Decline in prevalence of HIV-1 infection and syphilis among young women attending antenatal care clinics in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia: results from sentinel surveillance, 1995-2001

From 1995 to 2001, five rounds of sentinel surveillance were carried out for young women attending antenatal care clinics at four health centers in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, to monitor trends in the prevalence of HIV infection and syphilis. Serum samples were tested for antibodies to HIV (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blotting) and antibodies to Treponema pallidum (T. pallidum hemagglutination assay and rapid plasma reagin test). Prevalence ratios for an increase in one calendar year were estimated using log-binomial models. Between 1995 and 2001, the prevalence of HIV infection among young women (age range, 15-24 years) attending antenatal care clinics in inner city health centers declined from 24.2% to 15.1% (prevalence ratio for an increase in one calendar year, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.87-0.95). No change was observed for older age groups or in outer city health centers. The decline in the prevalence of active syphilis (T. pallidum hemagglutination assay and rapid plasma reagin testing positive for antibodies to T. pallidum) was more pronounced among and also restricted to the young age groups (age range, 15-24 years) in the inner city (from 7.6% in 1995 to 1.3% in 2001; prevalence ratio, 0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.59-0.80). The declining trends in the prevalence of HIV infection and syphilis among young women attending antenatal care clinics in the inner city are encouraging, but these findings require confirmation in future years and for other population groups.     

Serum IgE levels of tuberculosis patients in a tropical setup with high prevalence of HIV and intestinal parasitoses

Tuberculosis remains a major health problem worldwide in the era of HIV/AIDS. Co-infection with intestinal parasites has been suggested to worsen the outcome of infection by polarizing the immune response towards Th2. This study investigated serum IgE levels of 241 tuberculosis patients and compared the IgE profiles in the tuberculosis patients either with or without intestinal helminthic infection and/or HIV infection. The serum levels of IgE in tuberculosis patients before initiation of antimycobacterial chemotherapy were found to be 1722 +/- 1290 IU/ml (Mean +/- SD) in HIV seronegatives and 2366 +/- 1849 IU/ml in HIV seropositives. Further, the IgE level was significantly higher in patients coinfected with intestinal helminthes and HIV compared to those infected with helminthes or without coinfection (P < 0.05). Anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy significantly reduced serum IgE levels in HIV seronegative tuberculosis patients (P < 0.05). These findings might indicate an active role of therapy in shifting the immune response towards Th1 which is crucial for prognosis in tuberculosis patients.     

HIV and syphilis infection among elderly people in northwest Ethiopia

The prevalence of HIV has been continually increasing both in urban and rural Ethiopia. As yet, there has been no report on the magnitude of the problem in the elderly and rural population. This study assessed the seroprevalence of HIV and syphilis infection among 706 elderly and predominantly rural subjects in Northwest Ethiopia. Socio-demographic information was collected using a structured questionnaire. Venous blood was collected and the serostatus of HIV and that of syphilis were checked by ELISA and RPR, respectively. The total HIV-1 seroprevalence was 5% (35/706). Sex-specific prevalences of HIV for males and females were 5.6 and 4.7% respectively. A 4.2% difference in prevalence was observed by area of residence, which was statistically significant, P = 0.018. Only 6% of subjects positive for syphilis were also positive for HIV, while 4.9% of subjects negative for syphilis were positive for HIV. The data indicates that the prevalence of HIV among elderly people in Northwest Ethiopia was high. This indicates the importance of involving the elderly in HIV/AIDS prevention and control programs.     

Invitro antibacterial activity of crude preparation of myrtle (Myrtus communis) on common human pathogens

BACKGROUND: Myrtle "Addus" (Myrtus communis) has long history as a traditional medicine/or different infectious disease by many peoples of the world and in Ethiopia too. OBJECTIVE: To asses the antibacterial activity of crude myrtle on some common human pathogens. METHODS: This experimental study was conducted in Jimma University from February to April 2004. The antimicrobial activity/ minimum inhibitory and minimum bactericidal concentrations/ of the crude preparation of Myrtle on E. coli, S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, P. vulgaris, P. mirabilis, K. aerogenes, S. typhi & S. shigie was determined using agar dilution methods. RESULTS: The Minimum Bactericidal Concentration of Myrtle for most tested microorganisms was similar to the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration. i.e. 0.5 mg/ml. for S. aureus, 2.5 mg/ml for P. mirabilis and P. vulgaris, 15 mg/ ml for Klebssiela and S. typhi, 20 mg/ml for P. aeruginosa. And the MBC of Myrtle for the two relatively least sensitive species, Shigella and E. coli was 40 mg/ml and 45 mg/ml of media, respectively. The antibacterial activity of Myrtle was markedly increased by 18 times after it has been autoclaved at 121 degrees C for 15 minutes. CONCLUSION: The preliminary study supports its traditional claim of effective anti-infective and could initiate further study that may ultimately facilitate to use myrtle as an antimicrobial agent. However, pharmacologically standardization and clinical evaluation on the effect of myrtle is essential, before using it as antibacterial agent in vivo.