Medicine and Health Sciences 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 …

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 …

Randomized Clinical Trial Of The Effect Of Oral Supplementation With N-Acetyl Cysteine And Glycine On Biomarkers Of Oxidative Stress And Inflammation In People Living With Hiv (Plwh) From The Mash Cohort, Alhanoof Al-Ohaly

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

HIV infection has been associated with glutathione (GSH) depletion, oxidatively damaged DNA, and inflammation. People living with HIV (PLWH) have subnormal levels of GSH and elevated levels of inflammation biomarkers such as C-Reactive Protein (CRP). Failure of the antioxidant enzymatic system increases oxidatively damaged DNA. The objective of this double-blinded randomized clinical trial was to supplement PLWH with a combination of N-acetylcysteine, a powerful antioxidant, and glycine, a precursor of GSH or placebo for three months to decrease oxidative stress and inflammation.

The trial recruited 30 PLWH from the Miami Adult Studies on HIV (MASH) cohort at the FIU Research …