Category Archives: Epidemiology
Implications of COVID-19 in high burden countries for HIV/TB: A systematic review of evidence
BACKGROUND: The triple burden of COVID-19, tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus is one of the major global health challenges of the twenty-first century. In high burden HIV/TB countries, the spread...
Hepatitis E seroprevalence and viremia rate in immunocompromised patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Hepatitis E is an infectious disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis E virus (HEV). Immunocompromised patients present a particular risk group, as chronification of hepatitis...
Risk of failure in dual therapy versus triple therapy in naive HIV-patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis
BACKGROUND: Several attempts have been made to test different drug-sparing strategies to reduce the drug-burden and drug-related toxicities. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the relative risk...
The prevalence of latent and acute toxoplasmosis in HIV-infected pregnant women: A systematic review and meta-analysis
OBJECTIVE: HIV in pregnancy is not only important for mother-to-child HIV transmission, but also it assumes additional importance because HIV increases susceptibility to opportunistic infections, leading to increased morbidity and...
Prevalence and type distribution of human papillomavirus recovered from the uterine cervix of Nigerian women: A systematic review and meta-analysis
BACKGROUND: Infection with an oncogenic type of human papillomavirus is a prerequisite for the development of precancerous cervical lesions and its subsequent progression to cervical cancer. With an alarming increase...
Prevalence of vertical HIV infection and its risk factors among HIV exposed infants in East Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis
BACKGROUND: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is one of the most important global health problems. More than one and half million of children are living with HIV in the world, and...
Cryptococcal antigenemia and its predictors among HIV infected patients in resource limited settings: A systematic review
BACKGROUND: Cryptococcosis is an opportunistic fungal infection that primarily affects people with advanced HIV/AIDS and is an important cause of morbidity and mortality around the globe. By far the most...
The prevalence of cryptococcal antigen (CrAg) and benefits of pre-emptive antifungal treatment among HIV-infected persons with CD4+ T-cell counts < 200 cells/muL: Evidence based on a meta-analysis
BACKGROUND: Current WHO guidelines (2018) recommend screening for cryptococcal antigen (CrAg) in HIV-infected persons with CD4+ T cell counts< 100 cells/muL, followed by pre-emptive antifungal therapy among CrAg positive (CrAg+)...
Cryptococcal meningitis: A review of cryptococcal antigen screening programs in Africa
INTRODUCTION: Cryptococcal meningitis remains a significant contributor to AIDS-related mortality despite widened access to antiretroviral therapy. Cryptococcal antigen (CrAg) can be detected in the blood prior to development of meningitis....
Clostridium difficile in immunocompromised hosts: A review of epidemiology, risk factors, treatment, and prevention
Clostridium difficile is a significant pathogen in healthcare today, impacting both hospitalized and community-based patients. Immunocompromised patients experience a high incidence of C. difficile infection, ranging from 6% to 33%...
