Is the HIV burden in India being overestimated?

BACKGROUND: The HIV burden estimate for India has a very wide plausibility range. A recent population-based study in a south Indian district demonstrated that the official method used in India to estimate HIV burden in the population, which directly extrapolates annual sentinel surveillance data from large public sector antenatal and sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinics, led to a 2–3 times higher estimate than that based on population-based data. METHODS: We assessed the generalisability of the reasons found in the Guntur study for overestimation of HIV by the official sentinel surveillance based method: addition of substantial unnecessary HIV estimates from STI clinics, the common practice of referral of HIV positive/suspect patients by private practitioners to public hospitals, and a preferential use of public hospitals by lower socioeconomic strata. We derived conservative correction factors for the sentinel surveillance data and titrated these to the four major HIV states in India (Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu), and examined the impact on the overall HIV estimate for India. RESULTS: HIV data from STI clinics are not used elsewhere in the world as a component of HIV burden estimation in generalised epidemics, and the Guntur study verified that this was unnecessary. The referral of HIV positive/suspect patients from the private to the public sector is a widespread phenomenon in India, which is likely causing an upward distortion in HIV estimates from sentinel surveillance in other parts of India as well. Analysis of data from the nationwide Reproductive and Child Health Survey revealed that lower socioeconomic strata were over-represented among women seeking antenatal care at public hospitals in all major south Indian states, similar to the trend seen in the Guntur study. Application of conservative correction factors derived from the Guntur study reduced the 2005 official sentinel surveillance based HIV estimate of 3.7 million 15–49 years old persons in the four major states to 1.5–2.0 million, which would drop the official total estimate of 5.2 million 15–49 years old persons with HIV in India to 3–3.5 million. CONCLUSION: Plausible and cautious extrapolation of the trends seen in a recent large and rigorous population-based study of HIV in a south Indian district suggests that India is likely grossly overestimating its HIV burden with the current official sentinel surveillance based method. This method needs revision

Awareness of school students on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and their sexual behavior: a cross-sectional study conducted in Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sexually transmitted Infections (STIs) rank among the most important health issues for the people especially the young adults worldwide. Young people tend to engage in sexual activity at younger ages in the past decade than in the 1970s, and 1980s. Knowledge is an essential precursor of sexual risk reduction. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Pulau Pinang, Malaysia, to produce the baseline information about school students' awareness and perception about sexually transmitted Infections (STIs) and their sexual activity to help establish control and education programmes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Students from form 4 (aged between 15 to 16 years), form 5 (aged between 16 to 17 years) and form 6 (aged between 18 to 20 years) in their class rooms were approached and asked to complete self administered and anonymous pre-validated questionnaires. SPSS for windows version 13 was used to analyze the results statistically and results were presented in tabular form.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Data was collected from 1139 students aged between 15 to 20 years, 10.6% of which claimed that they never heard about STIs. Sexual experience related significantly with gender, race, and education level. Approximately 12.6% claimed to have sexual experience of which 75.7% had their sexual debut at 15-19 years and 38.2% were having more than 3 partners. Sexual experience was found to be significantly associated with gender (<it>p </it>= 0.003), ethnicity (<it>p </it>= 0.001) and education level (<it>p </it>= 0.030). However, multiple partner behaviour was significantly associated only with gender (<it>p </it>= 0.010). Mean knowledge score was 11.60 ± 8.781 and knowledge level was significantly associated with religion (p = 0.005) education level (<it>p </it>= 0.000), course stream (<it>p </it>= 0.000), socioeconomic class (<it>p </it>= 0.000) and sexual experience (<it>p </it>= 0.022).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>It was concluded that school students have moderate level of knowledge about STIs although they are sexually active. Interventions such as reinforcing the link between STIs and HIV/AIDS, assessing the current status of sexuality education in schools and arranging public talks and seminars focusing on STIs prevention education are needed to improve their awareness.</p

HCV-related burden of disease in Europe: a systematic assessment of incidence, prevalence, morbidity, and mortality

Background Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a leading cause of chronic liver disease, end-stage cirrhosis, and liver cancer, but little is known about the burden of disease caused by the virus. We summarised burden of disease data presently available for Europe, compared the data to current expert estimates, and identified areas in which better data are needed. Methods Literature and international health databases were systematically searched for HCV-specific burden of disease data, including incidence, prevalence, mortality, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and liver transplantation. Data were collected for the WHO European region with emphasis on 22 countries. If HCV-specific data were unavailable, these were calculated via HCV-attributable fractions. Results HCV-specific burden of disease data for Europe are scarce. Incidence data provided by national surveillance are not fully comparable and need to be standardised. HCV prevalence data are often inconclusive. According to available data, an estimated 7.3–8.8 million people (1.1–1.3%) are infected in our 22 focus countries. HCV-specific mortality, DALY, and transplantation data are unavailable. Estimations via HCV-attributable fractions indicate that HCV caused more than 86000 deaths and 1.2 million DALYs in the WHO European region in 2002. Most of the DALYs (95%) were accumulated by patients in preventable disease stages. About one-quarter of the liver transplants performed in 25 European countries in 2004 were attributable to HCV. Conclusion Our results indicate that hepatitis C is a major health problem and highlight the importance of timely antiviral treatment. However, data on the burden of disease of hepatitis C in Europe are scarce, outdated or inconclusive, which indicates that hepatitis C is still a neglected disease in many countries. What is needed are public awareness, co-ordinated action plans, and better data. European physicians should be aware that many infections are still undetected, provide timely testing and antiviral treatment, and avoid iatrogenic transmission

Trends in HIV & syphilis prevalence and correlates of HIV infection: results from cross-sectional surveys among women attending ante-natal clinics in Northern Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: Sentinel surveillance for HIV in ante-natal clinics (ANC) remains the primary method for collecting timely trend data on HIV prevalence in most of sub-Saharan Africa. We describe prevalence of HIV and syphilis infection and trends over time in HIV prevalence among women attending ante-natal clinics (ANC) in Magu district and Mwanza city, part of Mwanza region in Northern Tanzania. HIV prevalence from ANC surveys in 2000 and 2002 was 10.5% and 10.8% respectively. In previous rounds urban residence, residential mobility, the length of time sexually active before marriage, time since marriage and age of the partner were associated with HIV infection. METHODS: A third round of HIV sentinel surveillance was conducted at ante-natal clinics in Mwanza region, Tanzania during 2006. We interviewed women attending 27 ante-natal clinics. In 15 clinics we also anonymously tested women for syphilis and HIV infection and linked these results to the questionnaire data. RESULTS: HIV prevalence was 7.6% overall in 2006 and 7.4% at the 11 clinics used in previous rounds. Geographical variations in HIV prevalence, apparent in previous rounds, have largely disappeared but syphilis prevalence is still higher in rural clinics. HIV prevalence has declined in urban clinics and is stable in rural clinics. The correlates of HIV infection have changed over time. In this round older age, lower gravidity, remarriage, duration of marriage, sexual activity before marriage, long interval between last birth and pregnancy and child death were all associated with infection. CONCLUSIONS: HIV prevalence trends concur with results from a community-based cohort in the region. Correlates of HIV infection have also changed and more proximate, individual level factors are now more important, in line with the changing epidemiology of infection in this population

The rate of TB-HIV co-infection depends on the prevalence of HIV infection in a community

Background: A complex interaction exists between tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection at an individual and community level. Limited knowledge about the rate of HIV infection in TB patients and the general population compromises the planning, resource allocation and prevention and control activities. The aim of this study was to determine the rate of HIV infection in TB patients and its correlation with the rate HIV infection in pregnant women attending antenatal care (ANC) in Southern Ethiopia. Methods: All TB patients and pregnant women attending health institutions for TB diagnosis and treatment and ANC were consecutively enrolled in 2004-2005. TB diagnosis, treatment and HIV testing were done according to the national guidelines. Blood samples were collected for anonymous HIV testing. We used univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis to determine the risk factors for HIV infection and linear regression analysis to determine the correlation between HIV infection in TB patients and pregnant women. Results: Of the 1308 TB patients enrolled, 226 (18%) (95% CI: 15.8-20.0) were HIV positive. The rate of HIV infection was higher in TB patients from urban 25% (73/298) than rural areas 16% (149/945) [AOR = 1.78, 95% CI: 1.27-2.48]. Of the 4199 pregnant women attending ANC, 155 (3.8%) [95% CI: 3.2-4.4] were HIV positive. The rate of HIV infection was higher in pregnant women from urban (7.5%) (80/1066) than rural areas (2.5%) (75/3025) [OR = 3.19, 95% CI: 2.31-4.41]. In the study participants attending the same health institutions, the rate of HIV infection in pregnant women correlated with the rate of HIV infection in TB patients (R-2 = 0.732). Conclusion: The rate of HIV infection in TB patients and pregnant women was higher in study participants from urban areas. The rate of HIV infection in TB patients was associated with the prevalence of HIV infection in pregnant women attending ANC

Factors associated with malaria parasitaemia, malnutrition, and anaemia among HIV-exposed and unexposed Ugandan infants: a cross-sectional survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Malaria, malnutrition and anaemia are major causes of morbidity and mortality in African children. The interplay between these conditions is complex and limited data exist on factors associated with these conditions among infants born to HIV-uninfected and infected women.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Two hundred HIV-exposed (HIV-uninfected infants born to HIV-infected mothers) and 400 HIV-unexposed infants were recruited from an area of high malaria transmission in rural Uganda. A cross-sectional survey was performed at enrolment to measure the prevalence of malaria parasitaemia, measures of malnutrition (z-scores <2 standard deviations below mean) and anaemia (haemoglobin <8 gm/dL). Multivariate logistic regression was used to measure associations between these conditions and risk factors of interest including household demographics, malaria prevention practices, breastfeeding practices, household structure and wealth index.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The prevalence of malaria parasitaemia was 20%. Factors protective against parasitaemia included female gender (OR = 0.66, p = 0.047), mother’s age (OR = 0.81 per five-year increase, p = 0.01), reported bed net use (OR = 0.63, p = 0.03) and living in a well-constructed house (OR = 0.25, p = 0.01). Although HIV-unexposed infants had a higher risk of parasitaemia compared to HIV-exposed infants (24% <it>vs</it> 14%, p = 0.004), there was no significant association between HIV-exposure status and parasitaemia after controlling for the use of malaria preventative measures including bed net use and trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole prophylaxis. The prevalence of stunting, underweight, and wasting were 10%, 7%, and 3%, respectively. HIV-exposed infants had a higher odds of stunting (OR = 2.23, p = 0.005), underweight (OR = 1.73, p = 0.09) and wasting (OR = 3.29, p = 0.02). The prevalence of anaemia was 12%. Risk factors for anaemia included older infant age (OR = 2.05 per one month increase, p = 0.003) and having malaria parasitaemia (OR = 5.74, p < 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Compared to HIV-unexposed infants, HIV-exposed infants had a higher use of malaria preventative measures and lower odds of malaria parasitaemia. Having a better constructed house was also protective against malaria parasitaemia. HIV-exposure was the primary risk factor for measures of malnutrition. The primary risk factor for anaemia was malaria parasitaemia. These findings suggest the need to better target existing interventions for malaria, malnutrition and anaemia as well as the need to explore further the mechanisms behind the observed associations.</p