Knowledge, Attitudes And Sexual Practices Of University Students For Advancing Peer HIV Education

Objective: To determine the current HIV/AIDS Knowledge, Attitudes and Sexual Practices (KASP) indicators among university students that would facilitate development and implementation of a peer education programme and the subsequent monitoring and evaluation of other HIV/AIDS activities.Design: An institutional based cross-sectional study.Setting: Maseno University, Kenya.Subjects: Five hundred students composed of 60% males and 40% females as dictated by the university’s male to female ratio.Main outcome measures: Levels of HIV and AIDS awareness, knowledge and attitudes and the current related behavioural trends and tendencies, among the students at the University.Results: Of the five hundred respondents included in the study, 68.5% of them reported having ever had sexual intercourse, with males being the majority at 78.2%, while the females were 54.7%. A large majority (77%) of females were in current sexual relationships compared to 66.7% of males. A significant proportion (54.8%) of first year students reported having had their first sexual intercourse at the university. Sexualactivity was seen to increase from 56.9 to 71.2% among the first year students when they got to second year of study at the university. Peer pressure emerged as an important factor in students’ sexual behaviour (P=0.001). Of the students, 32% reported having undergone HIV tests, 70.8% were willing to go for a test while 74.3% perceived theyhad a chance of being infected with the virus based on their previous risky sexual experiences. A significant 77.7% of the respondents affirmed having ever used condoms but only 15.8% reported consistent use.Conclusion: High proportions of students are sexually active with peaks in first and second years of study. This is coupled with an equal inconsistent use of condoms. Peer influence emerged as an important feature in accelerating risky sexual behaviour hence the need for advancing peer education programmes in universities.

The prevalence of Cryptosporidium parvum and its relationship to the nutritional status of HIV- positive children suffering from diarrhea in Western Kenya

In this study, prevalence of Cryptosporidium parvum was studied in relationship to nutrition amongst HIV positive children with diarrhea as a presenting sign. Watery to loose stool and whole blood specimen were collected from completely randomized inpatient and out patient children. The collected whole blood specimens were screened using ELISA, and Particle Agglutination (Serodia) techniques for HIV (Japan). Stool specimen for those who were confirmed to be HIV positive were processed for microscopy using Kinyoun's technique . The results obtained were analyzed using linear regression for t, P at 95% Confidence Interval for significance levels in Minitab. The findings show that diarrhea in immunocompromised children in Western Kenya was majorly due to Enterobacterieceae (92.5%) and partly due to C. parvum infection (7.5%). Consequently this adversely affected growth and development in terms of weight and age. Based on prolonged diarrhea duration amongst these children it is clear that there were other co-infecting factors that aggravate the problem. It is therefore concluded that C. parvum is more prevalent in HIV negative children than in HIV positive children with diarrhea; and during onset of diarrhea, HIV positive children develop mild malnutrition as diarrhea duration progressed from normal nutrition to malnutrition. However in HIV negative children, nutrition status does not rapidly advance to a malnutrition state as observed in HIV positive children. Journal of Tropical Microbiology and Biotechnology Vol. 1 (1) 2005: 14-2

Haptoglobin Studies in Kenyan Indigenous Chickens

Haptoglobin polymorphism was found in indigenous chickens of Kenya. Haptoglobin was found to be in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium. There was high average diversity recorded with respect to haptoglobin. Within individual classes of chickens, naked neck recorded the highest genetic diversity while the least was recorded in small sized chicken breeds. The high genetic diversity in the naked neck chickens was an indication of tolerance to indigenous keeping systems.lesquels nous aiderons à définir pour un réseau électrique: 1. la charge du réseau; 2. le nombre et la puissance des transformateurs à mettre en place; 3. la section la plus économique des conducteurs aériens et souterrains; 4. les pertes de puissance et d\'énergie électrique dans les lignes et les transformateurs; 5. l\'optimisation et la fiabilité du réseau de distribution. Cette approche a une pertinence technique et économique notoire qui s\'inscrit dans l\'urgence à résoudre les problèmes stratégiques que pose l\'électrification dans les pays africains en voie de développement et particulièrement la nécessité de préparer une méthode permettant de définir, à partir d\'un nombre minimum de données, le Système de Distribution d\'Energie Electrique (SDEE) et d\'évaluer techniquement et économiquement les paramètres du projet à réaliser. La vérification de la performance des nomogrammes spécifiques par Grant S. Akopyan et N.A. Konecheva* a donné des résultats semblables à la méthode manuelle de calcul classique. L\'utilisation de cette nouvelle méthode d\'évaluation technico - économique par l\'Institut d\'Etat des Recherches sur les Constructions des Installations de Transport de Moscou - Russie, par l\'intermédiaire du chef du Département de l\'Electrification du Chemin de Fer A.P. Chuchev et le chef du Laboratoire des postes électriques S.H. Darshiev a donné des résultats satisfaisants (5). (Af. J. of Science and Technology: 2002 3(1): 105-107