Treatment and Care

This pamphlet explains basic facts about cirrhosis, which is a disease of the liver. It can help patients understand the causes and treatments of cirrhosis. The pamphlet answers patients' questions about common complications of cirrhosis and provides information on how to deal with these complications. It also provides practical tips on how to keep a patient's liver as healthy as possible, including things to do and things to avoid.

This pamphlet for persons diagnosed with TB or multidrug-resistant TB (MDR TB) contains practical advice, suggestions, guidance, and information to help the patient cope with the illness. The tips are based on personal experience of other TB patients and common sense. Tips cover an explanation of the disease its symptoms, treatment including Direct Observed Therapy (DOTS), taking medication and medication for children, side effects, managing time in isolation, communication with others while in isolation, regaining control of one’s life, eating healthy, and after completing treatment.

This report on migrant and seasonal farm workers (MSFWs) uses data from focus groups, a survey, and interviews of MSFWs and service providers conducted in New York state plus the references to describe the risk and inadequate access to testing and care that MSFWs face. It emphasizes issues relating to HIV/AIDS, barriers to accessing health care and related services, and common elements of successful MSFW programs. The data indicate that HIV/AIDS is escalating among MSFWs, and that immediate steps need to be taken to prevent devastating impact among the population and their families.

This report is a manual containing antiretroviral treatment guidelines written in Spanish language for Latin America and the Caribbean.

This serial updates and expands previous CDC guidelines for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) testing, and includes new recommendations for public health evaluation and management for chronically infected persons and their contacts. Routine testing for HBsAg now is recommended in additional populations with HBsAg prevalence of greater than or equal to 2%: persons born in geographic regions with HBsAg prevalence of greater than or equal to 2%, men who have sex with men, and injection-drug users.

This report provides updated, integrated recommendations for partner services for HIV infection, as well as infection with syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia. These updated recommendations replace the following publications: (1) Program Operations Guidelines for STD Prevention, CDC 2001; and (2) HIV Partner Counseling and Referral Services Guidance, CDC 1998. The updated recommendations serve as a basis for delivery of partner services and related training and technical assistance.

This information sheet discusses Medicare coverage for people age 65 and older or younger people who are disabled by HIV. The information sheet explains Medicare benefits, eligibility, Medicare spending and caseload, and its future outlook. A profile of HIV/AIDS patients receiving Medicare is presented. Filling the gaps in Medicare coverage with Medicaid or other programs such as the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) of the Ryan White CARE Act is also discussed.

This information sheet, for the general public, discusses the hepatitis B virus (HBV). It explains HBV, risk factors for contracting HBV, transmission, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of acute and chronic HBV infection. It discusses ways of preventing HBV including vaccination, and provides a list of facts about the disease.

This information sheet discusses syphilis, an STD caused by a bacterium, among men who have sex with men (MSM). It describes the disease, its transmission, stages, symptoms, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment and provides statistics on the number of cases in the United States. The sheet also discusses the increase in syphilis among MSM as well as the high rates of HIV coinfection in MSM with syphilis, and explains how syphilis infection makes individuals more susceptible to acquiring or transmitting HIV.

This Web site provides interim guidance for clinicians who treat immune compromised persons, including HIV-infected adults and adolescents. The page explains that persons with low CD4 cell counts or AIDS can experience more severe complications of seasonal influenza, and possibly HIV-infected adults and adolescents are at higher risk for swine-origin influenza complications.