Thesis (Family Medicine)) -- University of Limpopo, 2010. / Background. The study was aimed at showing the prevalence, clinical and demographic characteristics of HIV positive adolescents attending the Wellness clinic of the Bernice Samuel Hospital in Delmas. Design. The study was a retrospective, cross-sectional study. Methods. A non-probability sampling (criterion sampling) was used. All patients between the ages of 11 years to 19 years who are registered at the Wellness clinic of Bernice Samuel Hospital in Delmas for the period 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2009 were taken. The variables studied included Prevalence, Demographic variables (gender, age group, population group, marital and employment status as well as Proximity to ART site) and Clinical variables(Viralload at presentation, CD4 count, Hemoglobin, associated sexually transmitted disease, associated health problems pre and post HAART, antiretroviral regimen, WHO staging). Results. The study showed a great disparity between the total number of adolescents picked up by VCT in the community and those registered for follow up care at the Hospital's Wellness clinic (Clinic prevalence 2.3% versus community prevalence 3.8%). Most of the patients were females, evenly distributed in early and late adolescence, were scholars presenting at an advanced stage of the disease despite an easy access to health care. Common health problems encountered in these patients were oral Candidiasis, malnutrition, pneumonia, and diarrheal illness. The commonest adverse reactions to HAAR T were gastrointestinal symptoms and hepatotoxicity. Retention on the ARV treatment program was good but there was an unacceptable delay in initiating HAART. Death was the commonest cause of loss to follow up. Conclusion. Adolescent HIV / AIDS remains a problem in the Delmas municipality even though prevalence appears to be low. The cause of late presentation in the wellness clinic despite good access will need to be investigated and rectified.

Univ., Diss--Münster

The current study explored the health risk of E. coli O157:H7 to diarrhoeic confrimed and non-confirmed HIV/AIDS patients due to their exposure to presumed ingestion of water, meat, meat products and vegetables ostensibly contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. Strains of E. coli O157:H7 were isolated by enrichment culture and on Cefixime-Telurite Sorbitol MacConkey agar. Average counts of presumptive E. coli O157 were used for dose-response assessment.Probability of infection to confrimed and non-confirmedHIV/AIDS patients was 20 and 27 % from meat and meat products, 21% and 15% from vegetables and 100% due to ingestion of 1500ml person day of water. Drinking water had higher probability of transmitting E. coli O157 :H infections than meat and meat products and vegetables.Prabability of E coli O157:H7 infections were high for confrimed HIV/AIDS patients than for non-confirmed patients. Water and foods consumed by HIV/AIDS patients should be safe of any microbial contaminants, these waters and foods should as well be investigated for other enteric pathogens to establish their safety.

Although HIV/AIDS and water-borne infections, exemplified by diarrhoea, are leading causes of morbidity and mortality in developing countries, their association has received only cursory attention. This study was therefore conducted to ascertain the scope and frequency of potential enteric bacterial pathogens isolated from stool samples of HIV-positive and -negative individuals with and without diarrhoea as well as household drinking water of the study groups in rural communities in Limpopo Province. A prospective study involving 330 HIV-positive individuals (200 with diarrhoea and 130 without diarrhoea) and 160 HIV-negative patients, (80 with diarrhoea and 80 without) was undertaken from August 2005 to January 2006. Stool and drinking water samples were analyzed for the presence of enteric bacterial pathogens using standard microbiological methods. Of the 330 HIV-positive individuals, 126 (38%) and 206 (62%) were males and females respectively. HIV prevalence was mostly common in the age group 21to 30 years. A potential enteric pathogen was isolated from all (100%) of the HIV-positive individuals with diarrhoea and 68 (52.3%) without diarrhoea (P = 0.0001). Bacteria that were significantly associated with diarrhoea among HIV-positive patients and their household drinking water were Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp., Shigella spp. and Aeromonas spp. whereas Plesiomonas shigelloides was not. The same profiles of enteric bacterial pathogens were isolated from HIV-negative individuals but at lower frequencies (P = 0.0001). Enteric pathogens were distributed across gender and different age strata. A notable finding was the emergence of Aeromonas spp. and Plesiomonas shigelloides in HIV infected individuals with diarrhoea. This study provides the foremost baseline reference compendium on the scope and frequencies of enteric bacterial pathogens isolated from stool and household drinking water samples of HIV-positive and -negative individuals with and without diarrhoea in rural communities in the Limpopo Province.

This report addresses the issue of stigma surrounding people living with the human immunodeficiency virus and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or HIV/AIDS. It examines the relationship between the disease and a person’s willingness to seek treatment and how an HIV diagnosis affects self-acceptance, family relationships, friendships and well being of people living with HIV/AIDS. In many cases the self-imposed stigma is just as menacing as external stigma. The global pandemic of HIV/AIDS affects every class, color and creed. It is a public health crisis that quietly infects new victims daily. In the thirty years since its discovery there is still no known cure. The passage of the Ryan White act was the federal government’s first official response to the issue. While the disease is manageable for many who can afford expensive anti-retroviral medication, the side effects and psychological turmoil they face is oftentimes unbearable. This report, and the accompanying video, Stigma, which can be found at http://christinaburkephoto.blogspot.com/ examines the social and psychological effects on people living with HIV/AIDS. / text

This is a descriptive study of the impact that Aniz, Incorporated has had on the battle against HIV/AIDS in the inner city of Atlanta, Georgia. It examines the relationships among an individual’s drug of choice and a person’s failure to protect him or herself from the disease; an individual’s mode of infection and a person’s income level; an individual’s type of insurance and a patient’s T-cell count. The results of the study suggest that there is no statistically significant relationship between a drug of choice and a person’s failure to protect him or herself, there is also no statistically significant relationship between an individual’s mode of infection and a person’s individual income, but there is a statistically significant relationship among types of insurance and an individual’s T-cell count. These findings were based on a .05 level of probability between the variables. This study and others like it will assist Aniz, Incorporated and could assist other nongovernmental agencies to better target their services and programs to better meet the needs of the demographic groups being served.

This study analyzed the perception of HIV/AIDS as it relates to sexual behaviors, cultural norms, and economic factors among the women in Cameroon, West Africa. Ninety-one survey participants were selected for the study utilizing non-probability convenience sampling. The survey questionnaire utilized a four-point continuum Likert scale. Findings from the study revealed that 30% of the respondents did not have any personal knowledge of HIV/AIDS. However, 70% of the respondents indicated that they did have some level of personal knowledge about HIV/AIDS. As well, 53.4% stated that their sexual behavior was influenced by their personal knowledge of H1V/AIDS.

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The main aim of the work presented in this thesis was to delineate the natural history and pathogenesis of HIV related heart muscle disease. Additional studies examined the influence of HIV infection on the risk and course of infective endocarditis. Two hundred and ninety-six HIV positive adults were examined by echocardiography in a four year prospective study. Abnormal cardiac function was identified in 14.8%. Dilated cardiomyopathy was present in 4.4% borderline left ventricular dysfunction in 6.4% and isolated right ventricular dysfunction in 4%. Dilated cardiomyopathy was strongly associated with reduced survival compared to those with normal hearts (median survival from diagnosis 101 days, compared to 472 days for those with structurally normal hearts). A newly developed ELISA for anti α-myosin autoantibodies revealed abnormal results in 43% of patients with HIV heart muscle disease, 19% of HIV positive patients with normal hearts and 3% of HIV negative controls. Cardiac specific autoantibodies were also more common in HIV positive patients. Autoimmunity may therefore be important in the pathogenesis of HIV related heart muscle disease. There were no significant socio-economic differences between the HIV positive patients with and without heart disease or the lifestyle matched HIV negative controls studied but mean serum selenium was 33% lower in the HIV positive individuals. Similar differences in toenail (15% lower) and myocardial (17% lower) levels and glutathione peroxidase (15% lower) were also found, but there were no specific differences between patients with and without cardiac abnormalities. Mean α- and γ- tocopherol and α- and β- carotene levels were significantly reduced in our HIV positive patient group, compared to the local HIV negative population, but similar differences existed in a socio-economically matched group of HIV negative drug users. Intravenous drug use was the most important risk factor for the development of the condition.