Summaryobjective To identify factors predicting uptake of voluntary HIV counselling and testing in pregnant women.methods All pregnant women receiving ante-natal group health education at
In sub-Saharan Africa, while antiretroviral therapy (ART) becomes widely available, access to biological measurements to monitor patients under ART remains scarce, making the management of ART difficult. We described the management of switching to second-line ART where HIV care is provided mainly in secondary health-care structures, in the region of Segou, Mali. Of 865 patients, followed under ART for a median time of 15 months, 40 switched to second-line ART (3.3 switches/100 person years). Reason for switching was failure in 18 patients (after 21 months in median) and severe intolerance in 13 (after three months in median). Switching to second-line ART occurred earlier when motivated by intolerance than by failure. The low rate of switch compares well with other studies, but was low compared to the expected rate of failure, and may indicate that physicians are reluctant to switch ART when treatment options are limited.
HIV-1 genetic diversity seems increased in Mali, but the overall HIV-1 primary resistance prevalence remains low. This is consistent with the findings from other West African countries where prevalence rates are lower than 5%. However, considering the large scaling up of ARV use in this country, it is necessary to regularly monitor the development of primary resistance in Mali.
BackgroundIn developing countries, malnutrition is a contributing factor in over 50% of child deaths. Mortality rates are higher in underweight children, and HIV-infection is known to increase underweight. Our goals were to evaluate the prevalence of HIV among children hospitalised for severe malnutrition (SM) at the Niamey national hospital (Niger), and to compare renutrition and mortality by HIV-status.MethodsRetrospective study based on all children <5 years hospitalised for SM between January 1st 2008 and July 1st 2009. HIV-prevalence was the ratio of HIV+ children on the number of children tested. Duration of renutrition and mortality were described using survival curves.ResultsDuring the study period, 477 children were hospitalised for SM. HIV testing was accepted in 470 (98.5%), of which 40 were HIV+ (HIV prevalence (95% confidence interval) of 8.6% (6.2–11.5)). Duration of renutrition was longer in HIV+ than HIV− children (mean: 22 vs. 15 days; p = 0.003). During renutrition, 8 (20%) and 61 (14%) HIV+ and HIV− children died, respectively (p = 0.81).ConclusionAround 9% of children hospitalised for severe malnutrition were HIV infected, while in Niger HIV prevalence in adults is estimated at 0.8%. This pleads for wider access to HIV testing in this population.
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