Category Archives: Co-infections
Burden of tuberculosis in underserved populations in South Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Identifying case-finding strategies to reduce tuberculosis (TB) incidence in high-burden countries requires better knowledge of the disease burden in key contributing populations and settings. To inform South Africa’s National Tuberculosis...
Innovative pre-exposure prophylaxis interventions among adolescent girls and young women during COVID-19 lockdown period in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review
Adolescent girls and young women are key, and priority populations impacted by a higher risk of acquiring human immunodeficiency virus. In 2015, pre-exposure prophylaxis was introduced as a biomedical human...
Respiratory syncytial virus among people living with HIV: Is there a case for rolling out prophylaxis? A viewpoint based on a systematic review
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is responsible for a considerable burden of respiratory disease among children and older adults. Several prophylactic strategies have recently been introduced. We review the available evidence...
High rates of Treponema pallidum, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, or Trichomonas vaginalis co-infection in people with HIV: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Purpose: People living with HIV (PWH) experience a disproportionate burden of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), leading to more severe health outcomes and increasing the risk of HIV transmission. The presence of...
Doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis for bacterial sexually transmitted infections: The current landscape and future directions
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The incidence of bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STI) continues to rise particularly among men who have sex with men (MSM). Doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (doxy-PEP) has emerged as...
Exploring facilitators and barriers to STD/STI/HIV self-testing among college students in the United States: A scoping review
Background: HIV affects 1.2 million Americans, with 20% of new diagnoses being 13 to 24-year-olds. Young adult college students are more likely than the general population of 18 to 24-year-olds in...
A systematic review and meta-analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis: Lessons for future public health crises
BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization is committed to strengthening access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention and its integration into primary care services. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted...
Overview of hepatitis B vaccine non-response and associated B cell amnesia: A scoping review
BACKGROUND: The advent of the hepatitis B vaccine has achieved tremendous success in eradicating and reducing the burden of hepatitis B infection, which is the main culprit for hepatocellular carcinoma-one...
The impact of HIV and parasite single infection and coinfection on telomere length: A systematic review
HIV and parasite infections accelerate biological aging, resulting in immune senescence, apoptosis and cellular damage. Telomere length is considered to be one of the most effective biomarkers of biological aging....
Prevalence of extrapulmonary tuberculosis among people living with HIV/AIDS in Southeast Asia: A systematic review and meta-analysis
The dual burden of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB) impacts people living with HIV (PLHIV) coinfected with TB. Although some primary studies have been reported on the burden...
A systematic review of factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake, hesitancy, and acceptability among adults with HIV: Implications for integrating COVID-19 immunization into HIV care
The COVID-19 virus, once a public health emergency, is now endemic. Immunization remains an important measure for mitigating high levels of disease, morbidity, and mortality related to COVID-19 infection. People...