Biomarker-Based Analysis of Pain in Patients with Tick-Borne Infections before and after Antibiotic Treatment.

Tick-borne illnesses (TBIs), especially those caused by Borrelia, are increasingly prevalent worldwide. These diseases progress through stages of initial localization, early spread, and late dissemination. The final stage often leads to post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) or chronic Lyme disease (CLD), characterized by persistent and non-specific multisystem symptoms affecting multiple systems, lasting over six months after antibiotic therapy.

Provision of immediate postpartum contraception to women living with HIV in the Eastern Cape, South Africa; a cross-sectional analysis.

Background: Universal access to contraception is an important strategy adopted by the South African government to reduce the high rate of unintended pregnancies, especially in women living with HIV. In this article, we describe the choices of contraception and also, examine the influencing factors of the choices of contraception in the immediate postpartum period in parturient women with HIV in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Methods: In this prospective cross-sectional study, 1617 parturient women with HIV completed a survey on the choice of contraception received in the immediate postpartum period (within 72 h) across three large maternity services in the Eastern Cape between September 2015 to May 2016.