HIV prevalence and impact on renutrition in children hospitalised for severe malnutrition in Niger: an argument for more systematic screening.

Background: In developing countries, malnutrition is a contributing factor in over 50% of child deaths. Mortality rates are higher in underweight children, and HIV-infection is known to increase underweight. Our goals were to evaluate the prevalence of HIV among children hospitalised for severe malnutrition (SM) at the Niamey national hospital (Niger), and to compare renutrition and mortality by HIV-status.

Switch to second-line ART in West African routine care: incidence and reasons for switching.

In sub-Saharan Africa, while antiretroviral therapy (ART) becomes widely available, access to biological measurements to monitor patients under ART remains scarce, making the management of ART difficult. We described the management of switching to second-line ART where HIV care is provided mainly in secondary health-care structures, in the region of Segou, Mali. Of 865 patients, followed under ART for a median time of 15 months, 40 switched to second-line ART (3.

Evolution of genetic diversity and drug resistance mutations in HIV-1 among untreated patients from Mali between 2005 and 2006.

Objectives: To describe HIV-1 variants circulating in Mali and to estimate the rate of transmission of HIV-1 drug resistance in 2006.

Patients And Methods: Viral reverse transcriptase (RT) and protease (PR) genes from 198 antiretroviral (ARV)-naive patients diagnosed HIV-1 positive in May 2006 in Bamako and Segou were sequenced.

Results: Although CRF02_AG was always the predominant HIV-1 subtype observed (72%), a higher genetic diversity than that in 2005 was observed.

Factors predicting uptake of voluntary counselling and testing in a real-life setting in a mother-and-child center in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Objective: To identify factors predicting uptake of voluntary HIV counselling and testing in pregnant women.

Methods: All pregnant women receiving ante-natal group health education at St Camille Medical Center, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso from 1 May 2002 to 30 April 2004 were offered voluntary HIV counselling and testing. If they consented, the women were pre-test counselled, tested by two rapid tests giving immediate results and post-test counselled.

Imported malaria in an HIV-positive traveler: a case report with a fatal outcome.

We report a fatal case of malaria in an HIV-coinfected nonimmune traveler. The primary cause of death is discussed. The importance of prevention of malaria in nonimmune travelers is stressed.