Training health care workers to promote HIV services for patients with tuberculosis in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Background: HIV counseling and testing, HIV prevention and provision of HIV care and support are essential activities to reduce the burden of HIV among patients with TB, and should be integrated into routine TB care.

Methods: The development of training materials to promote HIV services for TB patients involved the definition of target health care workers (HCWs); identification of required tasks, skills and knowledge; review of international guidelines; and adaptation of existing training materials for voluntary counseling and testing, prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and management of opportunistic infections (OIs). Training effectiveness was assessed by means of questionnaires administered pre- and post-training, by correlating post-training results of HCWs with the centre's HIV testing acceptance rates, and through participatory observations at the time of on-site supervisory visits and monthly meetings.

Patient and provider perspectives on implementation models of HIV counseling and testing for patients with TB.

Setting: TB clinics in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Objectives: To identify an acceptable approach to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) counseling and testing (CT) for patients with tuberculosis (TB) from health care worker (HCWs) and patient perspectives.

Design: A qualitative evaluation was conducted of three models of routine provider-initiated HIV CT: off-site referral to a freestanding voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) center, on-site referral for HIV CT at the primary health care center to which the TB clinic belongs and HIV CT by the TB nurse.

Counseling and testing TB patients for HIV: evaluation of three implementation models in Kinshasa, Congo.

Setting: Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Objectives: To evaluate the implementation of three models of provider-initiated HIV counseling and testing (CT) for tuberculosis (TB) patients.

Methods: HIV CT was offered to all TB patients aged > or =18 months registered for treatment at three project clinics between August 2004 and June 2005.

Chronic suppurative otitis media and related complications at the University Clinic of Kinshasa.

During the five-year period from 1998 to 2002, the ENT department of the University Clinic of Kinshasa treated 343 patients suffering from chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) and complications. Two hundred and seven patients had simple, 28 had cholesteatomatous form of CSOM, and 108 patients presented with intratemporal or intracranial complications. Roughly half of the patient group consisted of children younger than 10 years.

Bacteriology of chronic suppurative otitis media in congolese children.

Aim: The study intended to identify bacteria active in the chronic suppurative otitis media and to determine their sensitivity to current antibiotics.

Methods: After clinical evaluation, middle-ear secretions were taken for bacteriological examination from 78 children meeting the inclusion criteria. All children with cholesteatoma and those with tumors occluding the ear canal were excluded.