Prevalence and Factors Associated With Virological Treatment Failure Among Children and Adolescents on Antiretroviral Therapy Attending HIV/AIDS Care and Treatment Clinics in Dodoma Municipality, Central Tanzania

BACKGROUND

As the World Health Organization (WHO) and its joint partners such as USAIDS target achieving 90% sustained virological suppression among children and adolescents living with Human Immunodeficience Virus (HIV)/AIDS, it is imperative to elucidate the current prevalence and factors associated with virological treatment failure for formulation of appropriate strategies. This study was conducted determine the prevalence and factors associated with virological treatment failure among children and adolescents with HIV/AIDS on antiretroviral therapy (ART) attending HIV/AIDS care clinics in Dodoma, Central Tanzania.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study of children aged 1-19 years attending 3 HIV/AIDS care clinics in Dodoma (central Tanzania) from November 2018 to February 2019. Sociodemographic and clinical factors were documented, HIV viral load and CD4+ T lymphocytes were evaluated for children on ART for ≥6 months. The primary outcomes were the prevalence and factors associated with viralogic treatment failure.

RESULTS

Of 300 children enrolled, 102 (34%) had virological treatment failure. Poor adherence to ART (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 3.221; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.867-5.558; P = .032), nevirapine regimen (AOR = 3.185; 95% CI, 1.473-6.886; P ≤ .001), not using cotrimoxazole prophylaxis (AOR = 25.56; 95% CI, 3.15-27.55; P = .002) and nondisclosure of HIV status to others (AOR = 7.741; 95% CI, 2.351-25.489; P = .001) were independently associated with virological treatment failure.

CONCLUSIONS

Current prevalence of virological treatment failure among children and adolescents living with HIV on ART remain high. Factors such as ART adherence, nevirapine based regimen, HIV status disclosure to those caring for the child need to be addressed to achieve sustained virological suppression.

Adherence to standards of first-visit antenatal care among providers: A stratified analysis of Tanzanian facility-based survey for improving quality of antenatal care

INTRODUCTION

Despite the benefits of early antenatal care visits for early prevention, detection, and treatment of potential complications in pregnancy, a high level of provider adherence to first-visit antenatal care standards is needed. However, little information is available regarding provider adherence to antenatal care in Tanzania. This study was performed to assess provider adherence to first-visit antenatal care standards and to apply stratified analysis to identify associated factors in Tanzania.

METHODS

Data from the 2014-2015 Tanzania Service Provision Assessment Survey were used in this study. Provider adherence to first-visit antenatal care standards was measured using 10 domains: client history; aspects of prior pregnancies; danger signs of the current pregnancy; physical examination; routine tests; HIV testing and counseling; maintaining a healthy pregnancy; iron/folate supplements; tetanus toxoid vaccination, and preparation for delivery. A composite score was then created in which the highest quantile (corresponding to ≥60.5%) considered to provider adhering to first-visit antenatal care standards. Initially, a series of unadjusted logistic regression analyses according to the type of facility and managing authority were performed separately at each level (i.e., facility, provider, and client). Thereafter, all variables with P < 0.2 were fitted into the respective stratified multivariable logistic regression analysis using a 5% significance level.

RESULTS

A total of 1756 first-visit antenatal care consultations performed by 822 providers in 648 health facilities were analyzed. The overall median [Interquartile range, IQR] adherence to first-visit antenatal care was relatively low at 47.1% [35.7%-60.5%]. After adjusting for selected variables from each level in specific strata, at dispensary; female providers [AOR = 5.5; 95% CI, 1.8-16.4], at health centre; performance of quality assurance [AOR = 2.2; 95% CI, 1.3-3.9], at hospital; availability of routine tests [AOR = 2.5; 95% CI, 1.3-4.8] and basic medicine [AOR = 2.8; 95% CI, 1.4-5.7], at public facilities; availability of medicine [AOR = 1.8; 95% CI, 1.1-3.2] and receiving refresher training [AOR = 1.8; 95% CI, 1.1-3.1], and at private facility; receiving external fund from government [AOR = 3.0; 95% CI, 1.1-8.4] were significantly associated with better adherence to first-visit antenatal care standards.

CONCLUSIONS

The study highlighted the important factors, including the provision of refresher training, regular distribution of basic medicines, and diagnostics equipment which may influence provider adherence to first-visit ANC standards.

Association between HIV status and depressive symptoms among children and adolescents in the Southern Highlands Zone, Tanzania: A case-control study

BACKGROUND

Children and adolescents continue to have HIV/AIDS in southern Saharan Africa. Scaling up of HIV services has significantly improved access to ARV and consequently improved on morbidity and mortality related to HIV/AIDS including opportunistic infection. Despite the above efforts, non-communicable conditions including mental disorders such as depression have been observed to contribute to the burden of disabilities about which little is documented. This study, therefore, aimed to determine the magnitude of depressive symptoms and the associated factors among HIV-infected children and adolescents.

METHODS

The study was a matched case-control design involving 300 cases of HIV-infected children matched by age and sex against 600 uninfected controls. Systematic sampling technique was used to select the cases while multistage sampling technique was employed to identify villages/ streets purposive and sampling technique was employed to obtain participants from households.

RESULTS

The overall prevalence of depressive symptoms among the cohort of 900 participants was found to be 12.9%, with 27% of HIV-infected and 5.8% of HIV-uninfected children and adolescents screened positive for depressive symptoms. Multiple logistic regression revealed that being HIV-infected (AOR 1.96(1.11-3.45)), residing in a rural setting (AOR 0.61(0.39-0.96)) and history of childhood deprivation (AOR 4.76 (2.79-8.13)) were significantly associated with depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSION

HIV infected adolescents are more affected by depression compared to non-infected counterparts. Childhood deprivation was significantly associated with presence of depressive symptoms. Integration of mental health evaluation and treatment into the HIV care provided for adolescents can be beneficial. More studies to delineate factors associated with depressed adolescents with HIV may add value to the body of knowledge and overall improvement of care.

Preparedness of lower-level health facilities and the associated factors for the outpatient primary care of hypertension: Evidence from Tanzanian national survey

INTRODUCTION

Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing a rapid rise in the burden of non-communicable diseases in both urban and rural areas. Data on health system preparedness to manage hypertension and other non-communicable diseases remains scarce. This study aimed to assess the preparedness of lower-level health facilities for outpatient primary care of hypertension in Tanzania.

METHODS

This study used data from the 2014-2015 Tanzania Service Provision Assessment survey. The facility was considered as prepared for the outpatient primary care of hypertension if reported at least half (≥50%) of the items listed from each of the three domains (staff training and guideline, basic diagnostic equipment, and basic medicines) as identified by World Health Organization-Service Availability and Readiness Assessment manual. Data were analyzed using Stata 14. An unadjusted logistic regression model was used to assess the association between outcome and explanatory variables. All variables with a P value < 0.2 were fitted into the multiple logistic regression models using a 5% significance level.

RESULTS

Out of 725 health facilities involved in the current study, about 68% were public facilities and 73% located in rural settings. Only 28% of the assessed facilities were considered prepared for the outpatient primary care of hypertension. About 9% and 42% of the assessed facilities reported to have at least one trained staff and guidelines for hypertension respectively. In multivariate analysis, private facilities [AOR = 2.7, 95% CI; 1.2-6.1], urban location [AOR = 2.2, 95% CI; 1.2-4.2], health centers [AOR = 5.2, 95% CI; 3.1-8.7] and the performance of routine management meetings [AOR = 2.6, 95% CI; 1.1-5.9] were significantly associated with preparedness for the outpatient primary care of hypertension.

CONCLUSION

The primary healthcare system in Tanzania is not adequately equipped to cope with the increasing burden of hypertension and other non-communicable diseases. Rural location, public ownership, and absence of routine management meetings were associated with being not prepared. There is a need to strengthen the primary healthcare system in Tanzania for better management of chronic diseases and curb their rising impact on health outcomes.

Recurrent Huge Left Bartholin's Gland Abscess for One Year in a Teenager

Bartholin's gland abscess is the commonest worldwide reported abscess in gynaecological outpatient clinics; it has also been reported that Bartholin's gland abscess is three times more common in occurrences compared to Bartholin's gland cyst. It is more common in women who are at risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections; however, other causes of infection should be investigated to exclude other causes of disease. We present the case of an 18-year-old female patient, a teenager of the reproductive age group, with the recurrent development of huge Bartholin's gland abscess in a period of one year. The marsupialization surgical technique of repair was performed successfully. She was discharged home and she was scheduled to visit STI's clinic where she was receiving regular screening for STI's and she was also given health education regarding preventive measures for STI's.

Giant Condyloma Acuminatum of Vulva in an HIV-Infected Woman

First described in 1925, giant condyloma acuminatum also known as Buschke-Löwenstein tumor (BLT) is a benign, slow-growing, locally destructive cauliflower-like lesion usually in the genital region. The disease is usually locally aggressive and destructive with a potential for malignant transformation. The causative organism is human papilloma virus. The most common risk factor is immunosuppression with HIV; however, any other cause of immunodeficiency can be a predisposing factor. We present a case of 33-year-old female patient, a known HIV patient on antiretroviral therapy for ten months. She presented with seven-month history of an abnormal growth in the genitalia that was progressive accompanied with foul smelling yellowish discharge and friable. Surgical excision was performed successfully. Pap smear of the excised tissue was negative. Despite being a rare condition, giant condyloma acuminatum is relatively common in HIV-infected patients.

Accuracy of WHO immunological criteria in identifying virological failure among HIV-infected adults on First line antiretroviral therapy in Mwanza, North-western Tanzania

Background

Optimal HIV treatment monitoring remains a big challenge in resource limited settings. Guidelines recommend the use of clinical and immunological criteria in resource limited settings due to unavailability of viral load monitoring; however their utility is questionable. This study aimed at assessing the accuracy of immunological criteria in detecting treatment failure among HIV infected Tanzanian adults receiving first line ART.

Methods

A clinic based cross sectional study was conducted between February and July 2011 at Bugando Medical centre (BMC) HIV care and treatment clinic (CTC) involving HIV infected patients aged 18 years and above, receiving first line ART; followed up for at least 1 year. Viral load was tested for every enrolled patient. Standard WHO criteria were used to define immunological failure. Virological failure was defined as one viral load measurement of >5000 copies/ml and was used as a gold standard. A 2 × 2 table was used to assess the accuracy of immunological criteria in detecting treatment failure.

Results

A total of 274 HIV-infected adults were enrolled into the study. Out of these, 65.7% were females, the median age was 39 years (IQR 33–45), the median BMI 21.9 kg/m² (IQR 19.7–24.0). Out of the 274 study participants 156 (56.9%) had immunological failure. Only 60 of the study participants (21.9%) had viral load >5000. Only 42 patients (70%) were found to have both immunological failure and virological failure. The sensitivity of immunological criteria in detecting treatment failure was 70%, specificity 46.7%, positive predictive and negative predictive values of 26.9 and 84.7% respectively.

Conclusion

WHO immunological criteria have low sensitivity and positive predictive value for detecting treatment failure. Relying on CD4 counts for treatment monitoring would therefore lead to misclassifications of treatment failure that could result into unnecessary or delayed switch to second line ART. Access to viral load monitoring is important to avoid these misclassifications.

Abdominal epilepsy, an uncommon cause of chronic and recurrent abdominal pain: a case report

Abdominal epilepsy is an uncommon cause of paroxysmal abdominal pain. It is relatively common in children, but very rare in adults. We report a case of 38-year-old, who reported with recurrent abdominal pain for 2 years. Electroencephalography confirmed the diagnosis; he responded well to carbamazepine and remains symptom-free on follow-up.

New Biomedical Technologies and Strategies for Prevention of HIV and Other Sexually Transmitted Infections

Sexually transmitted infections remain to be of public health concern in many developing countries. Their control is important, considering the high incidence of acute infections, complications and sequelae, and their socioeconomic impact. This article discusses the new biomedical technologies and strategies for the prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

Prevalence of chronic kidney disease in diabetic adult out-patients in Tanzania

Despite the increasing number of patients with Diabetes Mellitus in sub-Saharan Africa, the magnitude of chronic kidney disease among diabetics has not been well established. A study done by Janmohamed et al. found chronic kidney disease in 83.7 % of diabetics which is relatively higher than the prevalence reported elsewhere. However this study was conducted in schistosoma endemic area along the shores of Lake Victoria. Schistosomiasis has been reported to cause a range of renal diseases. Interpretation of these findings should therefore take into account the possibility of schistosomiasis as a possible confounder.

Gestational diabetes mellitus: challenges in diagnosis and management

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a well-characterized disease affecting a significant population of pregnant women worldwide. It has been widely linked to undue weight gain associated with factors such as diet, obesity, family history, and ethnicity. Poorly controlled GDM results in maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Improved outcomes therefore rely on early diagnosis and tight glycaemic control. While straightforward protocols exist for screening and management of diabetes mellitus in the general population, management of GDM remains controversial with conflicting guidelines and treatment protocols. This review highlights the diagnostic and management options for GDM in light of recent advances in care.

HIV drug resistance mutations following poor adherence in HIV-infected patient: a case report

Acquired HIV drug resistance following poor adherence is common. We report a case of HIV-infected patient with poor CD4 gain and self reported poor adherence. Investigations revealed high viral load and resistance to NRTIs and NNRTIs with sensitivity to boosted PIs. HIVDR mutations create treatment challenges in resource limited settings.