Category Archives: Testing
HIV test coverage among pregnant women in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Introduction: A human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) test during pregnancy is the gateway to the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. Estimating the national uptake of HIV tests among pregnant...
Non-invasive diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia: A systematic review and meta-analysis
BACKGROUND: Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) is an opportunistic infection commonly affecting immunocompromised people. Diagnosis usually requires invasive techniques to obtain respiratory specimens. Minimally invasive detection tests have been proposed, but...
Decade of research into the acceptability of interventions aimed at improving adolescent and youth health and social outcomes in Africa: A systematic review and evidence map
OBJECTIVE: Interventions aimed at improving adolescent health and social outcomes are more likely to be successful if the young people they target find them acceptable. However, no standard definitions or...
Reproductive justice in the time of COVID-19: A systematic review of the indirect impacts of COVID-19 on sexual and reproductive health
OBJECTIVE: Despite gendered dimensions of COVID-19 becoming increasingly apparent, the impact of COVID-19 and other respiratory epidemics on women and girls’ sexual and reproductive health (SRH) have yet to be...
Community-based ART service delivery for key populations in sub-Saharan Africa: Scoping review of outcomes along the continuum of HIV care
HIV positive key population (KP) often face health system and social barriers to HIV care. KP include sex workers, men who have sex with men, persons who inject drugs, transgender...
Diagnostic value of Lipoarabinomannan antigen for detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis in adults and children with or without HIV infection
Objectives: Even today, tuberculosis (TB) remains a leading public health problem; yet, the current diagnostic methods still have a few shortcomings. Lipoarabinomannan (LAM) provides an opportunity for TB diagnosis, and urine...
A systematic review of linkage-to-care and antiretroviral initiation implementation strategies in low- and middle-income countries across sub-Saharan Africa
Linkage to care (LTC) and initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) are key components in the longitudinal care cascade for people living with HIV. Many strategies to optimize these stages of...
Risk of vertical transmission of chronic viral infections after invasive prenatal procedures
OBJECTIVES: Invasive prenatal procedures including amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling (CVS) can be prenatally indicated for diagnostic purposes. Chronic viral infections with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis...
Bridging the gap between development of point-of-care nucleic acid testing and patient care for sexually transmitted infections
The incidence rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including the four major curable STIs – chlamydia, gonorrhea, trichomoniasis and, syphilis – continue to increase globally, causing medical cost burden and...
