University of Zimbabwe

About: University of Zimbabwe is a education organization based out in Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The organization has 4378 authors who have published 6800 publications receiving 160720 citations. The organization is also known as: UZ & University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

Clinical and chest radiographic features of tuberculosis associated with human immunodeficiency virus in Zimbabwe.

Abstract: In the developing world, the diagnosis of tuberculosis is dependent on clinical and radiologic features as culture facilities are not readily available. It has been reported that tuberculosis in HIV-positive persons can present with atypical clinical and radiographic features. The object of this study was to examine how often atypical features occur in HIV-positive compared with HIV-negative persons and how these findings correspond to sputum-smear findings. Detailed demographic, clinical, and chest radiographic features of tuberculosis were assessed in 202 HIV-positive adults and 220 HIV-negative patients admitted consecutively. Using univariate analysis, several of these features were found to be significantly associated with being HIV-positive, but after multiple regression analysis only, age group (15 to 42 yr), a negative tuberculin response, intrathoracic lymphadenopathy, and lack of cavitation but not sputum-smear status remained significant.

A systematic and meta-analysis review on the diagnostic accuracy of antibodies in the serological diagnosis of COVID-19.

Abstract: Serological testing based on different antibody types are an alternative method being used to diagnose SARS-CoV-2 and has the potential of having higher diagnostic accuracy compared to the current gold standard rRT-PCR. Therefore, the objective of this review was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of IgG and IgM based point-of-care (POC) lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA), chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay (CLIA), fluorescence enzyme-linked immunoassay (FIA) and ELISA systems that detect SARS-CoV-2 antigens. A systematic literature search was carried out in PubMed, Medline complete and MedRxiv. Studies evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of serological assays for SARS-CoV-2 were eligible. Study selection and data-extraction were performed by two authors independently. QUADAS-2 checklist tool was used to assess the quality of the studies. The bivariate model and the hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic curve model were performed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the serological tests. Subgroup meta-analysis was performed to explore the heterogeneity. The pooled sensitivity for IgG (n = 17), IgM (n = 16) and IgG-IgM (n = 24) based LFIA tests were 0.5856, 0.4637 and 0.6886, respectively compared to rRT-PCR method. The pooled sensitivity for IgG (n = 9) and IgM (n = 10) based CLIA tests were 0.9311 and 0.8516, respectively compared to rRT-PCR. The pooled sensitivity the IgG (n = 10), IgM (n = 11) and IgG-IgM (n = 5) based ELISA tests were 0.8292, 0.8388 and 0.8531 respectively compared to rRT-PCR. All tests displayed high specificities ranging from 0.9693 to 0.9991. Amongst the evaluated tests, IgG based CLIA expressed the highest sensitivity signifying its accurate detection of the largest proportion of infections identified by rRT-PCR. ELISA and CLIA tests performed better in terms of sensitivity compared to LFIA. IgG based tests performed better compared to IgM except for the ELISA. We report that IgG-IgM based ELISA tests have the best overall diagnostic test accuracy. Moreover, irrespective of the method, a combined IgG/IgM test seems to be a better choice in terms of sensitivity than measuring either antibody type independently. Given the poor performances of the current LFIA devices, there is a need for more research on the development of highly sensitivity and specific POC LFIA that are adequate for most individual patient applications and attractive for large sero-prevalence studies. PROSPERO CRD42020179112

Prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis and HIV in females living in a rural community of Zimbabwe: does age matter?

Abstract: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 544 women living in Mupfure rural area of Zimbabwe to determine whether infection with urinary schistosomiasis is associated with HIV infection. Schistosoma haematobium infection was examined in urine samples and HIV infection was determined in sera. The prevalence of S. haematobium infection was highest (60%) in women below 20 years of age and declined to 29% in the oldest age group (test for trends, P<0.001). Overall, women infected with urinary schistosomiasis had an HIV prevalence of 33.3%, whilst women without urinary schistosomiasis had an HIV prevalence of 25.6% (chi(2), P=0.053). Women above the age of 35 years and infected with urinary schistosomiasis had a significantly higher HIV prevalence (37.5%) than those without urinary schistosomiasis (16.8%; chi(2), P<0.001).

Assessing the Role of Climate Change in Malaria Transmission in Africa

Abstract: The sensitivity of vector borne diseases like malaria to climate continues to raise considerable concern over the implications of climate change on future disease dynamics. The problem of malaria vectors shifting from their traditional locations to invade new zones is of important concern. A mathematical model incorporating rainfall and temperature is constructed to study the transmission dynamics of malaria. The reproduction number obtained is applied to gridded temperature and rainfall datasets for baseline climate and future climate with aid of GIS. As a result of climate change, malaria burden is likely to increase in the tropics, the highland regions, and East Africa and along the northern limit of falciparum malaria. Falciparum malaria will spread into the African highlands; however it is likely to die out at the southern limit of the disease.

HIV seroprevalence and its associations with the other reproductive tract infections in asymptomatic women in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Abstract: The objective was to determine the magnitude of HIV as well as the associations between HIV seropositivity with reproductive tract infections (RTIs) among healthy women in Harare, Zimbabwe. In a cross-sectional study, 393 informed consenting women aged 15-49 years, attending 2 primary healthcare clinics, were interviewed and screened for HIV and RTIs. HIV seroprevalence was 29.3%. Seropositivity was significantly associated with bacterial vaginosis, syphilis, gonorrhoea and/or Chlamydia trachomatis infection, warts and genital ulcers. Risk factors for HIV were absence of lactobacilli in vaginal fluid, vaginal pH >4.5, age >20 years, being unmarried, having had more than one lifetime sexual partner, having used a condom at least once in their lifetime, having experienced an infant mortality, and a partner who was non-monogamous or a frequent traveller. In view of the very high seroprevalence and concomitant RTIs in this population, we recommend promotion of women-controlled prevention methods along with pr...