METHODS: Patients testing HBs antigen (Ag) or HCV antibody (Ab) positive within enrollment into TAHOD were considered HBV or HCV co-infected. Factors associated with HBV and/or HCV co-infection were assessed by logistic regression models. Factors associated with post-ART HIV immunological response (CD4 change after six months) and virological response (HIV RNA <400 copies/ml after 12 months) were also determined. Survival was assessed by the Kaplan-Meier method and log rank test.
RESULTS: A total of 7,455 subjects were recruited by December 2012. Of patients tested, 591/5656 (10.4%) were HBsAg positive, 794/5215 (15.2%) were HCVAb positive, and 88/4966 (1.8%) were positive for both markers. In multivariate analysis, HCV co-infection, age, route of HIV infection, baseline CD4 count, baseline HIV RNA, and HIV-1 subtype were associated with immunological recovery. Age, route of HIV infection, baseline CD4 count, baseline HIV RNA, ART regimen, prior ART and HIV-1 subtype, but not HBV or HCV co-infection, affected HIV RNA suppression. Risk factors affecting mortality included HCV co-infection, age, CDC stage, baseline CD4 count, baseline HIV RNA and prior mono/dual ART. Shortest survival was seen in subjects who were both HBV- and HCV-positive.
CONCLUSION: In this Asian cohort of HIV-infected patients, HCV co-infection, but not HBV co-infection, was associated with lower CD4 cell recovery after ART and increased mortality.
METHODS: Residents, aged 20 to 64 years, with an MI event were identified from hospital discharge listings, postmortem reports, and the Registry of Births and Deaths. All pathology laboratories flagged patients with elevated creatine phosphokinase (CPK) levels. Modified MONICA (multinational monitoring of trends and determinants in cardiovascular disease) criteria were used for determining MI events.
RESULTS: From 1991 to 1999, 12 481 MI events were identified. Chinese patients were older and less likely to have typical symptoms or previous MI. Malays had the highest peak CPK level. Among all three ethnic groups, MI event and age-adjusted case-fatality rates declined. Compared with Chinese, MI event rates were >2-fold and >3-fold higher, and age-standardized coronary mortality rates were 2.4 and 3.0 higher times for Malays and Indians, respectively. Malays have the highest 3.1-year case-fatality, with an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.26 (95% confidence interval, 1.14 to 1.38) compared with Chinese.
CONCLUSION: We found strong ethnic differences in MI event, case-fatality and coronary mortality rates among the three ethnic groups in Singapore. While Indians have the greatest MI event rates, Malays have the highest case-fatality.