Thesis (MPH.) --University of Limpopo, 2013 / Setting: The study was undertaken in St Rita’s Hospital, a district hospital for healthin Makhuduthamaga Municipality, Sekhukhune District, Limpopo Province. The purpose of the study was to describe client experiences of HIV-positive post-disclosure tosexual partners at St Rita’s Hospital, Limpopo Province. Research design and methodology: A qualitative, descriptive and phenomenological design was used. Purposive sampling was used to select 15 HIV-positive clients to participate in the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for data collection until saturation was reached. Data analysis was done using Techs open-coding method. Research findings: The study found that most of the clients were shocked and worried after testing HIV-positive. Participants whose sexual partners were aware that they were sick, indicated their wish to test and to immediately disclose their HIV-positive status. The study identified that some women found it difficult to disclose their HIV-positive status to sexual partners and continued to have unprotected sex in spite of ongoing counselling and support provided at the clinic. Some women participants who disclosed to sexual partners were accepted and some were rejected by sexual partners. Some women who disclosed their HIV-positive status to sexual partners were unable to motivate sexual partners to be counselled together and have mutual disclosure. These participants therefore continued to have unprotected sex with sexual partners and some became pregnant as sexual partners indicated that they tested HIV-negative elsewhere and were not keen to use condoms. Female participants did not indicate the use of female condoms as part of their responsibility to prevent transmission of HIV. Implications, recommendations and conclusions: The barriers which female participants face to disclose their HIV-positive status to sexual partners and not being able to insist on the use condoms may contribute to a high rate of HIV transmission and disease incidence. There should be establishment of consortiums at community level to provide quality support and follow up to vii clients who face challenges or fear to disclose their HIV-positive status to sexual partners. KEYWORDS • Clients’ experiences • Disclosure • Experiences, • Sexual partner • HIV-positive

Thesis (M.Cur.) --University of Limpopo, 2013 / All pregnant women who seek antenatal health care at the public clinics are offered HIV counselling and testing. Those who agree to test and who test positive, often fail to bring their infants for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) HIV testing after delivery, despite the fact that they have been advised to do so during delivery. There are very few studies which have assessed the women’s knowledge with regard to the PCR HIV testing of infants. In this study; a qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive methodology was applied to explore and describe the knowledge of pregnant women with regard to PCR HIV testing of infants in the Molemole Municipality of the Limpopo Province, Capricorn District. Purposive sampling was used and semi-structured interviews were conducted until saturation of data was reached. Qualitative data analysis design of Marshall and Rossman was used. The study indicated that the participants had knowledge with regard to the PCR HIV testing of infants. The nurse and lay counsellors knew about the different modes of prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) and they used every contact opportunity with pregnant women to share its benefits. Mother to mother support groups for HIV positive pregnant and lactating women should be established for continuous support and counselling with the purpose of achieving an HIV-free generation.

Thesis (M.Cur.) --University of Limpopo, 2013 / Previous research about people living with HIV and AIDS has highlighted social support as an important determinant of health outcomes; i.e. perceived support to be associated with adjustment and coping in relation to HIV diagnosis, as well as its potentially chronic and disability course . The purpose of the study is to determine the effects of HIV and AIDS on the socio-economic status of people infected with HIV and AIDS at the village of Ga-Mathabatha in the Capricorn District of the Limpopo Province, South Africa. In this study, a qualitative, descriptive, exploratory and contextual design is used. A non-probability purposive sampling technique was used to carefully select the sample based on the knowledge that the participants had about the phenomena studied. Semi-structured, one-on-one, in-depth interview with a schedule guide were conducted until saturation of data was reached. To initiate each interview, a central question was was asked: “Describe the effects that HIV and AIDS have on your socio-economic status”. Participants were given an opportunity to describe their experiences with regard to the effects of HIV and AIDS on their socio-economic status. Field notes of semi-structured, one-to-one, in-depth interview session were recorded. A voice recorder was used to capture all the semi-structured, one-to-one, in-depth interviews. The recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim, using Tesch’s qualitative data analysis method. Trustworthiness was ensured by using Guba’s model criteria; i.e. credibility, transferability, confirmability, and dependability. The results indicate that HIV and AIDS have an effect on the socio-economic status of HIV-positive people. Ethical standards for nurse researchers were adhered to, namely permission to conduct the study was obtained from the Medunsa Research and Ethics Committee. Permission to conduct the research project was granted by the Limpopo Turfloop Campus, Limpopo Provincial Department of Health and Social Development, and the ART clinic management at the Ga-mathabatha Relebogile Wellness and ART Clinic. To ensure confidentiality and anonymity, written informed consent was obtained from each participant before he/she could participate in the study. The quality of the research was also insured. Five themes and their sub-themes, and the literature control are presented in the discussion of the research findings. The findings of this study have a central story line which reveals that participants are sharing similar experiences in terms of socio-economic factors after they have tested HIV-positive which are related to several factors; including the involvement of family and friends in their care, changes encountered which affect their social life, household income, and their living conditions. The following five themes and their sub-themes have emerged during data analysis: Theme 1: Different sources of income of HIV-positive people; Theme 2: Living conditions of HIV-positive people; Theme 3: Consequences related to HIV and AIDS disease progression; Theme 4: Support and care to HIV-positive people; and Theme 5: Disclosure versus non-disclosure of HIV-positive status. The results of this study are limited to the Relebogile Wellness and ART Clinic in the Ga-Mathabatha area of the Capricorn District in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study findings cannot be generalised to all clinics that are issuing ARVs in the Capricorn District. Study conclusions emphasise the fact that there is a need for HIV and AIDS positive patients to receive continuous support from family, friends, and the community with the purpose of enabling them to cope emotionally, socially, and economically. It also reveals the importance of participants to take their treatment as prescribed with the aim of improving their immune systems. The recommendations emphasise the fact that there is a need for HIV and AIDS patients to receive continuous support from family, friends, and the community with the purpose of enabling them to cope emotionally, socially, and economically. TERMINOLOGY Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) HIV is a virus which has a known and distinct capacity to cause Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome once it has entered the body. It attacks a person’s immune system (Kaushik, Pandey & Pande, 2006:43) Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) It is the fourth stage of HIV infection and it is usually characterised by a CD4 count of less than 200. It is not a specific illness but rather a collection of illnesses that affect the body to such an extent that the weakened immune system struggles to respond effectively (Kaushik et al., 2006:43) Effects Effects are consequences that are brought about by a cause (Kaushik, Pandey & Pande, 2006:56). Examples of effects are changes in the health status, and standard of living of a population as a result of a programme, project or activity. In this study, effects refer to changes in the socio-economic status of a population that have occurred as a result of the breadwinner in a family who has become unable to go to work due to a weakened immune system that results from HIV and AIDS. Epidemic It is the occurrence of cases of an illness (or an outbreak) in a specific population with a frequency clearly in excess of the normal probability (Giesecke, 2007:19). In this study, an epidemic refers to the effect HIV and AIDS has on the population. Socio-economic status Socio-economic status refers to the standardised way of grouping a population in terms of parental occupation, income, power, prestige, and education (Kirsh, 2006:287). In this study, socio-economic status defines a person’s monthly income, education, and occupation. Family A group of people living together in a permanent arrangement, separated from the rest of the world by the walls of the family dwelling and by societal guarantees of family privacy (Bachmann & Booyens, 2006:4). In this study, a family denotes those people who are living under the same roof with a breadwinner who is HIV-positive.

Thesis (MPH.) --University of Limpopo, 2013 / Setting: The study was undertaken in St Rita’s Hospital, a district hospital for healthin Makhuduthamaga Municipality, Sekhukhune District, Limpopo Province. The purpose of the study was to describe client experiences of HIV-positive post-disclosure tosexual partners at St Rita’s Hospital, Limpopo Province. A qualitative, descriptive and phenomenological design was used. Purposive sampling was used to select 15 HIV- positive clients to participate in the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for data collection until saturation was reached. Data analysis was done using Techs open-coding method. Research findings: The study found that most of the clients were shocked and worried after testing HIV-positive. Participants whose sexual partners were aware that they were sick, indicated their wish to test and to immediately disclose their HIV-positive status. The study identified that some women found it difficult to disclose their HIV-positive status to sexual partners and continued to have unprotected sex in spite of ongoing counselling and support provided at the clinic. Some women participants who disclosed to sexual partners were accepted and some were rejected by sexual partners. Some women who disclosed their HIV-positive status to sexual partners were unable to motivate sexual partners to be counselled together and have mutual disclosure. These participants therefore continued to have unprotected sex with sexual partners and some became pregnant as sexual partners indicated that they tested HIV-negative elsewhere and were not keen to use condoms. Female participants did not indicate the use of female condoms as part of their responsibility to prevent transmission of HIV. Implications, recommendations and conclusions: The barriers which female participants face to disclose their HIV-positive status to sexual partners and not being able to insist on the use condoms may contribute to a high rate of HIV transmission and disease incidence. There should be establishment of consortiums at community level to provide quality support and follow up to clients who face challenges or fear to disclose their HIV-positive status to sexual partners. KEYWORDS • Clients’ experiences • Disclosure • Experiences, • Sexual partner • HIV-positive

AIMS: HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men (MSM) in New Zealand increased from the year 2001. The aim of the thesis was to improve understandings of the causes of the increase, in order to inform HIV prevention and identify further research needs. METHODS: Epidemiological data on HIV and AIDS diagnoses among MSM in New Zealand were examined using information from the AIDS Epidemiology Group. A programme of regular behavioural surveillance among MSM was also designed and conducted. RESULTS: Between 1996-2005, HIV diagnoses among MSM by antibody testing where HIV infection was acquired in New Zealand revealed two distinct phases: A very low period between 1997 to 2000 in which around 21 diagnoses were recorded annually; and a resurgent period from 2001 to 2005 where annual HIV diagnoses experienced a sustained rise to 66 at the end of 2005. New adjusted estimates indicated that known prevalent HIV cases among MSM in New Zealand increased from 437 to 588 between 1995 and 2000 (35%), and from 588 to 965 (64%) between 2000 and 2005. This reflected diverging trends from the mid-1990s: Ongoing new HIV infections among MSM which accelerated from the year 2000; and decreased deaths from AIDS due to improved antiretroviral treatments. Unless the growing number of MSM with HIV is counterbalanced by a decrease in the rate of secondary transmission from positive individuals, it will increase the number of new HIV infections. Contrary to this, when expressed as diagnosed incidence-to-prevalence pool ratios (IPRs), the average annual rate of secondary transmission was found to be increasing over time. The behavioural surveillance programme in Auckland surveyed 812 MSM in 2002, 1220 in 2004, and 1228 in 2006. An online module in 2006 additionally surveyed 2141 MSM, 647 of whom lived in Auckland. There were no overall changes in HIV testing over the three offline surveys, suggesting that the increase in HIV diagnoses was not an artefact of testing patterns. There were also no widespread changes in the rate of unprotected anal sex with casual sex partners, or partners described as a "fuckbuddy" or a "boyfriend", among the overall offline samples. However, the proportion of MSM recruited offline who had recently engaged in sex with a man met through the Internet increased significantly from 2002 to 2004 (from 26.6% to 44.8%). When MSM surveyed online in 2006 were examined, they exhibited riskier behaviours compared to offline-recruited respondents. For example, rates of non-condom use and sexual partner concurrency were especially high, and testing rates were lower. CONCLUSION: It is likely that moderate changes involving increases in unprotected sex for some MSM, and alterations to sexual networks and sexual connectivity, have combined to push the reproductive rate of HIV beyond the new epidemic threshold set by the increase in longevity from the mid-1990s. These changes need not have been great if the reproductive rate of HIV was already situated close to the epidemic tipping point. In this case, a resurgent outbreak of HIV may even have been triggered by apparently small and subtle shifts in factors influencing HIV spread.

"8th July 2002." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 276-308) Examines the systematics (taxonomy, phylogeny, and epiemiology) of the genus Candida using a combination of traditional and contemporary methodologies. Assesses these methods to determine their diagnostic potential to unequivocally identify and characterise species and strains of this medically and dentally important yeast genus.

The medico-scientific advances made in the treatment of HIV and AIDS, which emerged in the mid 1990s, were significant. The Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Treatments (HAART) or anti- HIV treatments have been positioned as resources that changed the way HIV is now medically and socially constructed. Although HIV remains incurable, it is now constructed as a chronic disease that is treatable, manageable and people are no longer positioned as living with a ‘death sentence’. The research on which this thesis is based explores the subjective lived experiences of people with HIV living in urban Australia in the context of this change. The effects that the treatments have had on corporeality have also changed the ways people are now living with HIV in the post-treatment era. It is an era in which treatments for HIV are taken-for-granted, but issues, doubts and concerns relating to treatment use are firmly embedded in the everyday life of people with HIV. The findings suggest that whilst AIDS-related mortality has decreased since the availability of effective treatments, the notion of ‘quality of life’, as subjectively constituted and defined, is an ongoing negotiation that is predicated on people locating meaningfulness in their everyday lives. Despite the decreased threat of failing health and death, the findings also suggest that people are continuing to be confronted by, and therefore positioned as, having to make sense of complex issues embedded in living with a disease for which there is no cure. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

"8th July 2002." / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 276-308) / vi, 308, [57] leaves : charts ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Examines the systematics (taxonomy, phylogeny, and epiemiology) of the genus Candida using a combination of traditional and contemporary methodologies. Assesses these methods to determine their diagnostic potential to unequivocally identify and characterise species and strains of this medically and dentally important yeast genus. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Dentistry, 2002

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has become the world's foremost health threat and is the number one killer in Zimbabwe. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome impacts not only the individual who has AIDS, but on nuclear and extended families, and all aspects of society in Zimbabwe. Since studies have indicated that counseling could be an effective tool in preventing the spread of Human Immuno Deficiency Virus (HIV) and helping those who are already impacted by the virus, it would be important for counselors to be knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS and have positive attitudes towards people with HIV/AIDS. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to investigate eight practicing Zimbabwean counselors' attitudes towards and knowledge of HIV/AIDS. Additionally, the study explored the emotions the counselors experienced while counseling HI V/AIDS clients, their beliefs about the origin of HI V/AIDS, and their perceptions about HI V/AIDS counseling in Zimbabwe. Eight practicing counselors in Zimbabwe participated in this study. A mixed method Model III with a sequential exploratory design was used amid phenomenological underpinnings. The counselors provided information through a mailed (electronic mail) questionnaire and telephone interviews. Follow-ups to the interviews were carried out through the electronic mail. Results indicated that the counselors in the study were generally knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS, had positive attitudes toward people with HIV/AIDS, and did not think that the origin of HIV/AIDS was important and that it was better to focus on the solutions to the problem. The counselors experienced a wide variety of feelings while counseling HIV/AIDS clients. The counselors reported more negative than positive feelings, but most of the feelings were not directed toward the client. The counselors revealed that HIV/AIDS counseling was complex and difficult. The counselors thought counselor training in Zimbabwe was too limited and that counselors in Zimbabwe in general lacked both support and supervision services. Despite the difficulties of, and the lack of support and supervision, the counselors found meaning in counseling HIV/AIDS clients. / Graduation date: 2004

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rhode Island, 2004. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 148-169).