Prevalence of hepatitis B and vaccination response in patients with end-stage kidney disease on dialysis at a tertiary centre in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa

Introduction: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a concern in dialysis populations where vaccination has been less successful than in the general population. Possible reasons for poor response to vaccination in this population include malnutrition, age, uraemia, dialysis vintage, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and the generalized immunosuppressive state of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD).Methods: This retrospective point prevalent cohort study evaluated the prevalence of HBV infection in a dialysis population at a tertiary centre in South Africa where there is a high prevalence of HIV. In addition, antibody responses following natural HBV infection versus vaccination were examined in the same population as well as factors that may affect the HBV vaccination antibody response.Results: There were 107 study participants. The prevalence rate of chronic HBV was high at 6.5% (n = 7), whereas 48 (45%) patients demonstrated evidence of HBV exposure. Patients with naturally acquired immunity demonstrated a more robust and sustained antibody response over the study period, whereas booster dose(s) were required to achieve similar levels of protection in the vaccinated group. Only one (2.1%) of those requiring vaccination never achieved an adequate seroprotection response to vaccination at any time point during the study period. Older age was the only factor shown to reduce seroconversion after primary vaccination. Despite high HIV prevalence (23%), HIV status did not affect antibody response to vaccination.Conclusion: We therefore conclude that in a cohort of dialysis patients with high HBV prevalence, natural immunity provides sustained and adequate protection. HBV vaccination in this dialysis cohort was successful, but additional booster doses were frequently required to achieve adequate seroprotection, regardless of HIV status

Tracking cryptococcal meningitis to monitor HIV program success during the Treat-All era: an analysis of national data in Botswana.

BACKGROUND: Cryptococcal meningitis causes substantial mortality in high-HIV prevalence African countries despite advances in disease management and increasing antiretroviral therapy coverage. Reliable diagnosis of cryptococcal meningitis is cheap and more accessible than other indicators of AHD burden such as CD4 testing or investigation for disseminated tuberculosis; therefore, monitoring cryptococcal meningitis incidence has the potential to serve as a valuable metric of HIV programmatic success. METHODS: Botswana national meningitis surveillance data from 2015 to 2022 were obtained from electronic health records. All electronic laboratory records from cerebrospinal fluid samples analysed within government healthcare facilities in Botswana were extracted from a central online repository. Adjustments for missing data were made through triangulation with prospective cohort study datasets. Cryptococcal meningitis case frequency was enumerated using a case definition and incidence calculated using national census data. RESULTS: A total of 1,744 episodes of cryptococcal meningitis were identified; incidence declined from 15.0 (95% CI 13.4-16.7) cases/100,000 person-years in 2015 to 7.4 (95% CI 6.4-8.6) cases/100,000 person-years in 2022. However, the rate of decline slowed following the introduction of universal treatment in 2016. The highest incidence was observed in men and individuals aged 40-44. The proportion of cases diagnosed through cryptococcal antigen testing increased from 35.5% to 86.3%. CONCLUSION: Cryptococcal meningitis incidence has decreased in Botswana following expansion of ART coverage but persists at a stubbornly high incidence. Most cases are now diagnosed through the cheap and easy-to-use cryptococcal antigen test highlighting the potential of using cryptococcal meningitis as key metric of programme success in the Treat All era