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Biomedical subjects

P Kataaha

Publications and source records attributed to P Kataaha.

24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

HIV prevalence, attitudes and behaviour in clients of a confidential HIV testing and counselling centre in Uganda.

OBJECTIVE: To describe clients, operation and impact of an African public HIV testing and counselling centre. DESIGN AND SETTING: Analysis of samples from clients attending the AIDS Information Centre (AIC) in Kampala, Uganda in early 1991. SUBJECTS: HIV-1-positive and HIV-negative consecutive clients (250 of each), 86 consecutive couples, and 200 consecutive clients who were HIV-negative in 1990 and were attending for their repeat test. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: HIV seroprevalence rates, attitudes, behaviour and behaviour change. RESULTS: HIV-1 prevalence was 28% overall, 24% in men and 35% in women. Reasons for taking the HIV test were a planned marriage or a new relationship (27%; 84% in couples), to plan for the future (35%), distrust of sexual partner (14%) and illness or disease/death (not HIV-specific) of partner (20%). The majority of the reported intentions in response to a positive or a negative HIV test result were positive, demonstrating the ability to cope with this information. Of repeat clients, two (1%) had become HIV-1-positive. The majority of repeat clients reported one sexual partner only (67%) or sexual abstinence (25%). Compared with pre-test information from AIC clients attending for the first time, repeat clients reported casual sexual contacts less often (6 versus 25%) and, of those, the majority used condoms. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates the demand for and the feasibility of confidential HIV testing and counseling services in Uganda, and illustrates the value of these services in achieving behaviour changes. Such services should be considered an additional approach for the reduction of HIV transmission in Africa, especially in areas with high HIV seroprevalence rates.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1991

Non-isotopic polymerase chain reaction methods for the detection of HIV-1 in Ugandan mothers and infants.

Two non-isotopic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods were evaluated by testing blood from 41 HIV-1-seropositive and 16 HIV-1-seronegative Ugandan mothers and 56 of their children (aged 0.5-15.0 months). Amplification of HIV-1 sequences was performed in duplicate using a biotinylated primer pair to the gag region (SK 462-431) and nested primer pairs (JA 17-20) to the pol region of HIV-1. gag sequences were hybridized using a microtiter plate coated with the SK 102 probe followed by colorimetric detection using an avidin-horseradish peroxidase conjugate and tetramethylbenzidine/peroxide substrate. pol sequences were detected on agarose gel stained with ethidium bromide. Results of HIV-1 PCR analysis showed that 40 out of 41 (98%) seropositive mothers and 10 out of 29 (34%) seropositive children had detectable HIV-1 gag and pol sequences. None of the 16 seronegative mothers nor 27 seronegative or Western blot-indeterminate children had detectable HIV-1 sequences. Our results suggest that non-isotopic PCR methods are sensitive, specific, and potentially useful in the early diagnosis of HIV-1 infection in developed and developing countries.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Risk factors for the spread of AIDS in rural Africa: evidence from a comparative seroepidemiological survey of AIDS, hepatitis B and syphilis in southwestern Uganda.

Before commencing rational control programmes for AIDS in Africa it is desirable to determine the relative importance of heterosexual and various non-sexual modes of transmission. We investigated this by comparing the seroepidemiologies of AIDS, hepatitis B and syphilis at two rural hospitals in southwest Uganda. During August 1986, 3% of 357 outpatients, reflecting the age and sex composition of the general population, were anti-HIV positive. Anti-HIV seropositivity, both in the outpatients and among 36 suspected prostitutes and 14 suspected AIDS cases, was confined to individuals aged 20 or over. For men, seropositivity was associated with sexual contact with prostitutes (a risk factor for 61% of young men in the study). In the prostitute group, 25% were anti-HIV positive and 46% were positive on the Treponema pallidum haemagglutination (TPHA) test for syphilis. The risk factors for HIV, but not hepatitis B, were the same as for having a history of sexually transmitted disease (STD). However, there was, surprisingly, an association between a history of STD and seropositivity for hepatitis B virus but not for HIV infection. The geographical and age distributions of seropositivity for HIV and hepatitis B virus were also quite different. Finally, blood transfusions, scarification and exposure to mosquitoes (as assessed by a history of malaria) were not evident risk factors for either HIV or hepatitis B virus. AIDS in rural Africa seems to differ in its epidemiology from hepatitis B and appears to be spread predominantly by pre-existing patterns of heterosexual activity responsible for high rates of other sexually transmitted diseases.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗
PubMed1987

HIV infection through normal heterosexual contact in Uganda.

One hundred and fourteen household contacts of 23 patients with AIDS or suspected AIDS were examined for evidence of infection with HIV. In total 12 contacts had antibodies to the virus by a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), confirmed by Western blot. Ten of these seropositive contacts were the sexual partners of the index cases. Overall 71% of sexual partners (10:14) were seropositive. By contrast only 2:100 of the non-sexual contacts had evidence of infection. These were the daughter of an index case and her 2-year-old son who were seropositive but had their own independent risk factors. The data presented here support the hypothesis that a major route of transmission of HIV in an African population is through heterosexual contact and furthermore suggest that transmission by other means such as intimate non-sexual contact, insect vectors, or the use of non-sterile needles is much less important.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1985

Human monoclonal antibodies from patients with rheumatoid arthritis: cross reactions against cellular constituents.

Hybridization of peripheral blood lymphocytes from patients with rheumatoid arthritis has yielded 14 monoclonal antibodies which react with cultured human epithelial cells. Immunofluorescence staining identifies at last five different types of antibody. Solid phase immunosorbent assays show a variety of cross-reaction patterns with nucleic acids, proteoglycan, cardiolipin and plastic, confirming that the various antibodies react with epitopes which are at least slightly different. These conclusions are confirmed by SDS gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting on epithelial cell extracts. Similar antibodies previously found in association with lupus-like disease have been thought to be representative of the high antinuclear antibody response characteristic of lupus. Our data are more consistent with the hypothesis that all or many of these antibodies are part of the normal inflammatory response.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗