"Meds-in-Hand" Intervention to Reduce Critical Process Delays in Pediatric Human Immunodeficiency Virus Post-Exposure Prophylaxis.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Epstein RL
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7996639 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:BACKGROUND: International volunteering missions are becoming an important focus of plastic surgeons in the United States. The purpose of this paper is to describe the teaching of pediatric hand surgery in Vietnam to share the lessons learned from this project. METHODS: Two medical education trips were conducted to the no. 1 Children's Hospital in Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon) to teach pediatric hand and burn reconstructive surgery to the surgeons and therapists. This is the main referral children's hospital for the country, and pediatric hand surgery expertise is not available. RESULTS: Structured education programs were conducted over two trips to introduce congenital hand surgery and burn reconstructive procedures using flap techniques. The education programs included lectures and surgical demonstrations of selected procedures. Their proficiency was verified by supervised conduct of these operations. CONCLUSIONS: A well-conceived medical education program can introduce complex surgical discipline to a country. Through two trips, the surgeons at this referral center will have the capability to take care of many children requiring reconstructive hand surgery.
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Project description:The incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection continues to rise among core groups and efforts to reduce the numbers of new infections are being redoubled. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is the use of short-term antiretroviral therapy (ART) to reduce the risk of acquisition of HIV infection following exposure. Current guidelines recommend a 28-day course of ART within 36-72 hours of exposure to HIV. As long as individuals continue to be exposed to HIV there will be a role for PEP in the foreseeable future. Nonoccupational PEP, the vast majority of which is for sexual exposure (PEPSE), has a significant role to play in HIV prevention efforts. Awareness of PEP and its availability for both clinicians and those who are eligible to receive it are crucial to ensure that PEP is used to its full potential in any HIV prevention strategy. In this review, we provide current evidence for the use of PEPSE, assessment of the risk of HIV transmission, indications for PEP, drug regimens, and management of patients started on PEP. We summarize national and international guidelines for the use of PEPSE. We explore the place of PEP within the wider strategy of reducing HIV incidence rates in the era of treatment as prevention and pre-exposure prophylaxis. We also consider the implications of recent data from interventional and observational studies demonstrating significant reductions in the risk of HIV transmission within a serodiscordant relationship if the HIV-positive partner is taking effective ART upon PEP guidelines.
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