An assessment of antiretroviral drug initiation to pregnant women of unknown HIV status during labour and delivery in Cameroon.

Background: Evidence from previous research has shown that antiretroviral (ARV) drug initiation to seropositive pregnant women could significantly contribute to eliminating new paediatric infections even when started during labour and delivery. This study therefore seeks to assess missed opportunities for ARV initiation during this critical period of pregnancy to improve outcomes of the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programmes in Cameroon.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on the 2014 PMTCT data for labour and delivery among pregnant women of unknown HIV status within health facilities in six regions of Cameroon (428 eligible facilities).

Field efficacy of combination vaccines against bovine respiratory pathogens in calves.

The efficacy of an inactivated bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV)--bovine parainfluenza type 3 (PI3)--Mannheimia haemolytica (Mh) combination vaccine was examined in two field studies. Calves were vaccinated (i) with the inactivated vaccine, (ii) a modified live/killed viral combination vaccine, or (iii) left unvaccinated. The efficacy of the vaccines was judged by the (i) number of treated animals, (ii) number of individual antibiotic treatments per calf and (iii) mortality rates.