Abstract/Overview We compared the age profiles of infection and specific antibody intensities in two communities with different transmission levels in East Africa to examine the contribution of humoral responses to human immunity to the vector-borne helminth Wuchereria bancrofti. The worm intensities were higher and exhibited a nonlinear age pattern in a high-transmission community, Masaika, in contrast to the low but linearly increasing age infection profile observed for a low-transmissi...
Abstract/Overview The epidemiology of malaria over small areas remains poorly understood, and this is particularly true for malaria during epidemics in highland areas of Africa, where transmission intensity is low and characterized by acute within and between year variations. We report an analysis of the spatial distribution of clinical malaria during an epidemic and investigate putative risk factors. Active case surveillance was undertaken in three schools in Nandi District, Western Keny...
Abstract/Overview Invasive cervical cancer (ICC) is the leading cause of cancer-related death among women in developing countries. Population-based cyto-logic screening and early treatment does reduce morbidity and mortality associated with cervical cancer. Some of the factors related to the success of such a program include awareness about cervical cancer and its screening. The objective of this study was to assess knowledge and practice about cervical cancer and Pap smear testing among ...
Abstract/Overview Malaria and HIV infections are both highly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, with HIV-infected patients being at higher risk of acquiring malaria. HIV-1 infection is known to impair the immune response and may increase the incidence of clinical malaria. However, a positive association between HIV-1 and malaria parasitaemia is still evolving. Equally, the effect of malaria on HIV-1 disease stage has not been well established, but when fever and parasitemia are high, malari...
Abstract/Overview A study of patterns and trends of malaria morbidity was conducted in Kericho district in Kenya western highlands prone to occurrences of malaria epidemics. Kericho district supports small scale and large scale tea farming, sugarcane, horticulture, maize, wheat, potatoes, beans and vegetables besides livestock keeping. Results has shown that malaria hospitalization cases grew by 111.13% and 109.52% per annum in 1988-2002 and 1998-2005 respectively. Hospital records in the...
Abstract/Overview Clinical immunity to malaria declines in the absence of repeated parasite exposure. However, little is known about how B cell populations and antigen-specific memory B cells change in the absence of P. falciparum infection. A successful indoor residual insecticide spraying campaign in a highland area of western Kenya, led to an absence of blood-stage P. falciparum infection between March 2007 and April 2008. We assessed memory B cell responses in 45 adults at the beginni...
Abstract/Overview Human co-infection with Plasmodium falciparum and helminths is ubiquitous throughout Africa, although its public health significance remains a topic for which there are many unknowns. In this review, we adopted an empirical approach to studying the geography and epidemiology of co-infection and associations between patterns of co-infection and hemoglobin in different age groups. Analysis highlights the extensive geographic overlap between P. falciparum and the major huma...
Abstract/Overview We conducted a longitudinal study among 827 pregnant women in Nyanza Province, western Kenya, to determine the effect of earth-eating on geohelminth reinfection after treatment. The women were recruited at a gestational age of 14–24 weeks (median: 17) and followed up to 6 months postpartum. The median age was 23 (range: 14–47) years, the median parity 2 (range: 0–11). After deworming with mebendazole (500 mg, single dose) of those found infected at 32 weeks gestati...
Abstract/Overview Malaria, a major cause of morbidity and mortality, is the most prevalent vector borne disease in Baringo County; a region which has varied house designs in arid and semi-arid areas. This study investigated the association between house structures and indoor-malaria vector abundance in Baringo County. The density of malaria vectors in houses with open eaves was higher than that for houses with closed eaves. Grass thatched roof houses had higher density of malaria vectors ...
Abstract/Overview Background HIV-1-related inflammation is associated with increased levels of biomarkers of vascular adhesion and endothelial activation, and may increase production of the inflammatory protein angiopoietin-2 (ANG-2), an adverse prognostic biomarker in severe systemic infection. We hypothesized that antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation would decrease endothelial activation, reducing plasma levels of ANG-2. Methods Antiretroviral-naïve Kenyan women with advanced HIV in...
Abstract/Overview Aims: Erythrocyte complement regulatory proteins, complement receptor 1 (CR1) and decay accelerating factor (CD55) protect red blood cells (RBCs) from complement mediated damage by controlling complement activation cascade and potentially protect RBCs from complement mediated damage that may occur when immune complexes are formed following malaria infection. Given the important role of RBCs in regulation of complement activation, we considered the competence of sickle ce...
Abstract/Overview Background: Cervical cancer, a common cause of death among women, is attributable to human papilloma virus (HPV). Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection can potentially alter the incidence of cervical cancer. Prophylactic HPV vaccines are a major advance against cervical cancer. Epidemiological research on HPV and cervical cancer is therefore justified. Objective: To determine the impact of HIV and HPV co-infection on the HPV genotype distribution and cervical lesi...
Abstract/Overview Cervical cancer is the second most common cause of cancer mortality among women worldwide (Franco et al, 2003). Epidemiological studies have shown a strong link between human papilloma virus (HPV) infection and the development of cervical cancer (Franco et al, carcinogenic process (Chan et al, 2005). Most HPV infections are transient and regress spontaneously and only a minority of women develops persistent infection that with time may evolve into cervical intraepithelia...
Abstract/Overview Background—Our goal in the present study was to investigate the prevalence and correlates of genital warts in a population of female sex workers in Mombasa, Kenya. Because of the high prevalence of HIV-1 in this population, we were particularly interested in the association between HIV-1 infection and genital warts. Methods—We conducted a cross-sectional study of the prevalence and correlates of genital warts among high-risk women in Mombasa, Kenya. Between 2001 and ...
Abstract/Overview Data on the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) types in cervical carcinoma in women with HIV are scarce but are essential to elucidate the influence of immunity on the carcinogenicity of different HPV types, and the potential impact of prophylactic HPV vaccines in populations with high HIV prevalence. We conducted a multicentre case–case study in Kenya and South Africa. During 2007–2009, frozen tissue biopsies from women with cervical carcinoma were tested for ...