Seroprevalence Of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection Among Tuberculosis Patients In The Nylon District Hospital Tuberculosis Treatment Centre

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) incidence in Cameroon is high with 32% of adult TB patients, all forms, co-infected with HIV. The Nylon District Hospital in Douala runs a centre for the diagnosis and treatment of TB since 2001 and a pioneer Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) management programme at district level since 2000. Objective: To determine the prevalence of HIV infection in TB patients from 2003 to 2006 and to analyse the pattern of TB/HIV co-infection rate over time. Design: A retrospective study. Setting: Nylon District Hospital, Douala, Cameroon. Results: The prevalence of HIV infection in TB patients was 51.6%. This was greater for patients living out of the Nylon Health District (P= 0.001). Smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis (SPPT) was the most frequent (65%) form of TB diagnosed but extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPT) and smear negative pulmonary tuberculosis (SNPT) were more frequently associated with HIV co-infection (80% and 68.6% respectively). While men and women presented equally with TB, women (61.4%) were significantly (P< 0.0001) more TB/HIV co-infected than men (42%). The co-infection rate was highest among individuals aged 25-44 years (61.4%) and least among the 0-24 years age group (22.5%). The increase in TB/HIV co-infection rate is monotonic over time with a stronger trend among females aged 25-44 years (P= 0.037) and above 45 years (P= 0.001). Conclusion: The NDH selectively attracted HIV positive patients to adhere to their HIV programme. The creation of HIV / AIDS treatment units in institutions providing TB diagnosis and treatment services will reduce the movement of TB/HIV co-infected patients across provinces and health districts as well as enhancing TB/HIV co-infection diagnosis and notification. East African Medical Journal Vol. 85 (11) 2008: pp. 529-53

Comparison of treatment outcomes of new smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients by HIV and antiretroviral status in a TB/HIV clinic, Malawi

Background: Smear-positive pulmonary TB is the most infectious form of TB. Previous studies on the effect of HIV and antiretroviral therapy on TB treatment outcomes among these highly infectious patients demonstrated conflicting results, reducing understanding of important issues. Methods: All adult smear-positive pulmonary TB patients diagnosed between 2008 and 2010 in Malawi's largest public, integrated TB/HIV clinic were included in the study to assess treatment outcomes by HIV and antiretroviral therapy status using logistic regression. Results: Of 2,361 new smear-positive pulmonary TB patients, 86% had successful treatment outcome (were cured or completed treatment), 5% died, 6% were lost to follow-up, 1% failed treatment, and 2% transferred-out. Overall HIV prevalence was 56%. After adjusting for gender, age and TB registration year, treatment success was higher among HIV-negative than HIV-positive patients (adjusted odds ratio 1.49; 95% CI: 1.14-1.94). Of 1,275 HIV-infected pulmonary TB patients, 492 (38%) received antiretroviral therapy during the study. Pulmonary TB patients on antiretroviral therapy were more likely to have successful treatment outcomes than those not on ART (adjusted odds ratio: 1.83; 95% CI: 1.29-2.60). Conclusion: HIV co-infection was associated with poor TB treatment outcomes. Despite high HIV prevalence and the integrated TB/HIV setting, only a minority of patients started antiretroviral therapy. Intensified patient education and provider training on the benefits of antiretroviral therapy could increase antiretroviral therapy uptake and improve TB treatment success among these most infectious patients. © 2013 Tweya et al

Developments in target micro-doppler signatures analysis: radar imaging, ultrasound and through-the-wall radar

Target motions, other than the main bulk translation of the target, induce Doppler modulations around the main Doppler shift that form what is commonly called a target micro-Doppler signature. Radar micro-Doppler signatures are generally both target and action speci c and hence can be used to classify and recognise targets as well as to identify possible threats. In recent years, research into the use of micro-Doppler signatures for target classi cation to address many defence and security challenges has been of increasing interest. In this paper, we present a review of the work published in the last 10 years on emerging applications of radar target analysis using micro-Doppler signatures. Speci cally we review micro-Doppler target signatures in bistatic SAR and ISAR, through-the-wall radar and ultrasound radar. This article has been compiled to provide radar practitioners with a unique reference source covering the latest developments in micro-Doppler analysis, extraction and mitigation techniques. The paper shows that this research area is highly active and fast moving and demonstrates that micro-Doppler techniques can provide important solutions to many radar target classification challenges