Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Ccl2 Responses To Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Are Associated With Disease Severity In Tuberculosis, Zahra Hasan, Jacqueline M. Cliff, Hazel M. Dockrell, Bushra Jamil, Muhammad Irfan, Mussarat Ashraf, Rabia Hussain

Section of Pulmonary & Critical Care

Background

Leucocyte activating chemokines such as CCL2, CCL3, and CXCL8 together with proinflammatory IFNγ, TNFα and downmodulatory IL10 play a central role in the restriction of M. tuberculosis infections, but is unclear whether these markers are indicative of tuberculosis disease severity.

Methodology

We investigated live M. tuberculosis- and M. bovis BCG- induced peripheral blood mononuclear cell responses in patients with tuberculosis (TB) and healthy endemic controls (ECs, n = 36). TB patients comprised pulmonary (PTB, n = 34) and extrapulmonary groups, subdivided into those with less severe localized extrapulmonary TB (L-ETB, n = 16) or severe disseminated ETB (D-ETB, …

Hiv/Aids And Pregnancy-Related Deaths In Blantyre, Malawi, V. M. Lema, C. Kanyighe, J. Changole, E. V. Malunga

Obstetrics and Gynaecology, East Africa

Background: HIV/AIDS epidemic is one of the major factors affecting women’s health and impeding national efforts to improve it especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Current evidence indicates that HIV/ AIDS is increasingly becoming a major cause or contributing factor to pregnancy-related deaths, almost overtaking the “traditional” causes and factors.

Objectives: To survey the contribution of HIV infection and AIDS to pregnancy-related deaths in Blantyre, Malawi.

Design: A retrospective, descriptive, facility-based survey.

Setting: The Queen Elizabeth Central Teaching Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi.

Subjects: All women recorded to have had pregnancy-related deaths between January 1, 1999 and December 31, 2000.

Results: There were …

The Influence Of Antiretroviral Therapy On Qtc Interval Amongst Hiv Patients At Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, Jay Shavadia

Theses & Dissertations

Aim: To determine the influence of antiretroviral (ARV) therapy on the QT_C interval amongst HIV-infected patients.

Design: Prospective Comparative survey of two population samples

Patients and Setting: One hundred and thirty ARV naïve and one hundred and thirty treated HIV-positive patients selected from in and out patient departments of Aga Khan University Hospital underwent clinical evaluation and 12 lead resting ECG between August 2008 and March 2009.

Methodology: Eligible HIV-positive patients were conveniently sampled and had a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) performed to determine the QTinterval, corrected for the heart rate by the Bazzet formula. Analysis was then performed to …

Lipid Nanoparticles With Accessible Nickel As A Vaccine Delivery System For Single And Multiple His-Tagged Hiv Antigens, Weili Yan, Anekant Jain, Ronan O'Carra, Jerold Woodward, Wenxue Li, Guanhan Li, Avindra Nath, Russell J. Mumper

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Publications

Lipid-based nanoparticles (NPs) with a small amount of surface-chelated nickel (Ni-NPs) were developed to easily formulate the HIV his-tagged Tat protein, as well as to formulate and co-deliver two HIV antigens (his-p24 and his-Nef) on one particle. Female BALB/c mice were immunized by s.c. injection with his-Tat/Ni-NP formulation (1.5 μg Tat-his/mouse) and control formulations on day 0 and 14. The day 28 anti-Tat specific IgG titer with his-Tat/Ni-NP was significantly greater than that with Alum/his-Tat. Furthermore, splenocytes from his-Tat/Ni-NP immunized mice secreted significantly higher IFN-γ than those from mice immunized with Alum/his-Tat. Although Ni-NPs did not show better adjuvant activity …

Complexity, Cofactors, And The Failure Of Aids Policy In Africa, Eileen Stillwaggon

Economics Faculty Publications

Global AIDS policy still treats HIV as an exceptional case, abstracting from the context in which infection occurs. Policy is based on a simplistic theory of HIV causation, and evaluated using outdated tools of health economics. Recent calls for a health systems strategy – preventing and treating HIV within a programme of comprehensive health care – have not yet influenced the silo approach of AIDS policy.

Evidence continues to accumulate, showing that multiple factors, such as malnutrition, malaria and helminthes, increase the risk of sexual and vertical transmission of HIV. Moreover, complementary interventions that reduce viral load, improve immune response, …

Serial Evolutionary Networks Of Within-Patient Hiv-1 Sequences Reveal Patterns Of Evolution Of X4 Strains, Patrica Buendia, Giri Narasimhan

School of Computing and Information Sciences

Background

The HIV virus is known for its ability to exploit numerous genetic and evolutionary mechanisms to ensure its proliferation, among them, high replication, mutation and recombination rates. Sliding MinPD, a recently introduced computational method [1], was used to investigate the patterns of evolution of serially-sampled HIV-1 sequence data from eight patients with a special focus on the emergence of X4 strains. Unlike other phylogenetic methods, Sliding MinPD combines distance-based inference with a nonparametric bootstrap procedure and automated recombination detection to reconstruct the evolutionary history of longitudinal sequence data. We present serial evolutionary networks as a longitudinal representation …

The Curse Of A Generation: Evaluating The Effects Of Gender Roles And Marriage On Hiv/Aids In Sub-Saharan Africa And Developing An Efficient Prevention Plan, Mark B. Krom

Senior Honors Theses

HIV/AIDS research in sub-Saharan Africa shows an important relationship between gender roles, marriage, and HIV prevalence. Research is collected and analyzed, and cultural issues are addressed in order to develop a prevention plan. The African church seems to be an efficient venue through which to reach sub-Saharan Africa, and the most efficient prevention plan to curb HIV/AIDS is abstinence.

Religion And Hiv In Tanzania: Influence Of Religious Beliefs On Hiv Stigma, Disclosure, And Treatment Attitudes, James Zou, Yvonne Yamanaka, Muze John, Melissa Watt, Jan Ostermann, Nathan Thielman

Faculty Publications

Background

Religion shapes everyday beliefs and activities, but few studies have examined its associations with attitudes about HIV. This exploratory study in Tanzania probed associations between religious beliefs and HIV stigma, disclosure, and attitudes toward antiretroviral (ARV) treatment.

Methods

A self-administered survey was distributed to a convenience sample of parishioners (n = 438) attending Catholic, Lutheran, and Pentecostal churches in both urban and rural areas. The survey included questions about religious beliefs, opinions about HIV, and knowledge and attitudes about ARVs. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to assess how religion was associated with perceptions about HIV, HIV treatment, and …

Fgi-104: A Broad-Spectrum Small Molecule Inhibitor Of Viral Infection, Michael S. Kinch, Abdul S. Yunus, Calli Lear, Hanwen Mao, Hansen Chen, Zena Fesseha, Guangxiang Luo, Eric A. Nelson, Limin Li, Zhuhui Huang, Michael Murray, William Y. Ellis, Lisa Hensley, Jane Christopher-Hennings, Gene G. Olinger, Michael Goldblatt

Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications

The treatment of viral diseases remains an intractable problem facing the medical community. Conventional antivirals focus upon selective targeting of virus-encoded targets. However, the plasticity of viral nucleic acid mutation, coupled with the large number of progeny that can emerge from a single infected cells, often conspire to render conventional antivirals ineffective as resistant variants emerge. Compounding this, new viral pathogens are increasingly recognized and it is highly improbable that conventional approaches could address emerging pathogens in a timely manner. Our laboratories have adopted an orthogonal approach to combat viral disease: Target the host to deny the pathogen the ability …

Health Communication Theories: Implications For Hiv Reporting In Asia And The Pacific, Trevor Cullen

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper focuses on the expanding HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) epidemic in parts of Asia and the Pacific region and recommends the adoption of insights from particular health communication theories. The author argues that these paradigms can assist in broadening the current scope and content of HIV reporting. One theory in particular - Social Change Communication (SCC) - challenges the media to extend the framing of HIV from primarily a health story to one that is linked to more macro socio-economic, cultural and political factors. Asian and Pacific countries that have an emerging or expanding HIV epidemic need to realise …

A Valid Two-Item Food Security Questionnaire For Screening Hiv-1 Infected Patients In A Clinical Setting, Jessica Young, Sarangapany Jeganathan, Louise M. Houtzager, Aaron Di Guilmi, Julianita Purnomo

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: To validate a two-item food security questionnaire (FSQ) for use in a clinical setting to screen HIV-1 infected patients for food insecurity. Design: The present study was a questionnaire-based survey of forty-nine subjects attending an HIV clinic. Subjects completed a two-item questionnaire and a six-item validated FSQ contemporaneously. Results: A strong correlation was found between the two-item and six-item FSQ (r50?895; 95% CI 0?821, 0?940; P,0?0001). Cronbach’s a coefficient was found to be 0?94 and 0?90 for the two-item and six-item FSQ, respectively. The two-item FSQ yielded a sensitivity of 100% (95% CI 75, 100) and …

“Riding Bareback”: Factors Involved In The Development Of A Bareback Identity, Scott Charles Musgrove

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Researchers in the area of HIV prevention have long been aware of the rising incidence of unprotected sex among men who have sex with men (MSM). In recent years researchers have witnessed the emergence of the behaviors, attitudes and practices that discriminate between those of the MSM community who strictly and consistently adhere to safer sex practices, those who inconsistently practice safer sex, and those who eschew protected sex altogether. Understanding the factors that motivate the development and adoption of a "barebacker identity" in spite of serious potential for HIV infection may well help support the efforts of public agencies …

Hiv Rates In The State Of Georgia: A Growing Threat Among Predominately African American Populations, Swati Raychowdhury, Stuart H. Tedders

Epidemiology Faculty Publications

Background: US rates of HIV/AIDS continue to rise with over 55% of new cases identified in southern states in 2003. The objective of this study was to determine the magnitude of HIV/AIDS cases in rural southeast Georgia in comparison to urban areas of the state.

Methods: County level data was acquired using OASIS. Rates of HIV infections by gender and race (black vs. white) were aggregated over a five year period (2000–2005) and indirectly adjusted using Georgia as the standard. Rates for rural counties, (populations less than 35,000), were statistically compared to urban rates (α = 0.05).

Results: HIV infections …

The Importance Of Hiv Specialist Services For African Women Living With Hiv In Nottingham: Results Of A Qualitative Study, Eunice Ndirangu, Catrin Evans

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

This article reports the results of a qualitative study of the experiences of African women living with HIV in Nottingham, UK. Globally, sub-Saharan Africa is the region most severely affected by the HIV pandemic [1]. This pattern is also reflected in the UK where African migrants make up 27% of those diagnosed with HIV despite the fact that they constitute less than 1% of the population [2-4]. Healthcare staff play a central role in meeting the prevention and care needs of people living with HIV/AIDS [5]. In contexts of increasing migration, health workers are called upon to recognise the diverse …

'People Are Creating Policy Up There, They Are Not Coming Down': Nurses' Views On The Expansion Of Routine Provider-Initiated Hiv Testing And Counselling In Nairobi, Kenya., Catrin Evans, Eunice Ndirangu

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

In this report, we present selected findings from an exploratory piece of qualitative research on HIV testing that was undertaken in 2007-2008 with nurses in Nairobi, Kenya. At the same time, we share our own story of how this research came about and how NHIVNA research funding was able to lay the foundations for a larger study that will hopefully give voice to patients and HIV nurses in Nairobi and will develop HIV nursing research capacity in the country.