Socio-demographic correlates of late treatment initiation in a cohort of patients starting antiretroviral treatment in Mali, West Africa.

The objective of this study was to investigate factors correlated with late treatment initiation in a cohort of patients starting treatment in Mali, West Africa, while focusing on the role of sex/gender. This study consisted of a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a prospective, observational cohort of patients initiating antiretroviral treatment in Mali. Patient data were analyzed with a gender perspective to examine factors correlated with late treatment initiation, defined as having a CD4 count below 100 cells/µl. Aday and Andersen's conceptual framework of access to medical care was used to classify baseline participant characteristics associated with late treatment initiation. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the modifying effect of sex/gender. Results show that 39% of patients initiated treatment late; significantly more of these were men than women. Sex/gender, marital status, and education were associated with late treatment initiation. Unmarried men and uneducated women were significantly more likely to initiate treatment late. Programs need to target unmarried men while being cognizant that uneducated women are arriving late as well.

Impact of a modified directly administered antiretroviral treatment intervention on virological outcome in HIV-infected patients treated in Burkina Faso and Mali.

OBJECTIVE: This study explores whether viral load measurements can be used in resource-limited settings to target those in need of adherence assistance. It was hypothesized that high plasma viral loads (pVLs) (>/=500 HIV-1 RNA copies/mL) were the result of poor antiretroviral therapy adherence and amenable to improvement with adherence assistance. DESIGN: A single-arm, multicentre pilot study was conducted from November 2003 to March 2004 on 606 treatment-experienced patients who had initiated an antiretroviral regimen in Mali and Burkina Faso >/=6 months before study enrolment. In these patients, those whose pVL was >/=500 copies/mL were offered 1 month of modified directly administered antiretroviral treatment (mDAART) with weekly follow-up visits from pharmacists or adherence counsellors. METHODS: An adherence questionnaire was given to all cohort patients and viral load was used to screen for patients with >/=500 copies/mL. mDAART participants included cohort patients with >/=500 copies/mL, who completed the adherence questionnaire. Genotypic analyses were conducted on samples taken prior to and after the intervention. The intervention was considered effective when there was a decrease of >/=1 log(10) in pVL. RESULTS: mDAART was effective in over one-third of the intervention participants, while in two-thirds no decrease in pVL was observed. The majority of mDAART participants had major resistance mutations. CONCLUSIONS: pVL measurement was useful to identify patients who needed adherence assistance. However, because it was performed >/=6 months after starting treatment, mDAART came too late for most participants, as they had already developed important resistance mutations that might have been avoided with better laboratory monitoring.

[Hyperthyroidism in children. Experience in internal medicine in Mali]. / Hyperthyroïdie chez l'enfant. Expérience d'un service de médecine interne au Mali.

INTRODUCTION: Thyroid pathology is frequent in Mali, which is an endemic zone for goiter. But this pathology rarely occurs in children. The purpose of our study was to characterize this illness among children in Mali. METHODS: We report on patients aged less than 15-year old who presented with clinical signs and symptoms with hyperthyroidism at the medicine service at Hospital de Point G from January 1999 and December 2005 to determine the characteristics of hyperthyroidism. RESULTS: The frequency was 9.6 per thousand (38/3972), with an average age of 12.5+/-3.34-year. The sex ratio was 3 girls/1 boys. The most common symptoms were tachycardia (n=30, 78.9%), palpitations (n=15, 34.4%). 31 patients (81.5%) presented with exophthalmoses, 93.5% being bilateral. Weight loss was present in 31.5% (n=12). Goiter was present in 37 patients (97.4%). The goiter was diffuse in 27 patients (73%) and nodular in 10 (27.%). The presence of goiter caused signs of compression in the neck in half of the cases: dyspnea and dysphonia were the most common consequences. TSH less than 0.05 microUI/1 was used to confirm the diagnosis. Graves's disease was the most common cause (n=32, 84.2%), followed by toxic adenoma (n=4, 10.5%). Other causes included toxic multinodular goiter and thyroiditis. Etiologies were independent of sex and age: (p=0.95). All patients were started on medical therapy upon diagnosis. 7 patients (18.4%) were lost to follow-up during the 6 months of treatment. Remission was obtained in 26 patients (83.9%), and relapse occurred in 5 patients (16.1%). CONCLUSION: The frequency of hyperthyroidism in children in Mali is a problem in a goiter endemic zone like Mali. Poor general health in children and signs and symptoms of neck compression are markers of progressive disease.

[The clinical and biological tolerance of nevirapine among patients with AIDS under treatment at the Hospital of the Point G]. / La tolerance clinique et biologique de la nevirapine chez les malades du SIDA sous traitement a l' Hopital du point G.

The national policy of assumption of responsibility of the PVVIH decided to put 80% of new inclusions under Triomune, 1st therapeutic line made up of 3TC + D4T + Nevirapine. The use of Nevirapine among patients VIH+ plays a very important part in improvement of the quality of their life. The goal of this study was to evaluate the clinical and biological tolerance of Nevirapine at the PVVIH under treatment ARV and having Nevirapine in their diagram. We had collected 102 files of patients. The average age was 38 years. Association Lamivudine + Stavudine + Nevirapine was the diagram most frequently prescribed (82.4%). The skin, mucous and neurological signs, digestive disorders, muscular signs, cardiopulmonary signs were frequently observed in the first month of the treatment but these symptoms became less frequent in the third month and disappeared at the 6th month. We observed disorders in hepatic and renal functional parameters, rise in the lymphocytes. We obtained a considerable increase in the rate of CD4 between the beginning of the treatment and the 6th month. The treatment schema of 3TC + D4T + Nevirapine gives an excellent clinical and biological tolerance. But, the study must continue to confirm these results over a longer period.