Predictors and Barriers to Condom Use in the African Cohort Study

Consistent condom use is an inexpensive and efficacious HIV prevention strategy. Understanding factors associated with condom use and barriers to use can inform strategies to increase condom uptake. The ongoing African Cohort Study prospectively enrolls adults at 12 clinical sites in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Nigeria. At enrollment, participants are asked about condom use at last sex with a regular partner. Robust Poisson regression models were used to evaluate predictors of self-reported condom use. Participants who reported not using condoms were asked to provide reasons. From January 2013 to September 2019, 2482 participants reported having at least one regular sexual partner in the preceding 6 months. Of those, 1577 (63.5%) reported using a condom at last sex. Condom use was more common among older participants, males, HIV-infected participants, and those with an HIV-infected partner. Married participants, those with a partner of unknown HIV status, and those reporting alcohol use were less likely to report condom use at last sex. Condom use at last sex also varied significantly by clinical site. Partner disapproval or refusal to use a condom was a consistent driver of disparities in condom use among participants who were HIV infected, female, and aged 18-24 years. Effective HIV prevention programs should integrate condom education with the tools necessary to negotiate condom use with regular partners.

Disseminated aspergillus fumigatus infection: case report

A case of disseminated aspergillus fumigatus infection is reported in a 43 year old Ugandan female with no known immune system disorder(not neutropenic and HIV-1 sero negative). She presented with multiple cutaneous ulcers, recurrent empyema thoracis, a past history of intra-abdominal abscess and bowel infarction. Empirical treatment for tuberculosis was previously given without improvement. A diagnosis of aspergillus fumigatus based on a combination of tissue wet potassium hydroxide preparation, fungal culture and tissue histologic typing was made. Despite antifungal therapy with intravenous amphotericin B infusion in 5% dextrose, after a normal baseline renal function test, the patient died in the second week of admission. Autopsy showed disseminated aspergillosis involving the pleural space, pericardium, spleen, and meningitis in addition to the cutaneous sites. Disseminated aspergillus fumigatus infection in a non-immunocompromised is rare antemortem diagnosis. This case highlights the difficulty in making a diagnosis in the face of many endemic conditions with similar presentation.

Tuberculous lymphadenitis associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Uganda

Sixteen adults presented with lymphadenopathy which was tuberculous on biopsy; they were all seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1), but none had the clinical criteria of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The biopsy specimen showed caseating tuberculosis, with scanty or no visible acid fast bacilli in seven cases; the remaining nine had a poor cellular reactivity with numerous bacilli. Antituberculous chemotherapy for two months reduced the lymphadenopathy. Two patients subsequently developed AIDS. Mycobacterial cultures were not performed, but the infection was almost certainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The space-time clustering of tuberculous lymphadenitis now seen in Kampala, and the unusual non-reactive histopathology, are typical of the impairment of cellular immunity induced by HIV infection.