Coffee and cholesterol: is it all in the brewing? The Tromsø Study.

Patients' historyfrom date oflast serum sample that was negative for HIV antibody (0) and estimated total number oftimes that patients subsequently had unprotected or protected vaginal intercourse. *=Serum sample positive for HIV antibody. + =Sample positive for HIV antigen. =Sample negative for HIV antigen. I-V= Walter Reed classification ofdisease (see text for details) positive for HIV antibody, and four patients (cases 3, 4, 6, 8) started to use condoms after being told that they were positive. At the time of the last negative sample 12 of the patients were sexually active with their present partner. We calculated that in 11 couples unprotected vaginal intercourse occurred a maximum of 2520 times (minimum 1563) without transmission of HIV; for protected vaginal intercourse the figures were 1252 and 942 respectively (figure). According to the Walter Reed classification, seven patients had progressive disease. Six patients (cases 3, 5, 9-12) developed thrombocytopenia or leucopenia, or both. Two patients had sustained antigenaemia (figure). One partner had unexplained lymphadenopathy during the three years of the study; results of serological tests for Epstein-Barr virus, cytomegalovirus, toxoplasma, hepatitis B virus, and HIV were negative. All other partners were generally healthy, and none developed laboratory evidence of infection with HIV. None of the patients or their partners had serological evidence of active infection with cytomegalovirus or Epstein-Barr virus.