Cutaneous cryptococcosis erroneously diagnosed as histoplasma capsulatum infection

A 31-year-old patient with stage 4 HIV/AIDS presented with recurrent painful skin ulcers for more than 8 months. These would start as subcutaneous skin nodules, later becoming fluctuant and suppurating and then healing spontaneously (Fig. 1). The patient had lesions on the left wrist, left posterior thigh, right axilla, right posterior calf and right upper eyelid. He had also been diagnosed with extrapulmonary tuberculosis and had been on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for 8 months and antituberculosis medication (continuation phase). After initial poor adherence to both groups of drugs, compliance had improved. The CD4 count at baseline was 16 cells/µl and the latest result was 80 cells/µl. Histological analysis of a biopsy specimen taken from the right upper eyelid lesion showed granulation tissue with some acute inflammation. Fungal spores were seen in the exudates and stains revealed ‘capsule-deficient’ fungi that were first thought to be Histoplasma, and were reported as such

'For a mere cough, men must just chew Conjex, gain strength, and continue working': the provider construction and tuberculosis care-seeking implications in Blantyre, Malawi.

BACKGROUND: Delay by men in seeking healthcare results in their higher mortality while on HIV or tuberculosis (TB) treatment and contributes to ongoing community-level disease transmission before going on treatment. OBJECTIVE: To understand masculinity's role in delay in healthcare seeking for men, with a focus on TB-suggestive symptoms. DESIGN: Data were collected between March 2011 and March 2012 in low-income suburbs in urban Blantyre using focus group discussions with community members (n=8) and health workers (n=2), in-depth interviews with 20 TB patients (female=14) and 20 uninvestigated chronic coughers (female=8), and a 3-day participatory workshop with 27 health stakeholder representatives. The research process drew to a large extent on grounded theory principles in the manner of Strauss and Corbin (1998) and also Charmaz (1995). RESULTS: Role descriptions by both men and women in the study universally assigned men as primary material providers for their immediate family, that is, the ones earning and bringing livelihood and additional material needs. In a context where collectivism was valued, men were also expected to lead the provision of support to wider kin. Successful role enactment was considered key to achieving recognition as an adequate man; at the same time, job scarcity and insecurity, and low earnings gravely impeded men. Pressures to generate continuing income then meant constantly looking for jobs, or working continuously to retain insecure jobs or to raise money through self-employment. All this led men to relegate their health considerations. CONCLUSIONS: Early engagement with formal healthcare is critical to dealing with TB and HIV. However, role constructions as portrayed for men in this study, along with the opportunity costs of acknowledging illness seem, in conditions of vulnerability, important barriers to care-seeking. There is a need to address hidden care-seeking costs and to consider more complex interventions, including reducing precarity, in efforts to improve men's engagement with their health

Control, struggle, and emergent masculinities: a qualitative study of men's care-seeking determinants for chronic cough and tuberculosis symptoms in Blantyre, Malawi.

BACKGROUND: Men's healthcare-seeking delay results in higher mortality while on HIV or tuberculosis (TB) treatment, and implies contribution to ongoing community-level TB transmission before initiating treatment. We investigated masculinity's role in healthcare-seeking delay for men with TB-suggestive symptoms, with a view to developing potential interventions for men. METHODS: Data were collected during March 2011- March 2012 in three high-density suburbs in urban Blantyre. Ten focus group discussions were carried out of which eight (mixed sex = two; female only = three; male only = three) were with 74 ordinary community members, and two (both mixed sex) were with 20 health workers. Individual interviews were done with 20 TB patients (female =14) and 20 un-investigated chronic coughers (female = eight), and a three-day workshop was held with 27 health stakeholder representatives. RESULTS: An expectation to provide for and lead their families, and to control various aspects of their lives while facing limited employment opportunities and small incomes leaves men feeling inadequate, devoid of control, and anxious about being marginalised as men. Men were fearful about being looked at as less than men, and about their wives engaging in extramarital sex without ability to detect or monitor them. Control was a key defining feature of adequate manhood, and efforts to achieve it also led men into side-lining their health. Articulate and consistent concepts of men's bodily strength or appropriate illness responses were absent from the accounts. CONCLUSIONS: Facilitating men to seek care early is an urgent public health imperative, given the contexts of high HIV/AIDS prevalence but increasingly available treatment, and the role of care-seeking delay in TB transmission. Men's struggles trying to achieve ideal images seem to influence their engagement with their health. Ambiguous views regarding some key masculinity representations and the embrace of less harmful masculinities raise questions about some common assumptions that guide work with men. Apparent 'emergent masculinities' might be a useful platform from which to support the transformation of harmful masculinity. Finally, the complex manifestations of masculinity indicate the need for interventions targeting men in health and TB control to assume supportive, multidimensional and long-term outlooks

The occurrence and frequency of genomic mutations that mediate Isoniazid and Rifampicin resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from untreated pulmonary Tuberculosis cases in urban Blantyre, Malawi

This study was funded by the Helse Nord Tuberculosis Initiative (HNTI), a College of Medicine grant supported by the Helse Nord RHF and the University of Tromso.Background The emergence and spread of drug-resistant Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health threat. TB resistance originates in the course of treatment due to genomic mutations in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). An increase in new cases with drug-resistant TB could be an indicator of high levels of circulating resistant strains. This study was conducted to determine the occurrence and frequency of genomic mutations that mediate Isoniazid (INH) and Rifampicin (RIF) resistance among isolates from untreated TB cases in urban Blantyre, Malawi. Methods A cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted on a panel of 141(n=141) MTB clinical isolates recovered between June 2010 and January 2012 from ≥2+ Ziehl-Neelsen smear positive new pulmonary-TB patients with no history of treatment. Frozen isolates were revived using the BACTEC MGIT detection system. DNA was extracted using GenoLyse DNA extraction kit and detection of genomic mutations was carried out using the GenoType MTBDRplus Ver 2.0 assay. Results Out of the 141 isolates studied, 3 (2.1%) were found carrying mutations in the katG gene that confer resistance to Isoniazid (INH). No mutations were detected in the inhA promoter region gene that confer weak INH resistance or in the rpoB gene that confer Rifampicin resistance. All katG mutant genes had a S315T1 single point mutation, a genomic alteration that mediates high INH resistance. Conclusion The katG mutant gene conferring resistance to INH was the only genomic mutation observed among the isolates studied and the frequency of occurrence was low. Our findings suggest low levels of circulating drug-resistant MTB strains in urban Blantyre, Malawi.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Treatment-seeking for tuberculosis-suggestive symptoms: a reflection on the role of human agency in the context of universal health coverage in Malawi

Tuberculosis (TB) is highly infectious and one of the leading killers globally. Several studies from sub-Saharan Africa highlight health systems challenges that affect ability to cope with existing disease burden, including TB, although most of these employ survey-type approaches. Consequently, few address community or patient perspectives and experiences. At the same time, understanding of the mechanisms by which the health systems challenges translate into seeking or avoidance of formal health care remains limited. This paper applies the notion of human agency to examine the ways people who have symptoms suggestive of TB respond to and deal with the symptoms vis-à-vis major challenges inherent within health delivery systems. Empirical data were drawn from a qualitative study exploring the ways in which notions of masculinity affect engagement with care, including men's well-documented tendency to delay in seeking care for TB symptoms. The study was carried out in three high-density locales of urban Blantyre, Malawi. Data were collected in March 2011 -March 2012 using focus group discussions, of which eight (mixed sex = two; female only = three; male only = three) were with 74 ordinary community members, and two (both mixed sex) were with 20 health workers; and in-depth interviews with 20 TB patients (female = 14) and 20 un-investigated chronic coughers (female = eight). The research process employed a modified version of grounded theory. Data were coded using a coding scheme that was initially generated from the study aims and subsequently progressively amended to incorporate concepts emerging during the analysis. Coded data were retrieved, re-read, and broken down and reconnected iteratively to generate themes. A myriad of problems were described for health systems at the primary health care level, centring largely on shortages of resources (human, equipment, and drugs) and unprofessional conduct by health care providers. Participants consistently pointed out how the problems could drive patients from promptly reporting symptoms at primary healthcare centres. The accounts suggest that in responding to illness symptoms including those suggestive of TB, patients navigate their options taking into cognisance past and current experiences with formal health systems. Understanding and factoring in the mediating role of such 'agency' is critical when implementing efforts to promote timely response to TB-suggestive symptoms

Effect of patient-delivered household contact tracing and prevention for tuberculosis: A household cluster-randomised trial in Malawi.

BACKGROUND: Household contact tracing provides TB screening and TB preventive therapy (TPT) to contacts at high risk of TB disease. However, it is resource intensive, inconvenient, and often poorly implemented. We investigated a novel model aiming to improve uptake. METHODS: Between May and December 2014, we randomised patient with TB who consented to participate in the trial to either standard of care (SOC) or intervention (PACTS) arms. Participants randomised to PACTS received one screening/triage tool (adapted from WHO integrated management of adolescent and adult illnesses [IMAI] guidelines) and sputum pots for each reported household contact. The tool guided participants through symptom screening; TPT (6-months of isoniazid) eligibility; and sputum collection for contacts. Patients randomised to SOC were managed in accordance with national guidelines, that is, they received verbal instruction on who to bring to clinics for investigation using national guidelines. MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURES: The primary outcome was the proportion of adult contacts receiving treatment for TB within 3 months of randomisation. Secondary outcomes were the proportions of child contacts under age 5 years (U5Y) who were commenced on, and completed, TPT. Data were analyzed by logistic regression with random effects to adjust for household clustering. RESULTS: Two hundred and fourteen index TB participants were block-randomized from two sites (107 PACTS, reporting 418 contacts; and 107 SOC, reporting 420 contacts). Overall, 62.8% of index TB participants were HIV-positive and 52.1% were TB culture-positive. 250 otherwise eligible TB patients declined participation and 6 households (10 PACTS, 6 SOC) were lost to follow-up and were not included in the analysis. By three months, nine contacts (PACTS: 6, [1.4%]; SOC: 3, [0.7%]) had TB diagnosed, with no difference between groups (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 2.18, 95% CI: 0.60-7.95). Eligible PACTS contacts (37/96, 38.5%) were more likely to initiate TPT by 3-months compared to SOC contacts (27/101, 26.7%; aOR 2.27, 95% CI: 1.04-4.98). U5Y children in the PACTS arm (47/81 58.0%) were more likely to have initiated TPT before the 3-month visit compared to SOC children (36/89, 41.4%; aOR: 2.31, 95% CI: 1.05-5.06). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: A household-centred patient-delivered symptom screen and IPT eligibility assessment significantly increased timely TPT uptake among U5Y children, but did not significantly increase TB diagnosis. This model needs to be optimized for acceptability, given low participation, and investigated in other low resource settings. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN81659509 https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN81659509?q=&filters=conditionCategory:Respiratory,recruitmentCountry:Malawi,ageRange:Mixed&sort=&offset=1&totalResults=1&page=1&pageSize=10&searchType=basic-search. 19 July 2012

Spatial distribution and characteristics of women reporting cervical cancer screening in Malawi: An analysis of the 2020 to 2021 Malawi Population-based HIV Impact Assessment survey data.

BackgroundMalawi has one of the highest incidence and mortality rates of cervical cancer in the world. Despite a national strategic plan and the roll-out of VIA and screen-and-treat services, cervical cancer screening coverage in Malawi remains far below the national target.Using a nationally representative sample of women enumerated in the Malawi Population-based Impact Assessment (MPHIA) survey we estimated the prevalence and spatial distribution of self-reported cervical cancer screening as a proxy for uptake in Malawi.MethodsMPHIA was a nationally representative household survey in Malawi, targeting adults aged 15 and above, that employed a cross-sectional, two-stage, cluster design. The primary aim of MPHIA was to assess the regional prevalence of viral load suppression and the progress towards achieving the UNAIDS 95-95-95 goals among adults aged 15 and above. The survey was carried out between January 2020 and April 2021. Prevalence of self-reported cervical cancer screening by different characteristics was estimated accounting for the survey design using the Taylor series approach. We used univariable and multivariable logistic regression approaches to examine associations between the prevalence of cervical cancer screening and demographic characteristics.FindingsA total of 13,067 adult (15 years and older) female individuals were surveyed during the MPHIA 2020 to 2021 survey, corresponding to a weighted total of 5,604,578. The prevalence of self-reported cervical cancer screening was 16.5% (95% CI 15.5-18.0%), with women living with HIV having a higher prevalence of 37.8% (95% CI 34.8-40.9) compared to 14.0% (95% CI 13.0-15.0) in HIV negative women. The highest prevalence of screening was reported in the Southwest zone (SWZ) (24.1%, 95% CI 21.3-26.9) and in major cities of Blantyre (25.9%, 95% CI 22.9-29.0), and Lilongwe (19.6%, 95% CI 18.0-21.3). Higher self-reported screening was observed in women who resided in urban regions ((22.7%; 95% CI 21.4-24.0) versus women who resided in rural areas (15.2%; 95% CI 14.0-16.8). Cervical cancer screening was strongly associated with being HIV positive (aOR 2.83; 95% CI 2.29-3.50), ever having been pregnant (aOR 1.93; 95% CI 1.19-3.14), attaining higher education level than secondary education (aOR 2.74; 95% CI 1.67-4.52) and being in the highest wealth quintile (aOR 2.86; 95% CI 2.01-4.08).InterpretationThe coverage of cervical cancer screening in Malawi remains low and unequal by region and wealth/education class. Current screening efforts are largely being focussed on women accessing HIV services. There is need for deliberate interventions to upscale cervical cancer screening in both HIV negative women and women living with HIV

Early Diagnosis of HIV Infection in Infants - One Caribbean and Six Sub-Saharan African Countries, 2011-2015.

Pediatric human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection remains an important public health issue in resource-limited settings. In 2015, 1.4 million children aged 50% decline. The most common challenges for access to testing for early infant diagnosis included difficulties in specimen transport, long turnaround time between specimen collection and receipt of results, and limitations in supply chain management. Further reductions in HIV mortality in children can be achieved through continued expansion and improvement of services for early infant diagnosis in PEPFAR-supported countries, including initiatives targeted to reach HIV-exposed infants, ensure access to programs for early infant diagnosis of HIV, and facilitate prompt linkage to treatment for children diagnosed with HIV infection

Specimen origin, type and testing laboratory are linked to longer turnaround times for HIV viral load testing in Malawi.

BACKGROUND:Efforts to reach UNAIDS' treatment and viral suppression targets have increased demand for viral load (VL) testing and strained existing laboratory networks, affecting turnaround time. Longer VL turnaround times delay both initiation of formal adherence counseling and switches to second-line therapy for persons failing treatment and contribute to poorer health outcomes. METHODS:We utilized descriptive statistics and logistic regression to analyze VL testing data collected in Malawi between January 2013 and March 2016. The primary outcomes assessed were greater-than-median pretest phase turnaround time (days elapsed from specimen collection to receipt at the laboratory) and greater-than-median test phase turnaround time (days from receipt to testing). RESULTS:The median number of days between specimen collection and testing increased 3-fold between 2013 (8 days, interquartile range (IQR) = 6-16) and 2015 (24, IQR = 13-39) (p<0.001). Multivariable analysis indicated that the odds of longer pretest phase turnaround time were significantly higher for specimen collection districts without laboratories capable of conducting viral load tests (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 5.16; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 5.04-5.27) as well as for Malawi's Northern and Southern regions. Longer test phase turnaround time was significantly associated with use of dried blood spots instead of plasma (aOR = 2.30; 95% CI = 2.23-2.37) and for certain testing months and testing laboratories. CONCLUSION:Increased turnaround time for VL testing appeared to be driven in part by categorical factors specific to the phase of turnaround time assessed. Given the implications of longer turnaround time and the global effort to scale up VL testing, addressing these factors via increasing efficiencies, improving quality management systems and generally strengthening the VL spectrum should be considered essential components of controlling the HIV epidemic