Browsing by Author "Fiorillo, Suzanne P"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Open Access Changes in HIV risk behavior and seroincidence among clients presenting for repeat HIV counseling and testing in Moshi, Tanzania.(AIDS Care, 2012) Fiorillo, Suzanne P; Landman, Keren Z; Tribble, Alison C; Mtalo, Antipas; Itemba, Dafrosa K; Ostermann, Jan; Thielman, Nathan M; Crump, John AWhile HIV counseling and testing (HCT) has been considered an HIV preventive measure in Africa, data are limited describing behavior changes following HCT. This study evaluated behavior changes and estimated HIV seroincidence rate among returning HCT clients. Repeat and one-time testing clients receiving HCT services in Moshi, Tanzania were identified. Information about sociodemographic characteristics, HIV-related behaviors and testing reasons were collected, along with HIV serostatus. Six thousand seven hundred and twenty-seven clients presented at least once for HCT; 1235 (18.4%) were HIV seropositive, median age was 29.7 years and 3712 (55.3%) were women. 1382 repeat and 4272 one-time testers were identified. Repeat testers were more likely to be male, older, married, or widowed, and testing because of unfaithful partner or new sexual partner. One-time testers were more likely to be students and testing due to illness. At second test, repeat testers were more likely to report that partners had received HIV testing, not have concurrent partners, not suspect partners have HIV, and have partners who did not have other partners. Clients who intended to change behaviors after the first test were more likely to report having changed behaviors by remaining abstinent (OR 2.58; p<0.0001) or using condoms (OR 2.00; p=0.006) at the second test. HIV seroincidence rate was 1.49 cases/100 person-years (PY). Clients presenting for repeat HCT reported some reduction of risky behavior and improved knowledge of sexual practices and HIV serostatus of their partners. Promoting behavior change through HCT should continue to be a focus of HIV prevention efforts in sub-Saharan Africa.Item Open Access Establishment of biochemistry reference values for healthy Tanzanian infants, children and adolescents in Kilimanjaro Region.(Trop Med Int Health, 2015-11) Buchanan, Ann M; Fiorillo, Suzanne P; Omondi, Michael W; Cunningham, Coleen K; Crump, John AOBJECTIVE: To establish common biochemistry reference intervals for Tanzanian infants, children and adolescents living in the Kilimanjaro Region. METHODS: We recruited healthy, HIV-uninfected Tanzanian infants, children and youth between the ages of 1 month and 17 years from local schools and clinics to participate in this study. Only afebrile children without signs of physical or chronic illness were enrolled. Nonparametric methods were used to determine 95% reference limits and their 90% confidence intervals, with outliers removed by the Tukey method. RESULTS: A total of 619 healthy infants, children and adolescents were enrolled into the study. Twenty-three biochemistry parameters were measured. Compared to US reference intervals, several of the biochemistry parameters showed notable differences, namely alkaline phosphatase, phosphorus, amylase and lipase. Comparing our data to the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) Division of AIDS (DAIDS) grading criteria for classification of adverse events, we found that for selected parameters, up to 15% of infants or children in certain age groups would have been categorised as having an adverse event as defined by DAIDS. CONCLUSIONS: Our study further confirms the need to use locally established reference intervals to define reference laboratory parameters among children in Africa, rather than relying on those derived from US or European populations. To our knowledge, this study provides the first set of locally validated biochemistry reference ranges for a paediatric population in Tanzania.