimen. As the life expectancy of HIV-infected individuals improves, issues of fertility and risk reduction when planning pregnancy will become more common. For women of child-bearing age, choosing a regimen that is safe during pregnancy is of paramount importance. In particular, efavirenz is categorized as a class D agent and should be avoided unless effective and consistent contraception is being used. Conversely, pharmacists should also be comfortable discussing methods of contraception and need to be aware of drug interactions with hormonal contraceptives.,

2.2 Pediatric Patients

2.3 Patients with Comorbidities

2.4 Patients with Coinfection with Hepatitis Virus

2.4.1 Hepatitis B

2.4.2 Hepatitis C

2.5 Marginalized Patient Groups

2.6 Immigrant and Indigent Populations

Future Treatments For Hepatitis

Future research will focus on small-molecule inhibitors, with and without pegylated interferon alfa, for the treatment of HCV infection and ideal combination therapies for HBV infection. Monitoring of patients for end-stage liver disease is a major focus of care and may lead to new opportunities for liver transplantation in patients with HIV infection.

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Integrating Hiv Services Through Partnerships For Care

Integrating HIV services into primary care delivery is critical for successboth for health centers and for patients living with HIV. Partnerships for Care was a 3-year demonstration project in which health centers partnered with the CDC-funded state health departments in Massachusetts, New York, Maryland, and Florida. Project goals were to strengthen the workforce, build infrastructure, and provide HIV services.

Outcomes

The P4C project identified promising practices for the integration of HIV services into primary care and for building strong primary care-public health partnerships to expand the provision of HIV prevention and care services. Participating health centers expanded their services to:

• Provide HIV testing to 168,645 patientsa 48.2% increase from 2015 to 2017. This included routine testing of 121,285 previously untested patients.
• Link 93% of newly HIV-positive patients to HIV care within 90 days of diagnosis.
• Show an improving trend in viral suppression rates for patients living with HIV 79% of these patients were virally suppressed.

The health centers also worked with state health departments to re-engage 1,225 HIV-positive people in care.

How Can Drug Interactions Be Identified

There are a number of ways to improve the identification of drug interactions, including accurate recording of patientsâ medication therapy, computerized systems for electronic records, support from pharmacists and use of available antiretroviral drug interaction websites and other general drug interaction tools. In a retrospective study of outpatient visits to an HIV clinic, clinically important interactions were noted for 27% of 159 patients, but only 36% of these interactions were identified by the physician. lists drug interaction websites for antiretrovirals that have been ranked highly for content and usefulness .

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Hiv And Aids: Stigma And Discrimination

Why there is stigma related to HIV and AIDS? Discover more about the prejudice against those living with HIV or AIDS.

From the moment scientists identified HIV and AIDS, social responses of fear, denial, stigma and discrimination have accompanied the epidemic. Discrimination has spread rapidly, fueling anxiety and prejudice against the groups most affected, as well as those living with HIV or AIDS. It goes without saying that HIV and AIDS are as much about social phenomena as they are about biological and medical concerns. Across the world the global epidemic of HIV/AIDS has shown itself capable of triggering responses of compassion, solidarity and support, bringing out the best in people, their families and communities. But AIDS is also associated with stigma, repression and discrimination, as individuals affected by HIV have been rejected by their families, their loved ones and their communities. This rejection holds as true in the rich countries of the north as it does in the poorer countries of the south.

Why there is stigma related to HIV and AIDS?

Factors which contribute to HIV/AIDS-related stigma:

• HIV/AIDS as punishment
• HIV/AIDS as a crime
• HIV/AIDS as war
• HIV/AIDS as horror
• HIV/AIDS as otherness

Forms of HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination

Women and stigma

“My mother-in-law tells everybody, ‘Because of her, my son got this disease. My son is a simple as good as gold-but she brought him this disease.”

Families

Employment

Community And Household Level Stigma

Community-level stigma and discrimination towards people living with HIV can force people to leave their home and change their daily activities.

In many contexts, women and girls often fear stigma and rejection from their families, not only because they stand to lose their social place of belonging, but also because they could lose their shelter, their children, and their ability to survive. The isolation that social rejection brings can lead to low self-esteem, depression, and even thoughts or acts of suicide.62

The International Center for Research on Women reports that in Bangladesh more than half of women living with HIV have experienced stigma from a friend or neighbour and one in five feel suicidal. In the Dominican Republic, six out of ten women living with HIV fear being the subject of gossip, while in Ethiopia, more than half of all women living with HIV report having low self-esteem.63

They were embarrassed and didnt want to talk to me. My mother essentially said, Good luck, youre on your own.

– Shana Cozad from Tulsa, USA, on her familys reaction after she tested positive for HIV.64

A survey of married HIV-positive women in India found 88% of respondents experienced stigma and discrimination from their family and community. Women with older husbands and from households with lower economic status were significantly more likely to experience stigma and discrimination from their husbands family as well as from friends and neighbours.65

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What Can Hospice Do For The Family Of A Patient With Hiv/aids

Family members/partners may have to make difficult healthcare and financial decisions, act as caregivers and provide emotional support to others. If the decision is made to stop medical support, families often experience strong emotions and feel overwhelmed.

Hospice offers comprehensive services for families of patients with HIV/AIDS:

Treatment In Patients With Hiv And Hbv Coinfection

The treatment end points for HBV infection in HIV-infected patients are the suppression of viral replication and improvement in liver disease. Given the relatively low toxicity of many of the available therapeutic agents, a liver biopsy may not be needed for the assessment of risks and benefits in individual patients with elevated HBV DNA levels, although it may still offer important prognostic information. Immune control, as indicated by the loss of HBeAg and HBsAg or seroconversion to anti-HBe and anti-HBs, is rare in patients with HIV infection. Therefore, long-term therapy is the rule. Treatment guidelines for HBV infection in patients with HIV coinfection can be based on standard criteria if the HIV infection does not require therapy ., However, more research is needed to define the optimal strategy for the management of HBV infection in patients with HIV infection. Options for the management of HIV and HBV coinfection include interferons and nucleoside and nucleotide agents . Although pegylated interferon alfa is effective in both controlling HBV replication and reducing liver injury in patients with HBV monoinfection,, it has not been tested in clinical trials of patients with HIV and HBV coinfection, and it is most successful in patients with high alanine aminotransferase levels and low HBV viral loads, both of which are uncommon in HIV infection.

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Physicians Living With Hiv/aids

“Once I was diagnosed with full blown AIDS, the administration of my hospital verbally and in an unsigned and undated document immediately forbade me to continue performing any surgical procedures, change dressings, draw blood, give injections, or do rectal exams. Any patient examinations I did I would have to wear gloves. I was told that if I failed to agree to these conditions I would be dismissed by the hospital.”–An East Coast urologist

In 1991, a frail and failing teen-aged Kimberly Bergalis garnered nationwide media attention as she was helped into a congressional meeting room where she haltingly told the story of how she was infected with HIV by her dentist, Dr. David Acer. There was hardly a dry eye for this “innocent victim” of AIDS. Angrily she asked the nation’s law makers to enact legislation that would make it mandatory for any healthcare worker who is infected with HIV to inform his or her patients of his/her condition in order to spare others the suffering that she was undergoing. Outraged legislators angrily denounced and vilified Acer’s irresponsibility.

A diagnosis of HIV/AIDS usually precipitates some form of an intrapsychic as well as inter-personal crisis. When the person who has HIV/AIDS is a doctor, the intrapsychic distress is compounded. Many physicians with HIV/AIDS told of seeking and currently being in psychotherapy and taking prescribed anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medication to help alleviate their mental and emotional distress.

How Hiv Is Not Spread

The HIV virus is NOT spread through “casual contact.” Some ways HIV/AIDS is NOT spread are:

• Normal day-to-day contact like shaking hands, being in the same room or hugging.
• Sharing plates, cups or silverware with someone who is HIV positive.
• Using a phone or toilet seat after someone who is HIV positive.
• Sharing a swimming pool with someone who is HIV positive.

So far no other family members of HIV infected children have gotten the virus from casual contact.

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Who Will Know The Results Of My Testing

It depends on where you get your testing. Testing sites have different privacy rules. Ask about privacy rules at your testing site so you understand whether anyone else will know you got tested or see your results.

If you go to an anonymous test site, only you know the results. No written record of the test result is kept.

If you go to a confidential test site, the results will go in your medical record. Positive results are sent to the state or local health department. Your insurance company will have access to your results. Depending on the state you live in, your parent or guardian may be contacted.

Preventing Viral Hepatitis And Minimizing Disease

Patients with HIV infection, if nonimmune, should be vaccinated against both hepatitis A virus and HBV because of the increased severity of hepatitis in patients with preexisting liver disease. Failure to induce immunity to HAV and HBV is a function of both missed opportunities for vaccination, and the immunocompromised state. In HIV-infected persons, antibody titers after vaccination are lower and less durable than they are in those who do not have HIV infection, and fewer HIV-infected persons have protective levels of antibodies against hepatitis B surface antigen . The rates of response to HAV or HBV vaccines decrease with lower CD4 cell counts and higher levels of HIV RNA. However, there is no general agreement about when immunization becomes futile. Although there is no vaccine against HCV, education about transmission patterns and safer sex may reduce the incidence of acute HCV infection. Finally, clinicians play an important role in counseling patients about transmission, avoidance of alcohol, and limitation of exposure to other hepatotoxic agents .

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