Search

Although psychiatrically disturbed minority youth are at high risk for contracting HIV, little is known about HIV risk among this population. As part of a larger HIV intervention study, 110 psychiatrically referred, Latino adolescent girls (13 to 18 years old) completed questionnaires assessing their HIV knowledge, personal contact with an individual with HIV or AIDS, and sexual risk behaviors. The results indicate that girls' level of knowledge was high and that HIV knowledge was positively correlated with participation in sexually risky behaviors. Moreover, personal contact with a person with HIV or AIDS had a strong positive correlation with numbers of sexual encounters and partners. Most of the girls reported believing that they were not vulnerable to AIDS. The findings emphasize the need for efforts to address how psychiatrically disturbed adolescents residing in major urban settings may be unable to integrate effectively more abstract HIV knowledge into their personal health choices and may be vulnerable to sexual exploitation by others by virtue of their impaired decision-making skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on influenza B burden and lack of availability of the quadrivalent influenza vaccine (IIV4) in Latin America. Topics discussed include epidemics caused by B strains, variation in B-strain circulation within same seasons, influenza B affecting children more than older people and equal mismatch between circulating and vaccine B lineage in Northern and Southern hemisphere.