Category Archives: Biomedical interventions
A narrative review of continuing professional development needs for pharmacists with respect to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is rapidly increasing in use worldwide, with many countries now publicly funding use for high risk populations. Pharmacists, as front-line care...
Socio-demographic characteristics and risk factors for HIV transmission in female bar workers in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic literature review
BACKGROUND: Although sex workers are considered a key population in the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), less consideration has been given to female bar workers (FBW), whose primary occupation...
Therapeutic use of cannabis and cannabinoids: An evidence mapping and appraisal of systematic reviews
BACKGROUND: Although cannabis and cannabinoids are widely used with therapeutic purposes, their claimed efficacy is highly controversial. For this reason, medical cannabis use is a broad field of research that...
Pharmacokinetics, placental and breast milk transfer of antiretroviral drugs in pregnant and lactating women living with HIV
BACKGROUND: Remarkable progress has been achieved in the identification of HIV infection in pregnant women and in the prevention of vertical HIV transmission through maternal antiretroviral treatment (ART) and neonatal...
Utilizing a life course approach to examine HIV risk for black adolescent girls and young adult women in the United States: A systematic review of recent literature
Objective: Black female youth have been disproportionately burdened by the HIV epidemic. Emerging literature suggests that individual and social-structural factors may uniquely increase HIV risk within this population during key...
Systematic review and meta-analysis of immune response of double dose of hepatitis B vaccination in HIV-infected patients
INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of co-infection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is high and increases risk of hepatitis B chronicity and mortality. Despite guidelines for HIV-infected...
Verification of HIV self-testing use and results: A global systematic review
HIV self-testing (HIVST) allows individuals to interpret and report their own test results, thus decentralizing testing. Yet, this decentralization can make it difficult to verify self-testing results, which is important...
Ventriculoperitoneal shunt insertion in human immunodeficiency virus infected adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis
BACKGROUND: Hydrocephalus is a common, life threatening complication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related central nervous system opportunistic infection which can be treated by insertion of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS). In...
