View clinical trials related to HIV.
Filter by:The purpose of this study is to evaluate the acceptability and uptake of a combination package of biomedical, behavioral and community-level HIV prevention interventions and services for men who have sex with men (MSM) in South Africa.
The study tests a novel demand generation strategy, "Stylish Man/Stylish Living", to increase uptake of Combined HIV Prevention (CHP) in Rakai, Uganda. CHP includes safe voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC), antiretroviral therapy (ART), and behavioral interventions. With President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) funds, the Rakai Health Sciences Program (RHSP) provides CHP in Rakai District, Uganda. Our ongoing 54 village Rakai Community Cohort Study (RCCS), with community HIV prevalence ranging from 6% to 42%, provides longitudinal data on rates of CHP coverage and on HIV incidence. There is preliminary evidence that CHP is reducing HIV incidence in Rakai, but CHP coverage remains suboptimal, particularly in men. Data suggest that CHP supply is not the limiting factor, but that there is a "deficit in demand". Based on extensive qualitative research, we developed an innovative male-focused CHP demand generation strategy, the "Stylish Man/Stylish Living Program" (SMLP) which is male-friendly without excluding women. SMLP strives to "demedicalize" CHP by de-emphasizing health-focused messages and instead stressing "taking charge of your life". It has two related elements: (1) mass media (MM) via radio and posters; and (2) community-level mobilization via the "Stylish Man/Stylish Living Event" (SMLEvent) which includes CHP promotion through multimedia (the Stylish Van, videos, music, health promoters) and immediate access to services (mobile camps which offer VMMC camps, HIV testing and counseling services, referral for ART, and contraceptive services). In this study, the investigators will conduct a 4.5 year cluster randomized trial of MM/mobile service camps+SMLEvents (intervention arm) compared to MM/mobile service camps conducted without SMLEvents (control), in 25 RCCS communities per arm aggregated into ~10 clusters per arm (50 communities in all). The primary outcome will be intent-to-treat community-level rates of CHP coverage by arm, and service statistics on use of mobile camp services by arm. The investigators will also monitor rates of key behaviors and HIV incidence, and compare them between arms and to rates observed in communities in each arm prior to study initiation (secondary outcomes).
This study, to be conducted in southern Ethiopia, is a randomized community trial, evaluating the use of local community support workers who provide for HIV patients education, counseling/social support, and linkage to the HIV Clinic. Patients will be followed for at least three years, with a primary goal of improving retention in HIV care, and secondary goals of improving client knowledge, attitudes about being HIV-positive, feelings of social support and clinical health status.
The composition of the intestinal bacterial flora effects gut immunologic function and intestinal barrier integrity. HIV infection impairs gut immune and epithelial function resulting in an altered gut bacterial flora and "leakage" of gut bacterial products into the bloodstream. These bacterial products can overstimulate the immune system leading to increased inflammation and HIV disease progression. The investigators will investigate whether oral supplementation of certain beneficial "probiotic" bacteria may attenuate these processes in HIV infected women in Mali, Africa. This is a single arm study to evaluate the effect of 12 weeks of combination oral probiotic supplementation (VSL#3, Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals - containing 9 × 1011 bacteria of 8 species: S. thermophilus, Bifidobacterium breve, Bifidobacterium longum, Bifidobacterium infantis, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus paracasei, and Lactobacillus bulgaricus) on plasma biomarkers of immune cell activation, and inflammation. The study population will be 50 chronically HIV-infected but generally healthy, non-pregnant, Malian women subjects with CD4+ T-cell count ≥ 350 cells/mm3 who are not receiving antiretroviral therapy. Blood plasma/serum and fecal sampling will occur at baseline, 4, and 12 week as well as at 24 weeks. At these time points, probiotic will be dispensed, a medical history will be obtained, and adherence will be assessed. Prior to study entry, subjects will have eligibility and safety labs will be obtained and detailed baseline medical and symptom histories, demographics, weight, and stool frequency information will be recorded. A stress assessment questionnaire will be completed at baseline and week 12 to determine the effect of this intervention on stress levels. The primary study outcome is to assess change (baseline to 12 week) in plasma soluble CD14 (a marker of monocyte response to bacterial endotoxin which has been associated with mortality) with study probiotic. Other outcomes will include assessing change (baseline to 12 week) in plasma interleukin-6, soluble CD163 (another monocyte activation marker), d-dimer (a marker of coagulopathy), intestinal fatty acid binding protein (a marker of gut epithelial cell injury) and fecal calprotectin (a marker of gut inflammation), as well as CD4+ T-cell counts, self reported stool quality (using the Bristol Stool Scale), safety and tolerability of the VSL#3 probiotic, and level of stress.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether a program of regular, theory-based text messages that encourages the message recipient to continue practicing safer sex (i.e., using condoms with sex partners) is effective in maintaining positive behavior change in women who have completed a brief safer-sex training.
A randomized controlled trial will be conducted to assess the effectiveness of conditional cash transfers (CCTs) at increasing retention in prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) services specifically, in relation to pickup of ARV drugs for infected mothers, delivery in the hospital setting, and receipt of drugs for exposed infants. Administrative data will be extracted from the All Babies are Equal program and hospital records. At 8-10 weeks after delivery, an endline survey will also be conducted with each participant to provide a deeper understanding of the impact of the CCTs and to assess the reasons for retention in PMTCT services.
The investigators propose to explore the hypothesis—supported by limited data—that a contraceptive vaginal ring (CVR) that is commonly used in the United States, the NuvaRing, will enhance women's genital and reproductive health. The investigators propose that this CVR will increase the bacteria that help the vaginal environment protect against infection by HIV and other STIs, and that in women who already have HIV, use of the CVR will lower the quantity of HIV that is shed in the female genital tract.
The purpose of this study is to provide evidence on the performance and operational characteristics of commercially available dual HIV/syphilis Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) in Zambia for their introduction into antenatal care and other settings.
Longitudinal cohort study of older-aged people living with HIV infection in southwestern Uganda and age and gender-matched HIV uninfected controls with the primary aim of measuring the epidemiology of cardiovascular and pulmonary disease in this study setting, and particularly the contribution of HIV infection to it.
Combination antiretroviral treatment (cART) effectively suppresses virus replication and partially restores immune functions. However, cART cannot cure HIV infection. This study aim to investigate whether the antiviral immune response can be enhanced and/or viral transcription reactivated with MGN1703. MGN1703 is an agonist to toll-like receptor (TLR) 9. Activation of TLR9 has been shown to augment innate and adaptive immune effector functions, most notably enhanced NK cell and T cell functions. Furthermore, TLR9 agonists have been shown in vitro to reactivate viral transcription in latently infected cells, potentially leading to enhanced recognition of infected cells by the immune effector cells.