Double-blind placebo-controlled study of concurrent administration of albendazole and praziquantel in schoolchildren with schistosomiasis and geohelminths.

A double-blind placebo-controlled study of the concurrent administration of albendazole and praziquantel was conducted in>1500 children with high prevalences of geohelminths and schistosomiasis. The study sites were in China and the Philippines, including 2 strains of Schistosoma japonicum, and 2 different regions of Kenya, 1 each with endemic Schistosoma mansoni or Schistosoma haematobium. Neither medication affected the cure rate of the other.

Bacteriuria in a cohort of predominantly HIV-1 seropositive female commercial sex workers in Nairobi, Kenya.

Although significant bacteriuria and urinary tract infection are more common in immunocompetent women than men, studies linking HIV immunosuppression with an increased risk of developing urinary infection have so far only been carried out in men. We therefore examined the relationship between bacteriuria and HIV status and CD4+cell count in a relatively homogeneous cohort of female commercial sex workers (CSW) attending a community clinic in Nairobi. Two hundred and twenty-two women were enrolled, and grouped according to HIV status and CD4 count.

Acute phase protein concentrations predict parasite clearance rate during therapy for visceral leishmaniasis.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) remains a major health problem in Kenya and other parts of Africa, Central America and Asia. Currently, splenic aspirate smear and culture are the standard methods of monitoring therapy and relapse. Acute phase reactant markers, C-reactive protein (CRP), serum amyloid A protein (SAA) and alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) were evaluated as less invasive techniques for monitoring therapy in 59 patients with VL before, during and after therapy.

Visceral leishmaniasis: use of the polymerase chain reaction in an epidemiological study in Baringo District, Kenya.

The polymerase chain reaction was applied to capillary blood spots dried on filter paper from 20 parasitologically proved cases of visceral leishmaniasis (VL), 21 subclinical cases, and 11 healthy controls in a longitudinal study of anthroponotic VL in Baringo District, Kenya. Leishmania deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was detected 10.5 months before diagnosis and up to 3 years after diagnosis and apparently successful treatment.

A prospective sero-epidemiological study of visceral leishmaniasis in Baringo District, Rift Valley Province, Kenya.

The incidence of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) was studied in 30 clusters with an average of 98 individuals in each cluster in a defined, endemic rural area of Baringo District, Kenya. The clusters were centred around recent cases of VL. Anti-leishmanial antibodies were measured by the direct agglutination test (DAT) and a clinical examination was performed on 2 occasions between April 1991 and May 1993.