Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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 59,461 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The seroprevalence, clinical epidemiology, modes of transmission, clinical presentation in adults, pregnancy women and children, diagnosis, impact and control strategies of AIDS in Africa are covered in this review. HIV-1, the causative virus in AIDS, is epidemic in a central Africa belt from Gabon to the east coast, and from Uganda to Zimbabwe, with the highest prevalence in the lakes and highlands of Central Africa. HIV-2 causes a milder disease in Western Africa centered in Senegal. HIV infections occur primarily in young adult men aged 30-34, women aged 20-24, infants and children under 4, and a few girls. Transmission patterns vary widely depending on sexual customs in the ethnically diverse continent. Prevalence tends to be high in cities and among subgroups such as prostitutes, where promiscuity is restricted. Where female sexual permissiveness exists, seropositivity is high in women generally. Besides sexual behavior, risk factors for HIV in Africa also include uncircumcised man, oral contraception, STDs causing genital ulceration and Chlamydia infection. Transmission to neonates occurs, especially if the mother has advanced AIDS, but transmission by breast milk is uncertain. Transmission by blood transfusion is common because transfusion are up to 10 times as common in Africa as in the West, especially in obstetrics and pediatrics. Clinically, HIV infections present as herpes zoster in 95% of Africans, and commonly as slim disease: weakness, fever, chronic watery diarrhea and weight loss of unknown cause. Associated infection are candidiasis, cryptosporidiosis, isosporiasis, tuberculosis and salmonellosis. Other presenting symptoms are unusual sites of lymphadenopathy, cough and sepsis. Diagnosis can be made by the WHO clinical case definition, or be screening tests, which are now more reliable for African patients than formerly. In Africa, AIDS can cause destitution and disgrace for families, and will probable severely affect progress made national economies because of deaths of young productive adults. Strategies for control of HIV in Africa are outlined.
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PMID:AIDS in Africa. 218 39

This article reports on the recommendation of the WHO/Joint UN Program on AIDS/HIV to promote the use of cotrimoxazole for the prevention of HIV-related infections in Africa. Several arguments have been raised since the recommendation for its use. Controversies lie in its efficacy in treating opportunistic infections despite its use for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. Researchers, however, argue that the drug is effective in preventing certain kinds of bacterial pneumonia and diarrheal diseases, as well as certain septicemia. Furthermore, it can also protect the individual against toxoplasmosis and isosporiasis. Another challenge faced in deciding whether to recommend the use of cotrimoxazole is the risk of creating microbial resistance to the drug if it is widely used as a prophylactic. Weighing the use of cotrimoxazole against the two challenges of differing infections and possible resistance in a region like sub-Saharan Africa would still yield to the urgent need of preventing opportunistic infections in people living with AIDS/HIV.
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PMID:WHO / UNAIDS hail consensus on cotrimoxazole use for prevention of HIV related infections in Africa. 1229 53