Critical assessment of infants born to mothers with drug resistant tuberculosis.

Background: There have been no detailed descriptions of infants born to mothers treated for drug resistant TB in pregnancy. Critical case history assessment is important to identify risks and guide clinical practice.

Methods: In a cohort of pregnant women with multidrug or rifampicin resistant (MDR/RR)-TB enrolled between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2022, we followed mother-infant pairs until the infant was 12 months old.

'Not taking medications and taking medication, it was the same thing:' perspectives of antiretroviral therapy among people hospitalised with advanced HIV disease.

Background: Despite HIV's evolution to a chronic disease, the burden of advanced HIV disease (AHD, defined as a CD4 count of < 200 cells/uL or WHO clinical Stage 3 or 4 disease), remains high among People Living with HIV (PLHIV) who have previously been prescribed antiretroviral therapy (ART). As little is known about the experiences of patients hospitalised with AHD, this study sought to discern social forces driving hospitalisation with AHD. Understanding such forces could inform strategies to reduce HIV-related morbidity and mortality.

Best practices for the care of pregnant people living with TB.

Each year more than 200,000 pregnant people become sick with TB, but little is known about how to optimize their diagnosis and therapy. Although there is a need for further research in this population, it is important to recognize that much can be done to improve the services they currently receive. Following a systematic review of the literature and the input of a global team of health professionals, a series of best practices for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of TB during pregnancy were developed.

'If I am playing football, I forget that I have this virus': the challenges and coping strategies of adolescents with perinatally acquired HIV in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Background: Adolescents who have acquired HIV perinatally (ALHIV) face unique challenges in taking lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART), but little is known about what factors affect their adherence over the course of their lifelong treatment journey.

Methods: We conducted a qualitative study with ALHIV who had periods of poor adherence to ART in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa using Participant-generated Visual Methodologies (PVM). Participants used photography to represent their perspectives and experiences.

"I am alive because of her": factors affecting adherence to combination antiretroviral therapy among people living with HIV in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Background: People living with HIV need to take lifelong, combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), but there have been only limited explorations of how factors affecting adherence can change over the course of an individual's lifetime.

Methods: We carried out a qualitative study of men and women living with HIV in KwaZulu, Natal, South Africa who were prescribed cART and who had periods of higher and lower adherence.

Results: 18 individuals participated in open-ended interviews.