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[Current status of knowledge on the epidemiology of rickettsiosis in Africa].

Rickettsioses have been reported all over Africa. Serologic investigations have been driven using non specific methods as Giroud microagglutination and Weil-Felix test which led to numerous false positive. This explains the difficulties encountered in the evaluation of the prevalence of such diseases in Africa. However, three recent studies made in Tunisia, Central Africa and Zimbabwe show that seroprevalence of spotted fever group rickettsiae infections is close to 45% using MIF as reference method. New technics as Western and Line immunoblotting and RFLP PCR should allowed to new studies and…

The enigma of granuloma inguinale in South Africa.

Granuloma inguinale (donovanosis) was well described in South Africa in the early part of this century. After 1927 no further reports appeared and with the passage of time, the belief grew that the disease did not occur in this country. This belief held until the 1980s, when several reports of cases of the disease appeared. What happened to the disease in the intervening half century? Did it disappear spontaneously? Or was it just not being recognised even when cases were being reported from 1950 onwards in neighbouring Zimbabwe? How is it that a disease can remain unrecognised when, untreated…

Герпес зостер как показатель ВИЧ-инфекции в Африке.

В тех областях, где ресурсы для распространения медицинской информации ограничены, в качестве одного из показателей ВИЧ-инфекции можно с пользой отслеживать распространенность герпеса-зостера. В одном из северных районов Зимбабве было отмечено резкое параллельное увеличение числа случаев ВИЧ-инфицирования и случаев заболевания герпесом. Герпес Зостер получил местную отчетность. Три года спустя был проведен анализ распространенности герпеса зостера и ВИЧ в больнице и герпеса зостера в окружающих сельских медицинских центрах. Уровень приступов герпеса и серопозитивность герпеса у пациентов зосте

Совпадение в аннотации оригинала
In areas where resources for health information are limited, the incidence of herpes zoster can usefully be monitored as an indicator of HIV infection. A sudden parallel rise of the number of symptomatic HIV cases and herpes zoster cases was observed in a northern district of Zimbabwe. Herpes zoster was made locally reportable. Three years later the incidenc…

Knowledge attitudes and practices in relation to schistosomiasis in a rural community.

A knowledge attitudes and practices survey of sanitation, water supplies and schistosomiasis was carried out in a rural schistosomiasis endemic area of Zimbabwe. Questionnaires were administered to 349 households. No latrines were present in 61% of households and information on use, likes and dislikes was collected. Most drinking water was collected from sources presenting no risk of schistosomiasis whereas most washing activities were carried out at sites presenting such a risk. Schistosomiasis was thought to be a problem in the community by over 50% of households and 79% gave haematuria as a…

Neonatal vitamin A supplementation and immune responses to oral polio vaccine in Zimbabwean infants.

BACKGROUND: Micronutrient deficiencies may contribute to reduced oral vaccine immunogenicity in developing countries. We hypothesised that neonatal vitamin A supplementation (NVAS) would improve oral vaccine responses. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study of infants recruited at birth to the Zimbabwe Vitamin A for Mothers and Babies (ZVITAMBO) trial, a randomised controlled trial of single, high-dose NVAS vs placebo conducted in Zimbabwe between 1997-2001. We measured poliovirus-specific IgA to type 1-3 polio strains by semiquantitative capture ELISA in cryopreserved plasma samples c…

HIV Drug Resistance Mutations in Non-B Subtypes After Prolonged Virological Failure on NNRTI-Based First-Line Regimens in Sub-Saharan Africa.

OBJECTIVE: To determine drug resistance mutation (DRM) patterns in a large cohort of patients failing nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-based first-line antiretroviral therapy regimens in programs without routine viral load (VL) monitoring and to examine intersubtype differences in DRMs. DESIGN: Sequences from 787 adults/adolescents who failed an NNRTI-based first-line regimen in 13 clinics in Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Malawi were analyzed. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine the association between specific DRMs and Stanford intermediate-/high-level…

Effects of Gender and Baseline CD4 Count on Post-Treatment CD4 Count Recovery and Outcomes in Patients with Advanced HIV Disease: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Presentation to care with advanced HIV disease (AHD) is a significant problem in sub-Saharan Africa. We evaluated factors associated with immune recovery among individuals presenting to care with AHD in Zimbabwe. We conducted a retrospective evaluation of outcomes among adult (>18 years old) individuals with AHD (CD4 count ≤200 cells/mm3) receiving care at 18 outpatient primary care clinics in Harare, Zimbabwe. Baseline and 12-month CD4 count data were extracted from medical records. CD4 count recovery (defined as CD4 count >200 cells/mm3) after 12 months on non-nucleotide reverse transcriptas…

When a travel bug gets you down: severe, hypotensive African tick bite fever and response to therapy.

African tick bite fever, resulting from Rickettsia africae inoculation, is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa. We present a United States traveler with African tick bite fever 5 days after she returned from a mission trip to Zimbabwe. The patient exhibited symptomatic hypotension in addition to more typical findings, including fever, fatigue, and a necrotic eschar. The diagnosis was supported by histopathological findings and the patient's symptoms rapidly resolved with oral doxycycline therapy. We believe this case represents the first African tick bite fever diagnosis associated with symptomatic …

Prospects of Future Typhoid and Paratyphoid Vaccines in Endemic Countries.

Low- and middle-income countries face a high burden of typhoid and paratyphoid fever due to poor water quality and inadequate sanitation. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the use of typhoid conjugate vaccines (TCV) in endemic settings and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, supports TCV introduction. There are currently 2 WHO-prequalified TCVs with Typbar TCV introduced in Pakistan, Liberia, and Zimbabwe. Countries should assess disease burden and consider introduction of TCV for programmatic use. Several paratyphoid vaccine candidates are in early stages of development. An effective biv…

Fine-needle extrathoracic lymph-node aspiration in HIV-associated sputum-negative tuberculosis.

HIV-associated tuberculosis is increasingly seen in Zimbabwe and other developing countries. The clinical and radiological features are often atypical, and diagnostic confusion may arise when sputum smears are negative. Patients with suspected intrathoracic tuberculosis frequently have palpable extrathoracic lymph nodes. In this study, Ziehl-Neelsen staining of aspirates from extrathoracic lymph nodes revealed acid-fast bacilli in 20 (71%) of 28 patients with suspected tuberculosis, and 20 (87%) of 23 patients in whom a final diagnosis of tuberculosis was made Aspiration is simple, rapid, and …

Creating Family-Centred Support for Children with Developmental Disabilities in Africa: Examples of Local Community Interventions.

Preschoolers with disabilities and their family caregivers are overlooked by many public health initiatives, especially in low-income countries. Yet they can benefit from early intervention to promote their development soon after birth and to provide a better quality of life for their families. In this paper, we describe how a community-based approach has been implemented with minimal funding in two areas in Zimbabwe: a township in Harare and in rural areas of Manicaland Province. Our aim in sharing this information-allied with references to research studies recently undertaken in Africa-is th…

The impact of nagana.

The disease in cattle, called nagana in Zululand, was linked with trypanosomal parasitaemia and tsetse flies. Nagana occurs in livestock throughout the tsetse belts of Africa. Wild animals are tolerant of trypanosomal infections. Nagana affects individual animals, herds and socio-economic development. In susceptible animals nagana may be acute, but chronic infections are more common. The host-parasite interaction produces extensive pathology and severe anaemia. Clinically affected animals lose condition and become weak and unproductive. Nagana is often fatal and, at herd level, its impact is w

The control of snail hosts of bilharziasis and fascioliasis in Southern Rhodesia.

The authors review the experimental work that has been done since the Second World War on the use of chemical molluscicides in Southern Rhodesia and describe the development of a co-operative snail control campaign involving local landowners and various Government departments. In 1959 and 1960 efforts were concentrated on four large-scale experiments to test the methods of application of copper sulfate, sodium pentachlorophenate and Bayer 73 under a variety of climatic and physiographic conditions.From this work the authors conclude that it would appear possible and practicable to control vect

Risdiplam for the Use of Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

BACKGROUND: Expanding access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) means that HIV is no longer a death sentence. This change has implications for … with variations observed across countries. However, multivariate analyses show that for Rwanda and Zimbabwe women who were HIV positive, with knowledge of their status, had lower odds of wanting more children. Similarly only in Rwanda (both surveys) were HIV-positive women who knew their status more likely to be current users of contraception compared wit …

Promoting progress in child survival across four African countries: the role of strong health governance and leadership in maternal, neonatal and child health.

Despite numerous international and national efforts, only 12 countries in the World Health Organization's African Region met the Millennium Development Goal #4 (MDG#4) to reduce under-five mortality by two-thirds by 2015. Given the variability across sub-Saharan Africa, a four-country study was undertaken to examine barriers and facilitators of child survival prior to 2015. Liberia and Zambia were chosen to represent countries making substantial progress towards MDG#4, while Kenya and Zimbabwe represented countries making less progress. Our individual case studies suggested that strong health …

On the distribution of schistosome infections among host snails.

The distribution of Schistosoma haematobium infections in a population of Bulinus globosus snails collected from a field site in Zimbabwe is described. Cercariae of both sexes emerged from a proportion of patent infected snails, as was demonstrated by the detection of paired schistosomes in hamsters each exposed to cercariae from a single snail. These snails must have been infected by two or more miracidia. Analysis showed that the proportion of mixed-sex infections was higher than expected if infections were distributed at random among snails. An index of overdispersion was calculated. Overdi…