Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH
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Trop. Med. Int. Health · Sep 2013
Use of the Xpert(®) MTB/RIF assay for diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis comorbidity and multidrug-resistant TB in obstetrics and gynaecology inpatient wards at the University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia.
In high-tuberculosis (TB)-endemic countries, comorbidity of pulmonary TB in hospitalised patients with non-communicable diseases is well documented. In this study, we evaluated the use of the Xpert(®) MTB/RIF assay for the detection of concomitant pulmonary TB in patients admitted to the University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia, with a primary obstetric or gynaecological condition. ⋯ As an alternative to sputum microscopy, the Xpert(®) MTB/RIF assay provides a sensitive, specific and rapid method for the diagnosis of pulmonary TB in obstetric or gynaecological inpatients. Pulmonary TB is an important cause of concomitant comorbidity to the obstetric or gynaecological condition necessitating admission. TB and HIV comorbidities with other communicable and non-communicable diseases were also common. More proactive screening for TB comorbidity is required in obstetric and gynaecological wards.
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Trop. Med. Int. Health · Sep 2013
Early-onset neonatal sepsis in Dhaka, Bangladesh: risk associated with maternal bacterial colonisation and chorioamnionitis.
To estimate the risk of early-onset neonatal sepsis among newborns of mothers with chorioamnionitis and/or bacterial colonisation in Dhaka. ⋯ Newborns born to mothers with colonisation or chorioamnionitis developed sepsis faster and were at higher risk of developing sepsis in Dhaka.
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Trop. Med. Int. Health · Sep 2013
Cryptococcal antigen prevalence in HIV-infected Tanzanians: a cross-sectional study and evaluation of a point-of-care lateral flow assay.
Cryptococcal antigen (CRAG) screening at antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation and pre-emptive antifungal treatment for those testing positive could prevent many cases of cryptococcal meningitis (CM). To investigate whether CRAG screening would be feasible in Tanzania, we conducted a cross-sectional study measuring CRAG prevalence in ART clinic patients and comparing the novel lateral flow assay (LFA) with the cryptococcal latex agglutination (LA) test. ⋯ Five percentage of ART clinic patients with CD4 cell counts ≤100 cells/µL in northern Tanzania had asymptomatic cryptococcal antigenaemia, suggesting that CRAG screening would be worthwhile in the Tanzanian ART programme. The LFA is a reliable, cheap and practical alternative to LA for detection of CRAG.