A qualitative study of Rwandan adolescents' views on sex and HIV This qualitative study explored the views and experiences of adolescents with perinatally acquired HIV in Kigali, Rwanda, regarding sex, love, marriage, children and hope for the future. The adolescents reported experiencing similar sexual needs and dilemmas...
Screening household members ("contacts") of tuberculosis (TB) patients for TB is establised practice in low TB incidence countries but not much done in settings with high TB incidence, and little is known about its feasibility and effectiveness for improving TB case finding in such settings....
Tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment is free of charge in the public sector in Bangladesh. A large study showed that despite this, a large majority of identified TB patients did not use these services. Instead they “shopped around” between different types of informal health care providers....
Well-conducted meta-analyses can inform public health policy. They make information accessible for decision-makers, in a summary format that provides a critical overview of the evidence. Poorly performed meta-analyses can mislead decision-makers when, for example, they exclude some studies on purpose, introduce bias, alter original data,...
Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has transformed HIV infection into a chronic manageable condition and reduces the risk of onward HIV transmission. In light of this, UNAIDS published a document in May 2013 entitled: ‘Ending overly broad criminalization of HIV non-disclosure, exposure and transmission: critical scientific, medical...
Many issues in the management of patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis rely on expert opinions rather than on evidence. Examples are the evaluation of the duration of infectiveness of the patients, the choice of preventive chemotherapy for contacts of patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis, the optimal duration...
HIV-related illnesses and deaths are on the decline in sub-Saharan Africa as increasing numbers of people get on and stay on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Treatment failure and drug resistance can undermine these gains. We recruited adults on ART at a rural HIV clinic in Coastal...
Lactobacillus-dominated microbiome associated with reduced HIV/STI prevalence and reduced genital HIV viral load in African women Deviation from a Lactobacillus-dominated cervicovaginal microbiome may increase the risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). However, little is known about the exact nature of these microbiological changes....
Can health insurance reduce blood pressure? A community-based health insurance program in sub-Saharan Africa helps reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. AMSTERDAM – February 21, 2014 High blood pressure is now the leading risk factor for death in sub-Saharan Africa. A new study demonstrates that improved...
New computer models that predict how a patient will respond to HIV drug therapy without the need for HIV genotype also work well for cases in Africa New computer models described in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy predict how patients whose HIV therapy is failing will...