Médecine tropicale : revue du Corps de santé colonial
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The AIDS pandemia in developing countries forces forth the question of women's rights in Africa and underscores their extreme physical and sociocultural vulnerability. Experience gained during a program designed to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV in the Ivory Coast highlights the socially imposed and therefore intricate nature of differences between men and women and of the resulting relationships. ⋯ To prevent the risk of outcasting, exclusion, and fragilization, gender must be given greater emphasis in planning future programs. Careful consideration must be devoted to the special sociocultural factors that affect women in Africa.
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At the present time, cholera epidemics have become annual, even seasonal, events in Chad. This review of data obtained from a Division of the Sanitation Information System in Chad was carried out to determine the epidemiological profile and natural course of cholera in Chad and to propose preventive measures within the country's means. The main findings were that cholera epidemics start at the junction between the dry and rainy season (March to June), that they last for six months, and that peak incidence occurs 4 to 6 weeks after the first reported cases. ⋯ A major implication of this study is that decentralized epidemiological surveillance should be set up with monitoring units located around endemic sites. Mortality could probably be lowered by better patient care at the beginning of the epidemic. Improvements in public hygiene, waste disposal, and water purification are needed.
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Pellagra is a systemic disorder caused by severe niacin deficiency. While uncommon in Europe and North America, pellagra and pellagra-like erythema are frequently encountered in undernourished adults in poor African countries. The purpose of this three-year prospective study was to determine the prevalence of HIV infection in patients with pellagra. ⋯ The principal causes of pellagra were malnutrition (n = 30), alcoholism (n = 15), and combined malnutrition and alcoholism (n = 60). The findings of this study suggest that the incidence of HIV infection in patients with pellagra and pellagra-like erythema is low, i.e., not higher than in the general population. This study also confirms previous etiologic and epidemiological data concerning pellagra in poor countries, i.e., the preponderant role of nutritional deficiency.