Thermodynamic analysis of sorption isotherms of cassava (Manihot esculenta).

Sorption isotherms of cassava were determined experimentally using a static gravimetric method at 30, 45 and 60 °C and within the range of 0.10-0.90 water activity.

AIDS and non-AIDS morbidity and mortality across the spectrum of CD4 cell counts in HIV-infected adults before starting antiretroviral therapy in Cote d'Ivoire.

Background: In Western Europe, North America, and Australia, large cohort collaborations have been able to estimate the short-term CD4 cell count-specific risk of AIDS or death in untreated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected adults with high CD4 cell counts. In sub-Saharan Africa, these CD4 cell count-specific estimates are scarce.

Methods: From 1996 through 2006, we followed up 2 research cohorts of HIV-infected adults in Côte d'Ivoire.

Medication possession ratio: predicting and decreasing loss to follow-up in antiretroviral treatment programs in Côte d'Ivoire.

Background: In antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs, decreasing loss to follow up (LTFU) is a major priority.

Methods: We conducted a prospective study in Abidjan. Adults who started ART between June 2005 and May 2008 and were still in care 6 months later had monthly visits, biannual CD4 counts, computerized data collection and home visits (routine follow-up).

The financial burden of morbidity in HIV-infected adults on antiretroviral therapy in Côte d'Ivoire.

Background: Large HIV care programs frequently subsidize antiretroviral (ARV) drugs and CD4 tests, but patients must often pay for other health-related drugs and services. We estimated the financial burden of health care for households with HIV-infected adults taking antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Côte d'Ivoire.

Methodology/principal Findings: We conducted a cross-sectional survey.

Rapid scaling-up of antiretroviral therapy in 10,000 adults in Côte d'Ivoire: 2-year outcomes and determinants.

Objective: To assess the rates and determinants of mortality, loss to follow-up and immunological failure in a nongovernmental organization-implemented program of access to antiretroviral treatment in Côte d'Ivoire.

Methods: In each new treatment center, professionals were trained in HIV care, and a computerized data system was implemented. Individual patient and program level determinants of survival, loss to follow-up and immunological failure were assessed by multivariate analysis.

Antiretroviral treatment and prevention of peripartum and postnatal HIV transmission in West Africa: evaluation of a two-tiered approach.

Background: Highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) has only been recently recommended for HIV-infected pregnant women requiring treatment for their own health in resource-limited settings. However, there are few documented experiences from African countries. We evaluated the short-term (4 wk) and long-term (12 mo) effectiveness of a two-tiered strategy of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) in Africa: women meeting the eligibility criteria of the World Health Organization (WHO) received HAART, and women with less advanced HIV disease received short-course antiretroviral (scARV) PMTCT regimens.

Impact of genotypic drug resistance mutations on clinical and immunological outcomes in HIV-infected adults on HAART in West Africa.

Objectives: To analyse the association between the presence of resistance mutations and treatment outcomes. The impact of HIV-1 drug resistance mutations in African adults on HAART has so far never been reported.

Methods: In 2004 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, 106 adults on HAART had plasma viral load measurements.

HIV drug resistance surveillance for prioritizing treatment in resource-limited settings.

Background: Sentinel testing programs for HIV drug resistance in resource-limited settings can inform policy on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and drug sequencing.

Objective: : To examine the value of resistance surveillance in influencing recommendations toward effective and cost-effective sequencing of ART regimens.

Methods: A state-transition model of HIV infection was adapted to simulate clinical care in Côte d'Ivoire and evaluate the incremental cost-effectiveness of (1) no ART; (2) ART beginning with a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-based regimen followed by a boosted protease inhibitor (PI)-based regimen; and (3) ART beginning with a boosted PI-based regimen followed by an NNRTI-based regimen.

Incidence of neutropenia in HIV-infected African adults receiving co-trimoxazole prophylaxis: a 6-year cohort study in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

In a placebo-controlled trial of co-trimoxazole prophylaxis in Côte d'Ivoire, neutropenia was the most frequent short-term side effect. The long-term incidence of neutropenia in sub-Saharan African adults receiving co-trimoxazole has never been reported. We followed a prospective cohort of HIV-infected adults receiving co-trimoxazole (sulphamethoxazole 800 mg/trimethoprim 160 mg daily) in Abidjan.

Nonantiretroviral drug consumption by CD4 cell count in HIV-infected adults: a 5-year cohort study in Côte d'Ivoire.

We followed a cohort of 592 HIV-infected adults during 1292 person-years in Abidjan before the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era. On the basis of the exhaustive monitoring of nonantiretroviral drugs actually delivered to the patients and of the real cost of drugs at the cohort center's pharmacy during the study period, we estimated the mean cost of drugs per person per year (MCPPY) overall, by drug characteristics, and by patients' baseline CD4 cell count. The MCPPY was dollar 198 US overall and dolalr 83 US, dollar 101 US, dollar 186 US, dollar 233 US, and dollar 459 US in patients with a baseline CD4 count > or = 500 cells/mm, 350 to 499 cells/mm, 200 to 349 cells/mm, 100 to 199 cells/mm, and <100 cells/mm, respectively.

Clinical impact and cost-effectiveness of co-trimoxazole prophylaxis in patients with HIV/AIDS in Côte d'Ivoire: a trial-based analysis.

Background: In 2000, WHO/UNAIDS recommended co-trimoxazole prophylaxis for persons at early stages of HIV infection (WHO stage > or = 2) in sub-Saharan Africa.

Objective: To assess the cost-effectiveness of alternative strategies for initiation of co-trimoxazole in Côte d'Ivoire.

Design: Cost-effectiveness analysis with an HIV simulation model using clinical and cost data from a randomized trial of co-trimoxazole in HIV-infected adults.

Risk factors for active tuberculosis after antiretroviral treatment initiation in Abidjan.

Rationale: In sub-Saharan Africa: (1) tuberculosis is the first cause of HIV-related mortality; (2) the incidence of tuberculosis in adults receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is lower than in untreated HIV-infected adults but higher than in HIV-negative adults; and (3) factors associated with the occurrence of tuberculosis in patients receiving HAART have never been described.

Objective: To look for the risk factors for active tuberculosis in HIV-infected adults receiving HAART in Abidjan.

Methods: Seven-year prospective cohort of HIV-infected adults, with standardized procedures for documenting morbidity.

Decreasing incidence of pregnancy by decreasing CD4 cell count in HIV-infected women in Côte d'Ivoire: a 7-year cohort study.

In a cohort study of women of childbearing age in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, we followed 473 HIV-infected women for 1551 person-years, and found that the incidence of pregnancy and livebirth decreased with decreasing CD4 cell counts. This has consequences in terms of scaling-up strategies for highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Women who need HAART will be less likely than those who do not to be recruited into prenatal care facilities.

Impact of vital status investigation procedures on estimates of survival in cohorts of HIV-infected patients from Sub-Saharan Africa.

In HIV cohorts in sub-Saharan Africa, documenting vital status of patients lost to follow-up is a major challenge. The effect of specific vital status investigation procedures (VSIPs) on the number of known deaths has never been shown. We assessed the effects of VSIP on survival estimates in a 4-year prospective cohort study in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

Medium-term survival, morbidity and immunovirological evolution in HIV-infected adults receiving antiretroviral therapy, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

Objectives: To evaluate survival, morbidity, and CD4 and viral load (VL) evolution in HIV-infected adults receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Côte d'Ivoire.

Methods: Since 1996, 723 HIV-infected adults have been followed up in the ANRS 1203 cohort study in Abidjan. For those patients who received ART, we describe data between ART initiation and August 2002.

Pattern of bacterial diseases in a cohort of HIV-1 infected adults receiving cotrimoxazole prophylaxis in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

Background: WHO/UNAIDS recommended that cotrimoxazole should be prescribed in Africa in HIV-infected adults with CD4 cell counts < 500 x 10 /l, while closely monitoring bacterial diseases in as many settings as possible.

Methods: Prospective cohort study, describing bacterial morbidity in adults receiving cotrimoxazole prophylaxis (960 mg daily) between April 1996 and June 2000 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

Results: Four-hundred and forty-eight adults (median baseline CD4 cell count 251 x 10 /l) were followed for a median time of 26 months.