CD4 T cell activation as a predictor for treatment failure in Ugandans with Plasmodium falciparum malaria.

Host immunity plays an important role in response to antimalarial therapy but is poorly understood. To test whether T cell activation is a risk factor for antimalarial treatment failure, we studied CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell activation in 31 human immunodeficiency virus-negative Ugandan patients 5-37 years of age who were treated for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Increased CD4(+) T cell activation, as indicated by co-expression of HLA-DR and CD38, was an independent risk factor for treatment failure (hazard ratio = 2.45, 95% confidence interval = 1.02-5.89, P = 0.05) in multivariate analysis controlling for age, baseline temperature, and pre-treatment parasite density. The results provide insight into the role of cellular immunity in response to antimalarial therapy and underscore the need to investigate the mechanisms behind immune activation

Knowledge and attitude towards sickle cell anemia among care givers of paediatric sickle cell patients at a tertiary hospital in Eastern Uganda: a cross sectional study

Abstract Objective To explore the knowledge and attitude towards sickle cell disease (SCD) among care givers of paediatric sickle cell patients at Mbale regional referral hospital in Eastern Uganda. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted at Mbale regional referral hospital. We used simple random sampling technique to recruit participants from among the care givers of pediatric sickle cell patients admitted at the hospital, administered questionnaires and conducted multivariable logistic regression to establish the association between the different factors. Results 372 respondents participated in the study, 82.26% of which were female. 57.80% of the respondents had ever heard of SCD/SCA. 36.02% were willing to stay in a relationship with their partner despite the risk of having a child with SCD/SCA. A multivariate analysis revealed that variables; “number of children”, “children with sickle cell can cope with life” and “willing to stay in a relationship despite the risk of a having a child with sickle cell” were statistically significant. Conclusion There was a high level of general awareness about SCD/SCA but comprehensive knowledge about its cause and prevention was low and the majority did not find a reason as to why it should influence their marital decisions. Inclusion of SCD/SCA in existing health education programs is highly recommended

sj-pdf-2-imr-10.1177_03000605221138491 - Supplemental material for Sickle cell trait screening in students in a Ugandan university: a cross-sectional study

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-2-imr-10.1177_03000605221138491 for Sickle cell trait screening in students in a Ugandan university: a cross-sectional study by Erina Kisakye, Yahaya Gavamukulya and Banson John Barugahare in Journal of International Medical Research</p

Additional file 1 of Knowledge and attitude towards sickle cell anemia among care givers of paediatric sickle cell patients at a tertiary hospital in Eastern Uganda: a cross sectional study

Supplementary Material

sj-pdf-1-imr-10.1177_03000605221138491 - Supplemental material for Sickle cell trait screening in students in a Ugandan university: a cross-sectional study

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-imr-10.1177_03000605221138491 for Sickle cell trait screening in students in a Ugandan university: a cross-sectional study by Erina Kisakye, Yahaya Gavamukulya and Banson John Barugahare in Journal of International Medical Research</p

Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Specific Responses in Adult Ugandans: Patterns of Cross-Clade Recognition

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or AIDS is currently the leading cause of death in Uganda, with at least three HIV clades (subtypes) accounting for most new infections. Whether an effective vaccine formulated on viruses from a single clade will be able to protect against infection from other local clades remains unresolved. We examined the T-cell immune responses from a cohort of HIV-seropositive individuals in Uganda with predominantly clade A and D infections. Surprisingly, we observed similar frequencies of cross-clade T-cell responses to the gag, env, and nef regions. Our data suggest that the level of viral sequence variability between distinct HIV strains does not predict the degree of cross-clade responses. High sequence homologies were also observed between consensus peptides and sequences from viral isolates, supporting the use of consensus amino acid sequences to identify immunogenic regions in studies of large populations