Background: HIV infection is endemic in Nigeria and is an important cause of infant mortality and morbidity. This study was undertaken to determine the sero-epidemiology of HIV among abandoned babies in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Methods: One hundred and forty (n = 140) consecutively recruited abandoned babies mean age 11.5 ± 24.1 weeks made up to 79 males and 61 females, referred to the HIV scree...

Sentinel herds and samples submitted by private equine practitioners were used to determine the sero-prevalence and sero-incidence of African horse sickness virus (AHSV) and equine encephalosis virus (EEV) in horse and donkey populations in the Highveld region of Zimbabwe. The sero-prevalence and sero-incidence of antibodies against these viruses were determined using the competitive enzyme-lin...

BACKGROUND There have been suggestions of an association between Chlamydia pneumoniae, chlamydial heat shock protein (Ch-hsp) 60 and human heat shock protein (h-hsp) 60 infection sero-status and development of secondary cardiovascular events. Patients with diabetes might be at higher risk since they are prone to infections. The objective of this study was to investigate prospectively the role o...

BACKGROUND HIV counselling and testing (HCT) services can play an important role in HIV prevention by encouraging safe sexual behaviours and linking HIV-infected clients to antiretroviral therapy (ART). However, regular repeat testing by high-risk HIV-negative individuals is important for timely initiation of ART as part of the 'treatment as prevention' approach. AIM To investigate HCT use du...

Serum samples from 51 apparently healthy breeding bulls were screened for bovine herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1) antibodies using an avidin-biotin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, revealing a sero-positive prevalence rate of 45.09%. Semen samples were then collected from 12 of the sero-positive and 12 of the sero-negative bulls and tested for BHV-1 antigen using both a virus isolation assay and a polym...

INTRODUCTION In sub-Saharan Africa where HIV/AIDS epidemic is predominantly generalized, majority of HIV infections occur among heterosexual couples. The majority of people do not know their sero-status. Thus, utilisation of Couples' HIV Counselling and Testing (CHCT) services remain to be critical in preventing new infections. The objective was to establish prevalence and predictors of HIV ser...

Liver disease epidemiology in sub-Saharan Africa has shifted as a result of HIV and the increased use of antiretroviral therapy leading to a need for updated data on common causes of liver disease. We retrospectively reviewed records from all hospitalized patients who had liver biopsy at a single hospital in South Africa from 2001 to 2009 and compared diagnosis by HIV status. During the period ...