Sale of drugs and health care utilization in a health care district in Zaire.
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Health centres of Idjwi district (Zaire) have been self-financed through the selling of drugs since 1985. Medical care is expensive and its use is low (24 visits per year per 100 inhabitants). In 1989 the medical team tried to reduce the cost of visits by changing the prices of drugs and prescriptions. A limited control was set up to assess this intervention. The study showed that although prescribed drug costs were stabilized compared to inflation, there was no increase in the use of medical care. Moreover, the reduction of drug profit margins for health centres seriously affected the health care institution by causing a drop in income. Six months after the intervention the monthly accounts showed a deficit in 6 centres out of 8. The need for health care centres to be self-financing is a major limiting factor in the use of health care in Idjwi district. There are no easy solutions for health centre managers that satisfy both low-cost access to care and health care self-financing. Some minimal financial participation from the state is required. Only then can the concept of financing health care through the selling of drugs be operational. (+info)
Early acquisition of TT virus (TTV) in an area endemic for TTV infection.
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TT virus (TTV) is widely distributed, with high frequencies of viremia in South America, Central Africa, and Papua New Guinea. The incidence and timing of infection in children born in a rural area of the Democratic Republic of Congo was investigated. TTV viremia was detected in 61 (58%) of 105 women attending an antenatal clinic and in 36 (54%) of 68 infants. Most infants acquired the infection at >/=3 months postpartum. Surprisingly, TTV infection was detected in a large proportion of children with TTV-negative mothers (13 [43%] of 30). Nucleotide sequences of TTV-infected children were frequently epidemiologically unlinked to variants detected in the mother. These three aspects contrast with the maternal transmission of hepatitis G virus/GB virus C in this cohort and suggest an environmental source of TTV infection comparable to hepatitis A virus and other enterically transmitted infections. (+info)
How useful are anthropometric, clinical and dietary measurements of nutritional status as predictors of morbidity of young children in central Africa?
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OBJECTIVE: To identify useful predictors of morbidity of young children in central Africa. METHOD: Population-based follow-up study in Northern Kivu, Congo, of 842 children under two years of age who completed weekly follow-up interviews and health examinations during three months. Main outcome measures were crude and adjusted effects of summary measures of nutritional status on one-month cumulative incidence of malaria, respiratory illness, and diarrhoea. RESULTS: Anthropometric indicators appeared to perform badly in predicting morbidity. In contrast, non-anthropometric variables such as growth as judged by the caretaker, child's diet at the time of examination, and occurrence of disease in the month preceding the interval of observation were useful. CONCLUSIONS: In the context of the 'Sick Child Initiative', simple tests and diagnostic tools to improve quality of both prevention and cure in first-level facilities need to be identified. Focusing on non-anthropometric indicators should be encouraged to offer a comprehensive appraisal of health status to all children. (+info)
Typing of Salmonella enterica serotype paratyphi C isolates from various countries by plasmid profiles and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.
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Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of 61 Salmonella enterica serotype Paratyphi C isolates from six countries gave five distinct clusters. Twenty-four isolates from five countries were susceptible to 10 antimicrobials tested and gave similar restriction endonuclease digest patterns of the 38-MDa plasmid. In contrast, plasmid and PFGE profiles of 37 multidrug-resistant isolates from Zaire were different from those from other countries. (+info)
Re-emergence of monkeypox in Africa: a review of the past six years.
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Human monkeypox was first identified in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Extensive studies of this zoonotic infection in the 1970s and 1980s indicated a largely sporadic disease with a minority of cases resulting from person-to-person transmission, rarely beyond two generations. In August 1996, an unusually large outbreak of human monkeypox was reported, and cases continued through 1997 with peak incidence in August 1996, March 1997 and August 1997. Preliminary results from the field investigations in 1997 suggest a new epidemiological pattern where a majority of secondary cases result from person-to-person transmission, and a clinically milder disease. But there is preliminary laboratory evidence of a simultaneous outbreak of varicella in the same geographic region which will undoubtedly modify these preliminary results. Since smallpox was eradicated and vaccinia vaccination terminated in this region, the population of susceptible individuals has grown. The use of vaccination to protect the population at risk, however, must take into account HIV prevalence and the risk of generalized vaccinia when using vaccinia vaccine in populations where HIV is known to be present. (+info)
Ebola virus can be effectively neutralized by antibody produced in natural human infection.
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The activity of antibodies against filoviruses is poorly understood but has important consequences for vaccine design and passive prophylaxis. To investigate this activity, a panel of recombinant human monoclonal antibodies to Ebola virus antigens was isolated from phage display libraries constructed from RNA from donors who recovered from infection in the 1995 Ebola virus outbreak in Kikwit, Democratic Republic of Congo. Antibodies reactive with nucleoprotein (NP), envelope glycoprotein (GP), and secreted envelope glycoprotein (sGP) were characterized by immunofluorescence and radioimmunoprecipitation assays. Four antibodies reacting strongly with sGP and weakly with GP and two antibodies reacting with NP were not neutralizing. An antibody specific for GP neutralized Ebola virus to 50% at 0.4 microgram/ml as the recombinant Fab fragment and to 50% at 0.3 microgram/ml (90% at 2.6 microgram/ml) as the corresponding whole immunoglobulin G1 molecule. The studies indicate that neutralizing antibodies are produced in infection by Ebola virus although probably at a relatively low frequency. The neutralizing antibody may be useful in vaccine design and as a prophylactic agent against Ebola virus infection. (+info)
Growth of children according to maternal and child HIV, immunological and disease characteristics: a prospective cohort study in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
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BACKGROUND: Most HIV-infection in children occurs in sub-Saharan Africa where antiretroviral therapy is seldom available. This study compares the growth progression and retardation of HIV-infected and uninfected children in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). It estimates the risk for child growth retardation according to child and maternal immunological factors, severity of maternal and child illness, and maternal socioeconomic and marital status. METHODS: In a prospective cohort study of 258 children born to HIV seropositive mothers and 256 children of seronegative mothers in Kinshasa, Congo, the growth in length, weight, and weight-for-length of infected children (n = 68), uninfected children born to seropositive mothers (n = 190), and uninfected children born to uninfected mothers (n = 256) was compared. Serological, anthropometric and other clinical measures were collected monthly from 3-12 months and bi-monthly during the second year of life. Polymerase chain reaction for HIV was performed on bloods drawn at 2 days and 3 months post partum. Length-for-age, weight-for-age, and weight-for-length mean z-scores against National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reference data were calculated, and Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the risk of falling below -2.00 z-scores as a function of child and maternal immunological, clinical and sociodemographic variables. RESULTS: There was no difference in mean length-for-age at birth between HIV-infected (Group 1) children, uninfected children of infected mothers (Group 2) or Control children, but by 3 months old, HIV-infected children were shorter than both Group 2 and Controls. In weight-for-age and weight-for-length, Group 1 infants were lighter and more wasted at birth and onwards. Group 2 newborns were lighter than Controls at birth, but by three months they had caught up to Controls in both length and weight and remained the same as Controls thereafter. The odds of falling below -2.00 z-scores by 20 months for length, weight, and weight-for-length for HIV-infected children compared to uninfected children were 2.10, 2.84, and 2.56 respectively. Both HIV-infection and associated illnesses were factors associated with child stunting, underweight and wasting. The mother's age, socioeconomic status, presence of father, stage of illness and immune status had no detectable effect on the child's growth in the first two years of life. CONCLUSION: The HIV-infected children in Congo with no access to antiretroviral therapy were stunted, underweight, and wasted compared to same age uninfected children. Both HIV infection and HIV-associated signs and symptoms, not maternal immunological or socioeconomic circumstances, placed children at risk for growth retardation. (+info)