The escalating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB) epidemics have had a significant impact on public health services in resource-limited settings. The province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa is estimated to have one of the greatest TB/HIV coinfection burdens on the African continent, coupled with historically low TB treatment success rates. In May 2004, the South African ...

Blood films were examined from 154 wild and captive tortoises from four provinces of South Africa, including Gauteng, Kwazulu-Natal, North West and Western Cape. The five species ofchelonians studied were Chersina angulata (Schweigger), Kinixys belliana belliana (Gray), K. lobatsiana Power, K. natalensis Hewitt, and Stigmochelys pardalis (Bell). Two species of haemogregarines, previously report...

BACKGROUND Despite the development of context-specific guidelines, cryptococcal meningitis (CCM) remains a leading cause of death amongst HIV-infected patients. Results from clinical audits in routine practice have shown critical gaps in clinicians' adherence to recommendations regarding the management of CCM. AIM The aim of this study was to review the acute management of CCM at an urban dis...

OBJECTIVES To provide new information on the financial and economic costs of providing highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) to health care workers in public-sector hospital settings in KwaZulu-Natal. DESIGN An Excel model was used to estimate the cost of providing HAART to health care workers at two state-subsidised hospitals in Durban. Staff members were interviewed and protocols rev...

SETTING Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has emerged as a significant public health threat in South Africa. OBJECTIVE To describe treatment outcomes and determine risk factors associated with unfavorable outcomes among MDR-TB patients admitted to the provincial TB referral hospital in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. DESIGN Retrospective observational study of MDR-TB patients ...