Visual fixation stability in older adults

Visual fixation of a small, stationary target was measured in 12 young observers (mean age = 22 yr) and in 12 older observers (mean age = 70 yr). The two groups' fixation behavior did not differ on various dimensions of fixation stability: mean fixation area, intra-subject variability, or changes in fixation over successive test periods. Connections between these results and age-related changes in the oculomotor system are discussed.     

Malaria and HIV co-infection in Hadya Zone, southern Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Malaria and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are the major priority medical challenges currently facing sub-Saharan Africa, and yet little has been known on the clinical and public health implications of their co-infections. OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of malaria and HIV co-infections and to describe the clinical manifestations of malaria in HIV-positive and negative malaria patients. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2003 through January 2004 in three health facilities located in Hadya Zone, Southern Ethiopia. A total of 337 microscopically confirmed Plasmodium falciparum malaria patients in the age group of 15-34 years were included in the study. Anonymous HIV testing was done on the blood samples of the patients using a single enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. RESULTS: The HIV serostatus assessment revealed that 14 (4.2%) of the P. falciparum patients were seropositive for a single ELISA HIV test. No socio-demographic difference was observed between HIV positive and HIV negative malaria patients. The proportion of HIV-positives (71.4%) among patients who reported two or more malaria attacks during the last year was higher than those who only reported the current attack (28.6%). However, all patients with signs of cerebral malaria and prostration were negative for HIV test. The frequently reported symptoms of severe malaria included cerebral manifestation (76.7%), persistent vomniting (35.3%), dark urine (21.6%), inability to eat or drink (18.0%), and prostration (16.8%). Pallor (44.8%) and splenomegally (19.9%) were the most frequently detected physicalfindings. CONCLUSIONS: The HIV prevalence among malaria patients was not different from HIV prevalence in the general population. Further studies with carefully designed methodologies are recommended     

Factors determining acceptance of voluntary HIV counseling and testing among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at army hospitals in Addis Ababa

BACKGROUND: Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) is by far the largest spurce of HIV infection in children below the age of 15 years. For many years little was known about preventing transmission of HIV infection from mother to child. Recently however, many interventions are available to reduce mother to child transmission, such as anti retroviral drug and avoidance of breastfeeding. For women to take advantage of measures to reduce transmission, they need to know their HIV status. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to identify factors determining acceptance of voluntary HIV testing among pregnant women at army hospitals in Addis Ababa. METHODS: A case control study was conducted in 88 acceptors and 176 non-acceptors of VCT using structured pre tested questionnaire from December 2004 to January 2005, at army hospitals in Addis Ababa. RESULTS: Among socio-demographic factors the odds of VCT acceptance was higher among better educated, married, with higher income women and among women whose husbands live at the same house. Women who had better knowledge of VCT and MTCT and women with frequent ANC visit had significantly higher VCT acceptance than their counterparts. Adjusted for socio-demographic and some reproductive characteristics VCT acceptance was significantly associated with knowledge about MTCT (OR = 7.34, 95% CI = 3.44, 15.67), previous VCT experience (OR = 2.51, 95% CI = 1.03, 6.17) and husbands residence (at the same house) (OR= 4.97, 95% CI = 2.15, 11.46). CONCLUSION: Education of the mother, knowledge of MTCT and VCT and partner participation were important factors of VCT acceptance. The study gives useful information to health care providers to introduce measures that could improve the utilization of antenatal HIV testing.     

A case-control study on determinants of rickets

A case-control study on rickets was performed on 156 cases and 307 controls admitted to Birla pediatric wards, Yekatit 12 Hospital. The following factors were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with diagnosis of rickets in univariate analysis: male gender, being a twin, abnormal birth weight, malnutrition, higher birth order, higher number of siblings, having a caretaker who is not the mother, lower education of the caretaker, having a caretaker who is not housewife, and with protective effect, exposure to sunshine (in number of days per week, duration of daily exposure in minutes, and not wearing clothes during exposure). In multivariate analysis, the following factors remained independently associated with diagnosis of rickets in children: being a twin (OR = 5.86, 95% CI = 1.40-24.50), history of high birth weight (OR = 8.94, 95% CI = 2.30-34.70), moderate and severe malnutrition (OR = 5.64, 95% CI = 2.30-13.80 for severe malnutrition when compared to normal weight), having the grand mother as caretaker (OR = 19.80, 95% CI = 3.70-104.70), and with protective effect, exposure to sunshine (OR associated with an increase of one day of exposure per week = 0.65, 95% CI 0.55-0.77; OR associated with daily exposure of more than 30 minutes, when compared to less than 15 minutes = 0.24, 95% CI = 0.09-0.64; and OR associated with being nude while exposed to sunshine = 0.32, 95% CI = 0.14-0.73). There was no significant difference between cases and controls in marital status or religion of the caretakers.     

Detection of measles specific IgG in oral fluid using an FITC/anti-FITC IgG capture enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (GACELISA)

An IgG antibody capture enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (GACELISA) for the detection of measles specific IgG in oral fluid was developed using an FITC/anti-FITC amplification system. The GACELISA was evaluated by testing paired oral fluid and serum samples from 787 subjects in an epidemiological study of measles in rural Ethiopia. Oral fluids were tested by GACELISA and corresponding serum samples by a sensitive indirect ELISA for measles IgG (Behring Enzygnost). By comparison with the serum measles IgG assay, the oral fluid GACELISA had a sensitivity of 97.4% (95% confidence intervals: 95.9, 98.2) and a specificity of 90.0% (81.9, 94.3), with no significant differences observed by age group. Total IgG concentrations were measured on a subset of 160 oral fluids by an in-house ELISA. This showed that false negative GACELISA results tended to occur in samples with low concentrations of total IgG, although the trend was not statistically significant. It is concluded that the overall performance of the GACELISA was satisfactory, showing close agreement to the serum ELISA, and has potential to serve as an easily transferable tool for large scale epidemiological studies as required for the World Health Organisation's programme for the global control of measles.     

Improving sensitivity of oral fluid testing in IgG prevalence studies: application of mixture models to a rubella antibody survey

A method for the analysis of age-stratified antibody prevalence surveys is applied to a previously reported survey of antibody to rubella virus using oral fluid samples in which the sensitivity of the assay used was shown to be compromised. The age-specific distribution of the quantitative results of antibody tests using oral fluids is modelled as a mixture of strong positive, weak positive and negative components. This yields maximum likelihood estimates of the prevalence at each age and demonstrates that, when used in conjunction with mixture modelling techniques, the results of antibody prevalence studies using oral fluids accurately reflect those obtained using sera.