Immune Reconstitution During the First Year of Antiretroviral Therapy of HIV-1-Infected Adults in Rural Burkina Faso.

There are no data on the outcome of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in HIV-infected adults in rural Burkina Faso. We therefore assessed CD4(+) T-cell counts and HIV-1 plasma viral load (VL), the proportion of naive T-cells (co-expressing CCR7 and CD45RA) and T-cell activation (expression of CD95 or CD38) in 61 previously untreated adult patients from Nouna, Burkina Faso, at baseline and 2 weeks, 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after starting therapy. Median CD4(+) T-cell counts increased from 174 (10(th)-90(th) percentile: 33-314) cells/µl at baseline to 300 (114- 505) cells/µl after 3 months and 360 (169-562) cells/µl after 12 months of HAART.

Insights on hiv pre-test counseling following scaling-up of PMTCT program in rural health posts, Burkina Faso.

Background: Quality of pre-test counseling in empowering women to make informed decisions related to HIV/AIDS is regarded as a key element to ensure effectiveness of PMTCT interventions. This cross-sectional study examined how well HIV testing services with 'Opt in' strategy are being delivered following scaling-up of PMTCT programs in rural peripheral health centers in Burkina Faso.

Methods: We observed the process of HIV testing service delivery and evaluate 19 pre- test counseling sessions linked with 16 in-depth interviews with the pregnant women.