Knowledge and attitude towards sickle cell anemia among care givers of paediatric sickle cell patients at a tertiary hospital in Eastern Uganda: a cross sectional study.

Objective: To explore the knowledge and attitude towards sickle cell disease (SCD) among care givers of paediatric sickle cell patients at Mbale regional referral hospital in Eastern Uganda.

Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted at Mbale regional referral hospital. We used simple random sampling technique to recruit participants from among the care givers of pediatric sickle cell patients admitted at the hospital, administered questionnaires and conducted multivariable logistic regression to establish the association between the different factors.

Sickle cell trait screening in students in a Ugandan university: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: To determine the uptake, knowledge level and attitude towards sickle cell trait screening in students aged 18 to 35 years in a Ugandan university.

Methods: This was a university-based, cross-sectional study of students aged 18 to 35 years who were students at the Busitema University Faculty of Health Sciences. We used a simple random sampling technique to recruit participants.

Challenges in and ideas for diagnosing primary immunodeficiencies in Uganda.

Purpose Of Review: Primary immunodeficiencies (PIDs) lately referred to as inborn errors of immunity, are consequences of mutations that affect the immune integrity and function. Globally, severe PIDs are more common in infants and are fatal if not timely - appropriately diagnosed and managed. PID programmes and policies vary from country to country.

Prevalence and clinical outcomes of Plasmodium falciparum and intestinal parasitic infections among children in Kiryandongo refugee camp, mid-Western Uganda: a cross sectional study.

Background: The prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum and Intestinal Parasitic Infections (IPIs) - with the corresponding pathogenesis among children remain uncertain. This study aimed at determining the prevalence and the outcomes (including anaemia) of the respective infections and co-infections. Anaemia is a condition in which the number of red blood cells transporting oxygen to the various body parts is not sufficient to meet the needs of the body.

Presence of distinct subsets of cytolytic CD8+ T cells in chronic HIV infection.

Cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL) play an important role in the control of HIV infection. The eventual failure to contain HIV-1 infection may arise because of a functional impairment of HIV-specific CTL. We evaluated Gag-specific cytotoxicity in HIV-1-positive Ugandans.

CD4 T cell activation as a predictor for treatment failure in Ugandans with Plasmodium falciparum malaria.

Host immunity plays an important role in response to antimalarial therapy but is poorly understood. To test whether T cell activation is a risk factor for antimalarial treatment failure, we studied CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell activation in 31 human immunodeficiency virus-negative Ugandan patients 5-37 years of age who were treated for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Increased CD4(+) T cell activation, as indicated by co-expression of HLA-DR and CD38, was an independent risk factor for treatment failure (hazard ratio = 2.

HIV-specific IL-10-positive CD8+ T cells are increased in advanced disease and are associated with decreased HIV-specific cytolysis.

IL-10-producing T cells have been shown to inhibit Ag-specific CD8+ T cell responses, and may play a role in the immune dysregulation observed in HIV-1 infection. We characterized the Gag-specific IL-10 responses by CD8+ T cells in HIV-1-positive volunteers from Uganda. HIV-specific IL-10 responses were detected in 32 of 61 (52.

Coinfection with Schistosoma mansoni is associated with decreased HIV-specific cytolysis and increased IL-10 production.

Impaired virus-specific immune responses have previously been observed with Schistosoma mansoni coinfection. We characterized Gag-specific responses in HIV-1-positive Ugandans with and without S. mansoni coinfection.

Depletion of regulatory T cells in HIV infection is associated with immune activation.

Immune activation during chronic HIV infection is a strong clinical predictor of death and may mediate CD4(+) T cell depletion. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are CD4(+)CD25(bright)CD62L(high) cells that actively down-regulate immune responses. We asked whether loss of Tregs during HIV infection mediates immune activation in a cross-sectional study of 81 HIV-positive Ugandan volunteers.

Human immunodeficiency virus-specific responses in adult Ugandans: patterns of cross-clade recognition.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or AIDS is currently the leading cause of death in Uganda, with at least three HIV clades (subtypes) accounting for most new infections. Whether an effective vaccine formulated on viruses from a single clade will be able to protect against infection from other local clades remains unresolved. We examined the T-cell immune responses from a cohort of HIV-seropositive individuals in Uganda with predominantly clade A and D infections.

T cell activation in HIV-seropositive Ugandans: differential associations with viral load, CD4+ T cell depletion, and coinfection.

Immune activation is thought to play a major role in the pathogenesis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This effect may be particularly relevant in Africa, where endemic coinfections may contribute to disease progression, perhaps as a consequence of enhanced immune activation. We investigated the expression of CD38 and human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR on T cells in 168 HIV-seropositive volunteers in Uganda.