Epidemiology Commons^™

Laboratory And Epidemiological Characteristics Of Zika Virus Infections In Florida, Stephen L. White

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Until recently, Zika virus (ZIKV) was an obscure virus that rarely caused infections and was unknown to most. In 2015 and 2016, ZIKV came into the public spotlight as Brazil and other countries began to report large increases in infections with ZIKV and reported potential complications with developing fetuses and neurologic manifestations. In 2016, the state of Florida identified and responded to an outbreak of locally acquired ZIKV infections in Miami-Dade County. This dramatic increase in infections demonstrated both its importance as an emerging infectious disease and the paucity of knowledge surrounding ZIKV. This study seeks to utilize the data …

Predictors Of Persistent And Recurrent Bacterial Vaginosis (Bv) Among Young African American (Aa) Women In The United States, Makella S. Coudray

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a common vaginal dysbiosis among women of reproductive age. Literature presents discordant findings with respect to the predictors of BV and there is a paucity of literature examining the mechanisms by which multiple episodes of BV occur. This dissertation summarized current literature on BV, identified BV incidence patterns over a twelve-month period, and estimated the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STI) among women with episodic and persistent BV. Previously collected randomized clinical trial data were analyzed, where oral metronidazole was the administered treatment. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to assess BV incidence patterns. Multinomial Logistic …

Examining Stigma And Its Effect On Hiv Prevention & Care Among People Living In Florida, Angel B. Algarin

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Persistent increases of HIV incidence in Florida has made it essential to study ways to improve HIV prevention strategies. Treatment as Prevention (TasP) and Preexposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) are two recent methods in HIV prevention; however, their success may be limited due to barriers such as stigma. This dissertation explored the relationship between HIV-related stigma and 1) antiretroviral therapy adherence and viral suppression and 2) symptoms of anxiety and depression. Additionally, it sought to develop and validate a scale to measure community PrEP-related stigma.

We used data from the Florida Cohort Study which include 932 people living with HIV (PLWH). The …

Factors Associated With Hiv Testing Behaviors Among Latino Emerging Adults, Daisy Ramirez Ortiz

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Latino emerging adults account for a significant proportion of incident HIV cases among emerging adults aged 18-24 in the United States, but have a lower prevalence of HIV testing compared to other racial/ethnic emerging adult groups. Yet, factors that influence HIV testing behaviors among Latino emerging adults are poorly understood. This dissertation examined sociocultural and psychological factors of HIV testing behaviors among a sample of 157 sexually active Latino emerging adults aged 18 to 25. Cross-sectional data from the Project on Health among Emerging Adult Latinos (Project HEAL) were used. Robust Poisson regressions were used to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios …

Developing Triage Tools For Retention In Care And Viral Suppression, And Identifying Predictors Of Sexually Transmitted Infections Among People With Hiv, Merhawi T. Gebrezgi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study developed risk prediction tools for non-retention in HIV care and non-viral suppression, and identified factors associated with self-reported chlamydia and gonorrhea diagnosis among people with HIV (PHIV) in the Miami-Dade County Ryan White Program (RWP). Using retrospective cohort study data, we used stepwise logistic regression to develop score-based risk prediction tools for non-retention in care and non-viral suppression. We then used bootstrapping to internally validate the risk prediction tools. We also assessed the prevalence of self-reported chlamydia and gonorrhea diagnoses and factors associated with the diagnoses cross-sectionally using multivariate logistic regression.

Among the 7439 people meeting the inclusion …