Bar Attendance and Alcohol Use Before and After COVID-19 Related Restrictions Among HIV-infected Adults in South-Western Uganda.

Alcohol use is especially problematic for people living with HIV (PLWH) and was likely to be impacted by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and its restrictions. In a study of PLWH with latent tuberculosis infection, we measured unhealthy alcohol use with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-C), phosphatidylethanol (PEth) and bar attendance. We analyzed data collected before and after COVID-19 restrictions, and used Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) logistic regression models to evaluate changes in unhealthy alcohol use. While bar attendance declined from 57.0% before to 38.3% after the restrictions started, multivariable analysis controlling for bar use showed a significant increase in unhealthy alcohol use; the adjusted odds ratio for unhealthy drinking before versus after the restrictions started was 1.37 (95% CI: 0.89-2.12) which increased to 1.64 (95% CI: 1.08-2.50) when bar attendance was added to the model. Decline in bar attendance did not decrease unhealthy alcohol use.

Sparse Evidence for Giardia intestinalis, Cryptosporidium spp. and Microsporidia Infections in Humans, Domesticated Animals and Wild Nonhuman Primates Sharing a Farm-Forest Mosaic Landscape in Western Uganda.

Zoonotic pathogen transmission is considered a leading threat to the survival of non-human primates and public health in shared landscapes. Giardia spp., Cryptosporidium spp. and Microsporidia are unicellular parasites spread by the fecal-oral route by environmentally resistant stages and can infect humans, livestock, and wildlife including non-human primates. Using immunoassay diagnostic kits and amplification/sequencing of the region of the triosephosphate isomerase, small ribosomal subunit rRNA and the internal transcribed spacer genes, we investigated Giardia, Cryptosporidium, and microsporidia infections, respectively, among humans, domesticated animals (livestock, poultry, and dogs), and wild nonhuman primates (eastern chimpanzees and black and white colobus monkeys) in Bulindi, Uganda, an area of remarkably high human-animal contact and spatial overlap. We analyzed 137 fecal samples and revealed the presence of G. intestinalis assemblage B in two human isolates, G. intestinalis assemblage E in one cow isolate, and Encephalitozoon cuniculi genotype II in two humans and one goat isolate. None of the chimpanzee and colobus monkey samples were positive for any of the screened parasites. Regular distribution of antiparasitic treatment in both humans and domestic animals in Bulindi could have reduced the occurrence of the screened parasites and decreased potential circulation of these pathogens among host species.