Haematological Changes among HIV-Positive Persons on Antiretroviral Therapy at a Tertiary Hospital in Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Haematological abnormalities such as anaemia, leucopenia, and thrombocytopenia are common complications of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection. Few researchers have studied the changes in HIV positive patients before and during antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Ghana. This study is aimed at determining the haematological profile of people living with HIV (PLHIV) at baseline and whilst on ART in a tertiary facility in Cape Coast, Ghana. METHODS: This was an analytical cross-sectional study with a retrospective component among PLHIV assessing ART services at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Ghana. Full blood count (FBC) test was performed on blood samples and the results were analyzed and categorized based on WHO definitions. RESULTS: A total of 440 participants were included. The mean haemoglobin level (g/dL) for females at baseline, 6 months after ART and during this study were 9.6 (±1.8), 10.9 (±1.4) and 11.6 (±1.4); and 10.2 (±2.1), 11.6 (±1.7) and 11.8 (±1.6) for males. At baseline, the commonest type of anaemia for both females and males was microcytic hypochromic anaemia. The mean platelet count was 382 x 109/l at baseline but reduced to 298 x 109/L after 6 months on ART. Among male participants in this study, the main factor associated with being anaemic after 6 months on ART was the ART regimen with non-Zidovudine based regimen, having reduced odds of anaemia of OR 0.3 (95%CI 0.1 - 0.9), p-value of 0.04. Among females, having plasma viral load >1000 copies per ml was found to have increased odds of being anaemic (OR 1.4, 95%CI 0.7 - 2.6), though not statistically significant (P-value of 0.32). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of anaemia, though improved on ART, was high among PLHIV. It is essential to ensure that full blood count of PLHIV in Ghana are done regularly, at all levels of service provision, with appropriate referral systems in place. The change to the current TDF based preferred first line ART regimen must also be enforced to reduce the potential risks associated with AZT use. This will improve outcome for PLHIV.

The 'Fears' of Disclosing HIV Status to Sexual Partners: A Mixed Methods Study in a Counseling Setting in Ghana.

Encouraging disclosure within a trusting and supportive environment is imperative in dealing with HIV/AIDS related stigma. However, disclosure rates and the factors that influence it are vaguely understood in African societies. This study aimed at determining the disclosure rate and factors that influence disclosure in Cape Coast, Ghana. In-depth interviews of 15 peer educators and a survey of 510 PLHIV were used in a mixed methods study design. Majority of the study participants (78.6 %) had disclosed their HIV positive status to their sexual partners. Although peer educators in this study portrayed the overall outcome of disclosure to be negative, 84.0 % of disclosers were accepted by their partners without negative consequences after disclosure. This study suggests that the existing support services ill prepares newly diagnosed HIV positive clients and hampers disclosure initiatives. Providing comprehensive support services and re-training peer educators may be crucial in creating a safe disclosure environment in Ghana.

Determination of aluminium, silicon and magnesium in geological matrices by delayed neutron activation analysis based on k0 instrumental neutron activation analysis.

In this work, concentrations of silicon, aluminium and magnesium in geological matrices were determined by Neutron Activation Analysis based on k0-IAEA software. The optimum activation and delay times were found to be 5 min and 15-20 min respectively for the determination of Si via (29)Si (n,p) (29)Al reaction. The adopted irradiation scheme did not work for the determination of magnesium. Each sample was irradiated under a thermal neutron flux density of 5.0 × 10(11) ncm(-2)s(-1). Cadmium covered activation indicated that a permanent epithermal irradiation site for research reactors would be very useful for routine determination of silicon in environmental samples.

Characterization of low power research reactor neutrons for the validation of k(0)-INAA standardization based on k(0)-IAEA software.

Channel Bsite2 of Ghana research reactor-1 has been characterized for k0-INAA application. Cadmium ratio and bare multi-monitor were used to determine flux parameters using 0.1%Au-Al, Fe, and Zr wire as flux monitors. The parameters determined were 18.36±1.91, 0.0479±0.012, 5.12×10(11)±0.42×10(11) ncm(-2)s(-1), 2.74×10(10)±0.14×10(10) ncm(-2)s(-1), 7.73×10(10)±0.16×10(10) ncm(-2)s(-1) and 16.75±1.58, -0.034±0.0028, 4.28×10(11)±1.71×10(11) ncm(-2)s(-1), 2.55×10(10)±0.15×10(10) ncm(-2)s(-1) respectively for thermal-to-epithermal flux ratio, alpha, thermal neutron, epithermal neutron and fast neutron flux using cadmium ratio and multi-monitor method accordingly. The k0-INAA performance assessment based on z-score distributions showed most results within |z|<2.