Short Bites: Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Update

Topic: 
Oral Health
Publish Date: 
Monday, March 19, 2018

HPV oral and oropharyngeal cancers are more difficult to detect than tobacco-related cancers because the symptoms are not always obvious to an individual, and health professionals may lack the education and background to diagnose HPV-related lesions. Although there are many adjunctive oral cancer screening devices and tests, none of them can currently detect early-stage HPV-positive oral and oropharyngeal cancers. My rule of thumb: Any lesion that persists for 2 weeks should be referred to an oral medicine specialist or oral surgeon to evaluate and biopsy, if indicated.

Transitioning Your HIV Practice to a New Doctor

Topic: 
Practice Transformation
Publish Date: 
Sunday, March 11, 2018
The AIDS epidemic raged around me like a wildfire in the late '80s and early '90s while I trained in medicine in San Francisco. During that storm, I began working with people living with HIV. In 1995, ready to start a primary medical practice, I landed at a community clinic in Berkeley, California, overseeing an emerging Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program site. Now, 22 years later, I have retired. 
 
The transition has unfolded according to plan. My organization hired a successor who I am confident will take expert and compassionate care of my former patients.

Forever Grateful: My Experience as a Rutgers HIV Care Specialization Student

Topic: 
Clinic-Based Training
Publish Date: 
Sunday, February 25, 2018

While enrolled in graduate school at the Rutgers University School of Nursing, I continued to work as registered nurse on a labor and delivery unit at an increasingly busy community hospital in central New Jersey. Though my unit boasts delivery rates exceeding 2,000 births per year, most of our patients are middle-class, low-risk women in their 30's giving birth to planned pregnancies carried to term. Though not a new nurse, at the time I was new to the labor unit, and happened to be on my final days of orientation when I received report on a primigravida in her early 20's in active labor.

Non-Occupational Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (nPEP) in Rural Areas – Does It Exist?

Topic: 
Postexposure Prophylaxis
Publish Date: 
Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Nurses are on the front-lines of increasing access to health care and, as a nurse, my first priority is always the patient. A recent case demonstrates the importance of the role of nursing in providing needed services for patients. In this case, a young person was a victim of sexual assault resulting in HIV exposure. The MidAtlantic AETC had conducted training on post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) and one of our participants in that training was responsible for making sure that the patient received nPEP.

Short Bites: What Is a Dental Emergency?

Topic: 
Oral Health
Publish Date: 
Tuesday, January 9, 2018

What is a dental emergency? 

I often get this question from non-dental personnel including case managers, physician assistants, nurses, and nurse practitioners. The following is a short list of questions you can ask patients to guide dental referrals for emergency care: 

Short Bites: Effects of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) on Oral Lesions

Topic: 
Oral Health
Publish Date: 
Wednesday, December 13, 2017

A recent study that was conducted among 1200 HIV patient of whom 600 each belonged to with ART and without ART and the occurrence of oral candidiasis and oral hairy leukoplakia. This study shows that oral candidiasis and leukoplakia was less among patients on ART as well as a decrease in the number of opportunistic infections.[1]  This is important as oral manifestations might serve as an important marker for monitoring restoration of immune function and ART failure.

Short Bites: Xerostomia in Patients Living with HIV

Topic: 
Oral Health
Publish Date: 
Tuesday, November 7, 2017

It is estimated that 1.1 million people in the United States are living with HIV. Of those, 1 in 7 do not know they are infected.[1] The number of new HIV diagnoses fell 19% from 2005 to 2014.[1] Because HIV testing rates have remained stable or increased in recent years, this decrease in diagnoses suggests a true decline in new infections. The statistics in the Southern United States are not as promising.

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