Decrease of human immunodeficiency virus prevalence in antenatal clinics in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, 1995-2002.

Antenatal HIV seroprevalence surveys are important tools to understand the extent of the HIV epidemic in Africa. The main objective is to describe HIV prevalence trends from 1995-2002 in pregnant women consulting antenatal clinics in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. We proposed HIV test to pregnant women consulting antenatal clinics in Abidjan from 1995-2002 in a programme of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

Field efficacy of zidovudine, lamivudine and single-dose nevirapine to prevent peripartum HIV transmission.

Objectives: In Africa, single-dose nevirapine (NVPsd), short regimens of zidovudine (ZDV) or ZDV + lamivudine (3TC) are recommended to prevent peripartum mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT). We evaluated the 6-week field efficacy of two more PMTCT drug combinations.

Design: An open-label intervention cohort in Abidjan.

Distribution of causes of maternal mortality during delivery and post-partum: results of an African multicentre hospital-based study.

Objective: To assess the maternal mortality ratio in maternity units of reference hospitals in large west African cities, and to describe the distribution of complications and causes of maternal deaths.

Study Design: Prospective descriptive study in twelve reference maternities located in three African countries (Benin, Ivory Coast, Senegal). Data (clinical findings at hospital entry, medical history, complications, type of surgery, vital status of the women at discharge) were collected from obstetrical and surgical files and from admission hospital registers.

15 Month follow up of African children following vaginal cleansing with benzalkonium chloride of their HIV infected mothers during late pregnancy and delivery.

Objectives: To study mother to child HIV-1 transmission (MTCT) and infant mortality following benzalkonium chloride (BC) disinfection.

Methods: A randomised, double blind phase II placebo controlled trial. Women testing positive for HIV-1 infection in prenatal care units in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, and Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, from November 1996 to April 1997 were eligible, with their informed consent.

Contraceptive use, protected sexual intercourse and incidence of pregnancies among African HIV-infected women. DITRAME ANRS 049 Project, Abidjan 1995-2000.

The aim of this paper is to describe the adherence of African HIV+ women to the counselling provided after announcement of the result of the HIV test during pregnancy, focusing on early weaning to reduce post-natal transmission, protected sexual intercourse to avoid sexual transmission, and contraceptive use to avoid unexpected pregnancies. In 1999-2000, a questionnaire on sexual and reproductive behaviours was administered to 149 HIV+ women followed in post-partum, informed and counselled in the ANRS 049 DITRAME project in Abidjan. Côte d'Ivoire.

[Cell culture for active Chlamydia trachomatis infection in a population of symptomatic women in Abidjan].

The object of our study has been to assess Chlamydia trachomatis prevalence among symptomatic women in Abidjan and to identify issues related to the use of cell culture methods in a tropical laboratory. 1522 women with vaginal discharge were enrolled in a cross sectional study. One endocervical swab was taken per woman and inoculated into cycloheximide treated Mac Coy cells.

Operational issues in preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, 1998-99.

Objective: To demonstrate the feasibility, from the public health standpoint, of preventing mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in Africa.

Methods: Voluntary counselling and HIV serotesting were routinely provided in four health centres in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, for six months in 1998-99. Peripartum treatment with zidovudine and alternatives to breastfeeding were provided free to HIV-infected women.

Safety and acceptability of vaginal disinfection with benzalkonium chloride in HIV infected pregnant women in west Africa: ANRS 049b phase II randomized, double blinded placebo controlled trial. DITRAME Study Group.

Objectives: To study the tolerance and acceptability in Africa of a perinatal intervention to prevent vertical HIV transmission using benzalkonium chloride disinfection.

Design: A randomized, double blinded phase II trial.

Setting: Prenatal care units in Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire) and Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso).

Genital mycoplasmas among pregnant women in Cóte d'Ivoire, West Africa: prevalence and risk factors.

A cross-sectional study was conducted among pregnant women in Côte d'Ivoire to assess the prevalence and the factors associated with mycoplasma colonization. A positive culture was found in 400 of 551 women (73%); Ureaplasma urealyticum was identified in 22%, Mycoplasma hominis in 20% and both microorganisms in 31%. Mycoplasma colonization was not associated with genital symptoms or signs.

[The costs of treating HIV-infected children in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, 1996-1997].

Little is known about the costs of treating HIV-infected children in Africa. However, this is one of the factors that must be taken into account when assessing the cost-effectiveness of strategies aimed at reducing the transmission of HIV from mother to child. The aim of this study was to estimate the direct costs of the treatment of African children born to HIV-infected mothers and the additional costs of treating those children who are themselves infected with the virus.

Abortion complications in Abidjan (Ivory Coast).

The aim of this study was to describe the various methods of abortion used by women admitted to an obstetrics department in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) for abortion complications. The study was retrospective, and was based on the medical files of all 472 women admitted for abortion complications during a 3-year period (1993-1995). The introduction of plant stems into the uterus, the use of certain instruments, use of vaginal preparations, and ingestion of plants were the most common abortion methods.

Cervical screening in Africa: discordant diagnosis in a double independent reading. DYSCER-CI Group.

Interobserver variation in the cytological diagnosis of cervical lesions poses a problem for public health screening programs. This study assessed the frequency of discordant diagnoses between two independent cytopathologists in the screening of African women. In Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, 2157 women were recruited from three outpatient gynecology clinics and screened for cervical abnormalities and genital and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections.

6-month efficacy, tolerance, and acceptability of a short regimen of oral zidovudine to reduce vertical transmission of HIV in breastfed children in Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso: a double-blind placebo-controlled multicentre trial. DITRAME Study Group. DIminution de la Transmission Mère-Enfant.

Background: Zidovudine reduces the rate of vertical transmission of HIV in non-breastfed populations. We assessed the acceptability, tolerance, and 6-month efficacy of a short regimen of oral zidovudine in African populations practising breastfeeding.

Methods: A randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial was carried out in public clinics of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, and Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso.

Vaginal douching: association with lower genital tract infections in African pregnant women.

Background And Objectives: Douching, a common practice, could further increase the risk of genital infections.

Goal Of This Study: To describe douching practices in pregnant women and to evaluate associations with lower genital tract infections.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

Impaired fertility in HIV-1-infected pregnant women: a clinic-based survey in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, 1997.

Objective: Differences in fertility among HIV-1-positive and HIV-negative women tested in prenatal clinics were suspected by routine data collection in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. This study was conducted on detailed fertility patterns among women at the same antenatal care centres, in order to assess these differences.

Method: The survey was carried out on 1201 consecutive women who agreed to be tested for HIV.

Attitude of pregnant women towards HIV testing in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire and Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. DITRAME Study Group (ANRS 049 Clinical Trial). Diminution de la Transmission Mère Enfant du VIH. Agence Nationale de Recherches sur le SIDA.

Objective: To evaluate the attitude of pregnant women towards HIV testing in two cities of West Africa: Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire and Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso.

Methods: In the context of a clinical trial to prevent HIV vertical transmission, HIV counselling and testing was offered systematically to women attending antenatal clinics. Informed consent was obtained and test results were given anonymously.

HIV-1 infection and reproductive history: a retrospective study among pregnant women, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, 1995-1996. Ditrame Project.

The aim of this paper is to determine the differences of fertility between HIV-1 infected and uninfected women in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, using data available in an observational study conducted in 1995 and 1996 in 2 antenatal care centres in the district of Yopougon, Abidjan, within an intervention programme to reduce mother-to-child HIV-1 transmission (DITRAME project, ANRS 049). Fertility indicators have been constructed from retrospective data on pregnancies and births, and univariate and multivariate analyses have been performed on these indicators and stratified by age groups to compare HIV-1 positive and HIV-negative populations. The main outcome measures were the number of pregnancies, the number of miscarriages, the risk of miscarriage and the proportion of primigravida.

[Attitudes and behavior of pregnant women towards HIV screening in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) in 1995 and 1996].

A research program into ways of reducing the maternal transmission of HIV (Project DITRAME, trial ANRS 049) was started in December 1994 in the maternity and child health clinics of the University Hospital and a community health center (Formation Sanitaire de Yopougon, FSU) in Abidjan. The first stage of this program was the introduction of voluntary HIV testing for pregnant women. During their first visit to the maternity clinic, all women were asked their age, how long they had been pregnant and where they were planning to give birth.