Category Archives: Testing
The nursing implications of routine provider-initiated HIV testing and counselling in sub-Saharan Africa: A critical review of new policy guidance from WHO/UNAIDS
BACKGROUND: In 2007 WHO/UNAIDS issued new HIV testing guidelines recommending ‘provider-initiated HIV testing and counselling’ (PITC). In contrast to existing ‘voluntary counselling and testing’ guidelines (whereby individuals self refer for...
Interferon-y release assays for the diagnosis of tuberculosis and tuberculosis infection in HIV-infected adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Despite the widespread use of interferon- release assays (IGRAs), their role in diagnosing tuberculosis and targeting preventive therapy in HIV-infected patients remains unclear. We conducted a comprehensive systematic review to...
Family-centred approaches to the prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV
Prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) programmes have traditionally been narrow in scope, targeting biomedical interventions during the perinatal period, rather than considering HIV as a family disease. This...
The uptake of integrated perinatal prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission programs in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review
BACKGROUND: The objective of this review was to assess the uptake of WHO recommended integrated perinatal prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV interventions in low- and middle-income countries. METHODS...
Voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) for changing HIV-related risk behavior in developing countries
BACKGROUND: Voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) continues to play a critical role in HIV prevention, care and treatment. In recent years, different modalities of VCT have been implemented, including clinic-,...
Screening for human immunodeficiency virus in adolescents and adults
Context: Human immunodeficiency virus infection affects 850,000 to 950,000 persons in the United States, with approximately 40,000 new infections annually. Diagnosis of unsuspected HIV infection could identify those who would...
A meta-analytic evaluation of the polymerase chain reaction for the diagnosis of HIV infection in infants
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the diagnosis of infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in infants. DATA SOURCES: We used studies...
