Browsing by Author "Prozesky, Hans W."

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    Gender distribution of adult patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in Southern Africa : a systematic review
    (BioMed Central, 2007-04) Muula, Adamson S.; Ngulube, Thabale J.; Siziya, Seter; Makupe, Cecilia M.; Umar, Eric; Prozesky, Hans W.; Wiysonge, Charles S.; Mataya, Ronald H.
    Background: HIV and AIDS are significant and growing public health concerns in southern Africa. The majority of countries in the region have national adult HIV prevalence estimates exceeding 10 percent. The increasing availability of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has potential to mitigate the situation. There is however concern that women may experience more barriers in accessing treatment programs than men. Methods: A systematic review of the literature was carried out to describe the gender distribution of patients accessing highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in Southern Africa. Data on number of patients on treatment, their mean or median age and gender were obtained and compared across studies and reports. Results: The median or mean age of patients in the studies ranged from 33 to 39 years. While female to male HIV infection prevalence ratios in the southern African countries ranged from 1.2:1 to 1.6:1, female to male ratios on HAART ranged from 0.8: 1 to 2.3: 1. The majority of the reports had female: male ratio in treatment exceeding 1.6. Overall, there were more females on HAART than there were males and this was not solely explained by the higher HIV prevalence among females compared to males. Conclusion: In most Southern African countries, proportionally more females are on HIV antiretroviral treatment than men, even when the higher HIV infection prevalence in females is accounted for. There is need to identify the factors that are facilitating women's accessibility to HIV treatment. As more patients access HAART in the region, it will be important to continue assessing the gender distribution of patients on HAART.
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    Prevalence of complications of male circumcision in Anglophone Africa : a systematic review
    (BioMed Central, 2007-03) Muula, Adamson S.; Prozesky, Hans W.; Mataya, Ronald H.; Ikechebelu, Joseph I.
    Background: There is growing evidence that male circumcision (MC) prevents heterosexual acquisition of HIV by males in sub-Saharan Africa, the region of the world heavily affected by the HIV pandemic. While there is growing support for wide-spread availability and accessibility of MC in Africa, there is limited discussion about the prevalence of physical complications of male circumcision on the continent. Methods: A systematic literature search and review of articles in indexed journals and conference abstracts was conducted to collect and analyze prevalence of complications of MC in Anglophone sub-Saharan Africa. Information extracted included: indications for MC, complications reported, age of patients and category of circumcisers. Results: There were 8 articles and 2 abstracts that were suitable for the analysis. The studies were not strictly comparable as some reported on a wide range of complications while others reported just a limited list of possible complications. Prevalence of reported complications of MC ranged from 0% to 50.1%. Excluding the study with 50.1%, which was on a series of haemophilia patients, the next highest prevalence of complications was 24.1%. Most of the complications were minor. There was no firm evidence to suggest that MCs performed by physician surgeons were associated with lower prevalence of complications when compared with non-physician health professionals. Conclusion: The available data are inadequate to obtain a reasonable assessment of the prevalence of complications of MC in sub-Saharan Africa. Some of the available studies however report potentially significant prevalence of complications, though of minor clinical significance. This should be considered as public health policy makers consider whether to scale-up MC as an HIV preventative measure. Decision for the scale-up will depend on a careful cost-benefit assessment of which physical complications are certainly an important aspect. There is need for standardized reporting of complications of male circumcision.
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    Seasonal variations in tuberculosis diagnosis among HIV-positive individuals in Southern Africa : analysis of cohort studies at antiretroviral treatment programmes
    (BMJ Publishing Group, 2018-01) Ballif, Marie; Zurcher, Kathrin; Reid, Stewart E.; Boulle, Andrew; Fox, Matthew P.; Prozesky, Hans W.; Chimbetete, Cleophas; Zwahlen, Marcel; Egger, Matthias; Fenner, Lukas
    Objectives Seasonal variations in tuberculosis diagnoses have been attributed to seasonal climatic changes and indoor crowding during colder winter months. We investigated trends in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) diagnosis at antiretroviral therapy (ART) programmes in Southern Africa. Setting Five ART programmes participating in the International Epidemiology Database to Evaluate AIDS in South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Participants We analysed data of 331 634 HIV-positive adults (>15 years), who initiated ART between January 2004 and December 2014. Primary outcome measure We calculated aggregated averages in monthly counts of PTB diagnoses and ART initiations. To account for time trends, we compared deviations of monthly event counts to yearly averages, and calculated correlation coefficients. We used multivariable regressions to assess associations between deviations of monthly ART initiation and PTB diagnosis counts from yearly averages, adjusted for monthly air temperatures and geographical latitude. As controls, we used Kaposi sarcoma and extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) diagnoses. Results All programmes showed monthly variations in PTB diagnoses that paralleled fluctuations in ART initiations, with recurrent patterns across 2004–2014. The strongest drops in PTB diagnoses occurred in December, followed by April–May in Zimbabwe and South Africa. This corresponded to holiday seasons, when clinical activities are reduced. We observed little monthly variation in ART initiations and PTB diagnoses in Zambia. Correlation coefficients supported parallel trends in ART initiations and PTB diagnoses (correlation coefficient: 0.28, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.35, P<0.001). Monthly temperatures and latitude did not substantially change regression coefficients between ART initiations and PTB diagnoses. Trends in Kaposi sarcoma and EPTB diagnoses similarly followed changes in ART initiations throughout the year. Conclusions Monthly variations in PTB diagnosis at ART programmes in Southern Africa likely occurred regardless of seasonal variations in temperatures or latitude and reflected fluctuations in clinical activities and changes in health-seeking behaviour throughout the year, rather than climatic factors.