Reduced Semen Quality And Risk Behaviour Amongst Men Consulting A Referral STD Clinic

A CAJM article on the reduced semen quality among Zimbabwean men who consult referral STD clinics.Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and infertility are public health challenges that continue to represent a high demand and costly adult medical care conditions in most developing countries. Few studies address strategies for prevention of infertility secondary to STDs through behavioural change and early and prompt STD treatment. A prospective cohort design was used to study the effects of urogenital infection on semen quality in consenting consecutive subjects that presented with chronic or recurrent sexually transmitted diseases. Health seeking behavioural correlates and socio-economic variables were compared between index subjects at a genito-urinary referral clinic and those that presented with non-STD conditions at a referral polyclinic

Burden of disease and circulating serotypes of rotavirus infection in sub-Saharan Africa: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Two new rotavirus vaccines have recently been licensed in many countries. However, their efficacy has only been shown against certain serotypes commonly circulating in Europe, North America, and Latin America, but thought to be globally important. To assess the potential impact of these vaccines in sub-Saharan Africa, where rotavirus mortality is high, knowledge of prevalent types is essential because an effective rotavirus vaccine is needed to protect against prevailing serotypes in the community. We did two systematic reviews and two meta-analyses of the most recent published data on the burden of rotavirus disease in children aged under 5 years and rotavirus serotypes circulating in countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Eligible studies were selected from PubMed/Medline, Cochrane Library, EmBase, LILACS, Academic Search Premier, Biological Abstracts, ISI Web of Science, and the African Index Medicus. Depending on the heterogeneity, DerSimonian-Laird random-effects or fixed-effects models were used for meta-analyses. Geographical variability in rotavirus burden within countries in sub-Saharan Africa is substantial, and most countries lack information on rotavirus epidemiology. We estimated that annual mortality for this region was 243.3 (95% CI 187.6-301.7) deaths per 100,000 under 5 years (ie, a total of 300,000 children die of rotavirus infection in this region each year). The most common G type detected was G1 (34.9%), followed by G2 (9.1%), and G3 (8.6%). The most common P types detected were P[8] (35.5%) and P[6] (27.5%). Accurate information should be collected from surveillance based on standardised methods in these countries to obtain comparable data on the burden of disease and the circulating strains to assess the potential impact of vaccine introduction

Symptomatic and Subclinical Infection with Rotavirus P[8]G9, Rural Ecuador

Prevalence of this genotype is increasing

Breastfeeding and the risk of rotavirus diarrhea in hospitalized infants in Uganda: a matched case control study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Rotavirus </it>is responsible for over 25 million outpatient visits, over 2 million hospitalizations and 527,000 deaths annually, worldwide. It is estimated that breastfeeding in accordance with the World Health Organization recommendations would save 1.45 million children's lives each year in the developing countries. The few studies that examined the effect of breastfeeding on <it>rotavirus </it>diarrhea produced conflicting results. This study aimed to determine the effect of breastfeeding on <it>rotavirus </it>diarrhea among admitted infants in Uganda.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study was conducted in the Pediatrics medical emergency unit of a National Referral hospital during a peak incidence time for rotavirus from February to April 2008. It was an age matched case-control study with a ratio of 1:1. We consecutively enrolled infants presenting at the study site during this period whose caretakers consented to participate in the study. A minimum sample size of 90 pairs was adequate with power of 80% to detect a 30% decrease in breastfeeding rate among the cases assuming a breastfeeding rate of 80% in the controls. The infants with <it>rotavirus </it>positive results were the "cases". We used the commercial enzyme immunoassay kit (DAKO IDEIA™ rotavirus EIA detection kit) to diagnose the cases. The "controls" were admitted children with no diarrhea. We compared the cases and controls for antecedent breastfeeding patterns.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Ninety-one matched case-control age-matched pairs with an age caliper of one month were included in the analysis. Breastfeeding was not protective against rotavirus diarrhea (OR 1.08: 95% CI 0.52 - 2.25; p = 0.8) in the conditional logistic model.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study findings did not reveal breastfeeding as protective against <it>rotavirus </it>diarrhea in infants. This suggests searching for other complementary preventive methods such as rotavirus vaccination and zinc supplementation to reduce the problem of <it>rotavirus </it>diarrhea in infants irrespective of their feeding practices.</p

Hepatitis B virus markers in dental care personnel practising in Harare

In a seroepidemiologic study of 600 volunteers the authors detected serologic markers of hepatatis B surface antigen (HBs Ag) in 6 (6%) of the 100 denial-care markers representing a spectrum exposure to blood and patients. However, 67 (67%) and 1 (1%) were positive fa hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) and hepatitis Be antigen (HBe Ag) respectively. Two (8%) of the 25 practising dentists were found to be asymptomatic carriers of HBs Ag. One of these HBs Ag positive dental-care workers was HBe Ag positive. The seropositivity of HBs Ag, HBe Ag and anti-HBs among the general population of 500 was 47 (9,4%); 15 (3,0%) and 350 (70%), respectively. It was, therefore, concluded that there was no significant difference (p < 0,001) of HBs Ag or anti-HBs between dental care workers and the general population. However, when the study group was subdivided into two ethnic groups, thus, Caucasian Zimbabwean and African Zimbabwean, the latter had a high prevalence (9,90%; 2,77%; 71,29%) of HBs Ag, HBe Ag and anti-HBs respectively

Single dose metrifonate in the treatment of urinary schistosomiasis in an area of low prevalence and intensity of infection

Urine specimens from 638 primary school children in Gokwe Communal Land were examined for S. haematobium ova, and the 187 (29%) children who were excreting eggs were treated with a single lOmg/kg dose of metrifonate. Futher urine samples were collected from all children, whether treated or not, 48 weeks later, and examined for ova. The overall cure rate was 50,8%, and in children not cured egg excretion was reduced by an average 59,9%. Only 12,1% of children were excreting > 50 eggs per ml of urine before treatment, and after this was reduced to 3,9%. Increased egg excretion following treatment was noted in 15 (8,0%) of the infected children, while 21 (4,7%) children with negative urines, and therefore not treated, were excreting eggs 48 weeks later. Thus even in an area where the prevalence and intensity of infection is low, single-dose metrifonate may play a cost-effective role in the control of urinary schistosomiasis