Appraisal of oral lesions status of HIV/AIDS patients in South Western Uganda

Aim: To establish a regional surveillance data that may contribute to improvement of oral health prevention/control programs in South Western Uganda. Methods: Using WHO guidelines, HIV-associated oral lesions were identified among 605 HIV/AIDS patients (469 females and 136 males), selected at random from 4 districts of South Western Uganda. Pearson¡¦s Chi square test of independence („´=0.01), was used to compare results. Results: Prevalence of oral lesions was 73.2%. Pseudomembranous Candidiasis (PC) showed the highest overall prevalence of 71.1% (34.9% single and 36.2% mixed); followed by 39.9% prevalence of Erythematous Candidiasis (EC) (13.2%) single; 26.7% mixed) and 18.8% prevalence of Angular Chelitis (AC) (3.1% single and 15.7% mixed). There was: 23.6% co-infection of PC and EC; 12.6% PC and AC, 3.1% were EC and AC, and 17.0% intra-oral pigmentation. Prevalence of oral lesions was significantly (p<0.01) dependent on host pre-exposure to antimicrobials. Conclusions: Oral infections are still highly prevalent among the studied HIV/AIDS patients in South Western Uganda. This observation may be due to inadequate antimicrobial agents and oral/dental care. There¡¦s urgent need to train primary health care workers in management of oral lesions associated with HIV/AIDS. More studies are needed to evaluate HIV/AIDS oral lesions in the populace.

Effect of lamivudine [epivir], nevirapine [vivumine] and stavudine [stavir] on CD[4][+] count of HIV patients attending university of Benin Teaching Hospital [UBTH], Benin city, Edo State, Nigeria

Anti-retroviral drugs are broadly used to alleviate the sufferings of HIV patients in Sub-Saharan countries. Few studies have been carried out to assess the effects of these drugs on the immunological parameters of patients in the above-mentioned region. To assess the effect of the Lamivudine, Nevirapine and Stavudine combination on the CD4+ count of HIV patients attending the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria. An assessment of CD4+ counts of 37 HIV patients from different socio-economic groups on tritherapy, notably Lamivudine-Nevirapine-Stavudine combinations, attending the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, was carried out before therapy, three months and six months after administration of the drugs using Dynabeads[R] T4 -T8 Quantification Protocol [DYNAL BIOTECH ASA: NORWAY]. Out of the 37 studied subjects, 32 [86.48%] patients showed a marked increase in their CD4+ counts at three and six months, four [12.5%] subjects showed a continuous decrease in CD4+ level up to six months after therapy, while one [3.12%] patient had a decrease in CD4+ after three months and a sudden rise at six months. The mean CD4+ cell count increased from 255 at base line to 284 at week 12, and to 346 at week 24. Traders were the most affected by HIV virus followed by people in the group referred to as 'others', civil servants, and students with prevalence rates of 43.24%, 24.32%, 18.91%, 13.51% respectively. Statistically, there was a significant difference between HIV-1, HIV-2 and HIV-1 and 2 which had a prevalence rate of 89.19%, 8.10% and 2.70% respectively [p<0.05]. The importance of early diagnosis, continuous evaluation and sound clinical management of HIV is strongly emphasized

Seroprevalence of human immunodeficiency virus and some AIDS associated opportunistic infections in parts of Northern Nigeria

A total of 620 consenting patients were tested for HIV by rapid Elisa method in three government hospital in Wukari Local government area Taraba State, Nigeria between April 2001 and March 2002. Seropositive subjects were followed up on their subsequent visits to the hospital and using their hospital records to obtain information on their HIV status, other associated and opportunistic infections. A total of 124 [20%] subjects subdivided into males 58 [9.4%] and females 66 [10.6%] of those tested were positive for HIV. While 10 [1.6%] males and 14 [2.3%] females had developed AIDS. Six different infections were identified among the infected subjects including 39 cases of diarrhoea. 31 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis [PTB] 21, cases of oral candidiasis and 19 cases of skin/ soft tissue infections. There were 3 cases of urethral track infection and 24 cases of bronchopneumonia. The productive age group 15-50 years remains mainly the most affected group with the HIV scourge. The negative impact of polygamy, extramarital affairs and lack of women sex right. Empowerment and low level human development on the spread of HIV/AIDS is discussed