Spontaneous sputum examination for early diagnosis of pneumocystis carinii in Ugandan AIDS patients

Whereas pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) is one of the major complications and causes of death in patients with the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS); patients show that mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is a commoner cause of HIV-associated pneumonia than PCP. Most methods used to diagnose PCP entail invasive and expensive techniques which are beyond the facilities available in developing countries. This study was therefore designed to evaluate spontaneous sputum examination as a cheaper method for the diagnosis of PCP. Sputum specimens collected in 1987 from 54 AIDS patients in Mulago Hospital were stained using a modified Gram stain and read by a competent technician. None of the 54 slides contained evidence of pneumocystis carinii. These results were consistent with other studies in Africa which show that PCP is rare among AIDS patients. [abstract terminated]

Carcinoma of the cervix in Kyadondo County; Uganda (1954-1991)

Kyadondo county in Uganda is believed to have one of the highest incidence rates of cancer of the cervix in Africa and probably in the whole world. Whereas routine cytological screening using the pap smear has markedly decreased the incidence of invasive carcinoma of the cervix in the developed world; it is still the commonest cancer of women in the developing world. Risk factors for cervical carcinoma include; among others; promiscuous sexual behaviour; early age at menarche; oral contraceptive use and presence of sexually transmitted diseases such as human papillomavirus and human immunodeficiency virus. The purpose of this study was to assess the trend of incidence of cancer of the cervix over 3 time periods; 1954-60; 196870 and 1989-91. The Kampala Cancer Registry records were reviewed and cases classified as cervical cancer according to the International Classification of Diseases. The results showed that age specific incidence rates for the period 1989-91 were far above those for the 1954-60 period. They also showed that women tend to present at an early age with more advanced disease and were more likely to be diagnosed clinically in the younger age-group in the 1989-91 period than in the 1954-60 period. The above results are consistent with mechanisms that can be attributed to the incidence of HIV infection in the 1989-91 period