ABSTRACT
A review of surveillance data on AIDS and HIV infection in the 18 English-speaking Caribbean countries and Suriname suggests that the epidemiologic pattern of AIDS in the Caribbean is evolving from an epidemic that began in 1983 among homosexual and bisexual males to one in which cases are increasingly resulting from heterosexual contact, with different countries at various stages of transition. Overall, there has been a decline in the male to female case ratio. Perinatal transmission is already a major problem in many countries--19% of cases in the Bahamas are among children under 15 years of age. Serosurveys conducted in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Antigua, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and other countries show high HIV seroprevalence among homosexuals (15-40%), prisoners (4-10%), prostitutes (up to 13%), and cocaine users (2%); at present, prevalence in the general population continues to be low.
Subject(s)
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/epidemiology , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , HIV Seropositivity/epidemiology , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Middle Aged , Population Surveillance , Suriname , West IndiesSubject(s)
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/epidemiology , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Middle Aged , Suriname , West IndiesABSTRACT
The group G streptococcus has generally not been considered a prominent pathogen. In a 1982 study of the colonization rate by beta-haemolytic streptococci in apparently healthy children, age 5-11 years, 25 of 69 isolates belonged to group G. This surprisingly high rate of group G colonization (14.3%) led to a retrospective study of school surveys in 1967 which showed that the colonization rate with this organism was 2.3% (range 1.3-3.5%). A review of bacitracin-sensitive streptococcal isolates from hospital admissions of patients with acute glomerulonephritis (AGN), rheumatic fever, and their siblings, between January 1967 and July 1980, was conducted. Of 1063 bacitracin-sensitive isolates, 63 were group G, and 52 of these were isolated from AGN patients and their siblings, i.e. 7 from skin lesions of AGN patients, 40 from the throats of siblings and only 5 from the skins of the siblings. The other 11 group G isolates were from rheumatic-fever patients and their siblings. Thus, the group G colonization rate fluctuates in the population. The isolation of only group G streptococci from skin lesions of patients with AGN suggests a possible association between group G streptococcal pyoderma and acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis.
Subject(s)
Glomerulonephritis/microbiology , Streptococcus/isolation & purification , Acute Disease , Adolescent , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Male , Pharynx/microbiology , Skin/microbiology , Streptococcus pyogenes/isolation & purification , Time Factors , Trinidad and TobagoSubject(s)
Diptera , Disease Vectors , Skin Diseases, Infectious/etiology , Streptococcal Infections/etiology , Animals , Child , Glomerulonephritis/complications , Humans , Skin Diseases, Infectious/complications , Streptococcal Infections/complications , Streptococcus pyogenes/isolation & purification , Trinidad and TobagoSubject(s)
Disease Outbreaks , Glomerulonephritis/microbiology , Streptococcus/classification , Streptococcus/isolation & purification , Acute Disease , Agglutination Tests , Child , Glomerulonephritis/epidemiology , Humans , Precipitin Tests , Serotyping , Skin Diseases, Infectious/microbiology , Species Specificity , Trinidad and TobagoABSTRACT
This paper describes the magnitude of AIDS and HIV infection in 18 English-speaking Caribbean countries and Suriname, and discusses the implications of the changing epidemiologic pattern of the disease in this area (AU).