Regional Differences in Prevalence of HIV-1 Discordance in Africa and Enrollment of HIV-1 Discordant Couples into an HIV-1 Prevention Trial

Background: Most HIV-1 transmission in Africa occurs among HIV-1-discordant couples (one partner HIV-1 infected and one uninfected) who are unaware of their discordant HIV-1 serostatus. Given the high HIV-1 incidence among HIV-1 discordant couples and to assess efficacy of interventions for reducing HIV-1 transmission, HIV-1 discordant couples represent a critical target population for HIV-1 prevention interventions and prevention trials. Substantial regional differences exist in HIV-1 prevalence in Africa, but regional differences in HIV-1 discordance among African couples, has not previously been reported. Methodology/Principal Findings: The Partners in Prevention HSV-2/HIV-1 Transmission Trial (“Partners HSV-2 Study”), the first large HIV-1 prevention trial in Africa involving HIV-1 discordant couples, completed enrollment in May 2007. Partners HSV-2 Study recruitment data from 12 sites from East and Southern Africa were used to assess HIV-1 discordance among couples accessing couples HIV-1 counseling and testing, and to correlate with enrollment of HIV-1 discordant couples. HIV-1 discordance at Partners HSV-2 Study sites ranged from 8–31% of couples tested from the community. Across all study sites and, among all couples with one HIV-1 infected partner, almost half (49%) of couples were HIV-1 discordant. Site-specific monthly enrollment of HIV-1 discordant couples into the clinical trial was not directly associated with prevalence of HIV-1 discordance, but was modestly correlated with national HIV-1 counseling and testing rates and access to palliative care/basic health care (r = 0.74, p = 0.09). Conclusions/Significance: HIV-1 discordant couples are a critical target for HIV-1 prevention in Africa. In addition to community prevalence of HIV-1 discordance, national infrastructure for HIV-1 testing and healthcare delivery and effective community outreach strategies impact recruitment of HIV-1 discordant couples into HIV-1 prevention trials

Promotion of couples' voluntary counselling and testing for HIV through influential networks in two African capital cities

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Most new HIV infections in Africa are acquired from cohabiting heterosexual partners. Couples' Voluntary Counselling and Testing (CVCT) is an effective prevention strategy for this group. We present our experience with a community-based program for the promotion of CVCT in Kigali, Rwanda and Lusaka, Zambia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Influence Network Agents (INAs) from the health, religious, non-governmental, and private sectors were trained to invite couples for CVCT. Predictors of successful promotion were identified using a multi-level hierarchical analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In 4 months, 9,900 invitations were distributed by 61 INAs, with 1,411 (14.3%) couples requesting CVCT. INAs in Rwanda distributed fewer invitations (2,680 vs. 7,220) and had higher response rates (26.9% vs. 9.6%), than INAs in Zambia. Context of the invitation event, including a discreet location such as the INA's home (OR 3.3–3.4), delivery of the invitation to both partners in the couple (OR 1.6–1.7) or to someone known to the INA (OR 1.7–1.8), and use of public endorsement (OR 1.7–1.8) were stronger predictors of success than INA or couple-level characteristics.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Predictors of successful CVCT promotion included strategies that can be easily implemented in Africa. As new resources become available for Africans with HIV, CVCT should be broadly implemented as a point of entry for prevention, care and support.</p

Reducing undiagnosed HIV infection among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa: Provider-initiated and opt-out testing are not enough

Community efforts and peer support programs are needed in addition to provider-initiated and opt-out HIV testing in adolescents, Sheri Weiser and colleagues discuss

Análise da capacidade diagnóstica dos exames preventivos do câncer de colo uterino Análisis de la capacidad diagnóstica de los exámenes preventivos del cáncer de cuello uterino Analysis of the capacity of preventive diagnostic tests for cervical cancer

OBJETIVO: Avaliar a capacidade diagnóstica dos exames citológicos, colposcópico e histológico na detecção de lesões pré-malignas. MÉTODOS: Estudo documental, retrospectivo, com abordagem quantitativa, realizado no Instituto de Prevenção do Câncer (IPC), em Fortaleza-CE. A população foi composta por prontuários de 112 mulheres que possuíam o resultado dos três exames. Adotou-se o teste de qui-quadrado e considerou-se estatisticamente significativo quando p < 0,05. Foram aplicados a sensibilidade e especificidade, valor preditivo positivo (VPP) e valor preditivo negativo (VPN) para a citologia e colposcopia. RESULTADOS: A partir da comparação entre os exames diagnósticos observou-se que a citologia obteve uma sensibilidade de 89,8%, uma especificidade de 35,7%, um VPP de 90,7% e um VPN de 33,3%. A colposcopia alcançou uma sensibilidade de 84,7%, uma especificidade de 50%, um VPP de 92,2% e um VPN de 31,8%. CONCLUSÃO: Observou-se que esses exames apresentaram valores de sensibilidade e especificidade que podem alternar-se, indicando-se a associação de ambos para melhorar a acurácia do diagnóstico das lesões pré-malignas.<br>OBJETIVO: Evaluar la capacidad diagnóstica de los exámenes citológicos, colposcópico e histológico en la detección de lesiones pre-malignas. MÉTODOS: Estudio documental, retrospectivo, con abordaje cuantitativo, realizado en el Instituto de Prevención del Cáncer (IPC), en Fortaleza-CE. La población estuvo compuesta por historias clínicas de 112 mujeres que poseían el resultado de los tres exámenes. Se adoptó el test de Chi-cuadrado y se consideró estadísticamente significativo cuando p < 0,05. Fueron aplicados la sensibilidad y especificidad, valor predictivo positivo (VPP) y valor predictivo negativo (VPN) para la citología y colposcopía. RESULTADOS: A partir de la comparación entre los exámenes diagnósticos se observó que la citología obtuvo una sensibilidad de 89,8%, una especificidad de 35,7%, un VPP de 90,7% y un VPN de 33,3%. La colposcopía alcanzó una sensibilidad de 84,7%, una especificidad de 50%, un VPP de 92,2% y un VPN de 31,8%. CONCLUSIÓN: Se observó que esos exámenes presentaron valores de sensibilidad y especificidad que pueden alternarse, indicándose la asociación de ambos para perfeccionar el diagnóstico de las lesiones pre-malignas.<br>OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the diagnostic capacity of cytological, colposcopic, and histological exams on the detection of premalignant lesions. METHODS: A documentary, retrospective study, with a quantitative approach, conducted in the Cancer Prevention Institute (CPI), in Fortaleza-CE. The population consisted of medical records of 112 women who had the results of these three exams. We adopted the chi-square test and considered it statistically significant when p <0.05. We applied sensitivity and specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) for cytology and colposcopy. RESULTS: From the comparison between the diagnostic tests, we observed that cytology obtained a sensitivity of 89.8%, a specificity of 35.7%, a PPV of 90.7% and an NPV of 33.3%. Colposcopy achieved a sensitivity of 84.7%, a specificity of 50%, a PPV of 92.2% and an NPV of 31.8%. CONCLUSION: We found that these tests presented sensitivity and specificity that can alternate with one another, indicating the association of both to improve the accuracy of diagnosis of premalignant lesions