Assessing stakeholder perceptions of the acceptability and feasibility of national scale-up for a dual HIV/syphilis rapid diagnostic test in Malawi.

Objectives: The WHO recommends pregnant women receive both HIV and syphilis testing at their first antenatal care visit, as untreated maternal infections can lead to severe, adverse pregnancy outcomes. One strategy for increasing testing for both HIV and syphilis is the use of point-of-care (rapid) diagnostic tests that are simple, proven effective and inexpensive. In Malawi, pregnant women routinely receive HIV testing, but only 10% are tested for syphilis at their first antenatal care visit.

Treatment-Seeking for Tuberculosis-Suggestive Symptoms: A Reflection on the Role of Human Agency in the Context of Universal Health Coverage in Malawi.

Tuberculosis (TB) is highly infectious and one of the leading killers globally. Several studies from sub-Saharan Africa highlight health systems challenges that affect ability to cope with existing disease burden, including TB, although most of these employ survey-type approaches. Consequently, few address community or patient perspectives and experiences.

'For a mere cough, men must just chew Conjex, gain strength, and continue working': the provider construction and tuberculosis care-seeking implications in Blantyre, Malawi.

Background: Delay by men in seeking healthcare results in their higher mortality while on HIV or tuberculosis (TB) treatment and contributes to ongoing community-level disease transmission before going on treatment.

Objective: To understand masculinity's role in delay in healthcare seeking for men, with a focus on TB-suggestive symptoms.

Design: Data were collected between March 2011 and March 2012 in low-income suburbs in urban Blantyre using focus group discussions with community members (n=8) and health workers (n=2), in-depth interviews with 20 TB patients (female=14) and 20 uninvestigated chronic coughers (female=8), and a 3-day participatory workshop with 27 health stakeholder representatives.

Control, struggle, and emergent masculinities: a qualitative study of men's care-seeking determinants for chronic cough and tuberculosis symptoms in Blantyre, Malawi.

Background: Men's healthcare-seeking delay results in higher mortality while on HIV or tuberculosis (TB) treatment, and implies contribution to ongoing community-level TB transmission before initiating treatment. We investigated masculinity's role in healthcare-seeking delay for men with TB-suggestive symptoms, with a view to developing potential interventions for men.

Methods: Data were collected during March 2011- March 2012 in three high-density suburbs in urban Blantyre.

A novel community health worker tool outperforms WHO clinical staging for assessment of antiretroviral therapy eligibility in a resource-limited setting.

The accuracy of a novel community health worker antiretroviral therapy eligibility assessment tool was examined in community members in Blantyre, Malawi. Nurses independently performed World Health Organization (WHO) staging and CD4 counts. One hundred ten (55.

Evaluation of Xpert MTB/RIF for detection of tuberculosis from blood samples of HIV-infected adults confirms Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteremia as an indicator of poor prognosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a leading cause of death among HIV-infected adults, in part because of delayed diagnosis and therefore delayed initiation of treatment. Recently, the Gene-Xpert platform, a rapid, PCR-based diagnostic platform, has been validated for the diagnosis of TB with sputum. We have evaluated the Xpert MTB/RIF assay for the diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteremia and investigated its impact on clinical outcomes.