N.J. Hargreaves

Preventing antiretroviral anarchy in sub-Saharan Africa

Combination antiretroviral therapy has dramatically improved the survival of patients living with HIV and AIDS in industrialised countries of the world. Despite this enormous benefit, there are some major problems and obstacles to be overcome.(1) Treatment of HIV-infection is likely to be lifelong.(2) Unfortunately, many HIV-infected individuals cannot tolerate the toxic effects of the drugs, or have difficulty complying with treatment which involves large numbers of pills and complicated dosing schedules. Poor adherence to treatment leads to the emergence of drug-resistant viral strains that need new combinations of drugs or new drugs altogether.

High death rates in health care workers and teachers in Malawi

High death rates are reported in health care workers (HCWs) and teachers in urban areas of Malawi. The present study was carried out to determine the annual death rate in HCWs and primary school teachers working in semi-urban and rural areas of Malawi, and to try to ascertain the main causes of death. Forty district and mission hospitals in Malawi were visited. A record was made of the number of clinical and nursing-based HCWs in each hospital in 1999, the number of deaths in that calendar year and reported causes of death. A record was also made of the number of teachers working in 4 primary schools nearest to each hospital in 1999, the number of deaths in that calendar year and reported causes of death. There were 2979 HCWs, of whom 60 (2.0%) died. There were 4367 teachers of whom 101 (2.3%) died. Annual death rates, calculated per 100,000 people, were significantly higher in male HCWs compared with female HCWs (2495 versus 1770, RR 1.17, 95% CI 1.14-1.20, P < 0.001), and significantly higher in female teachers compared with male teachers (2521 versus 1934, RR 1.14, 95% CI 1.11-1.17, P < 0.001). In male HCWs and teachers the highest death rates were in those aged 35-44 years. In female HCWs and teachers, the highest death rates were in those aged 25-34 years and 35-44 years, respectively. Reported causes of death in HCWs were tuberculosis (TB) in 47%, chronic illness in 45% and acute illness in the remainder, while in teachers the causes were TB in 27%, chronic illness in 49% and acute illness in 25%. Chronic illness, thought to be due to AIDS, and TB were the common causes of death. The current high death rates from AIDS and TB will have a crippling toll on the health and education sectors, and effective ways of reducing these death rates must be found.

Highly active antiretroviral therapy and tuberculosis control in Africa: synergies and potential

HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) and TB (tuberculosis) are two of the worlds major pandemics, the brunt of which falls on sub-Saharan Africa. Efforts aimed at controlling HIV/AIDS have largely focused on prevention, little attention having been paid to care. Work on TB control has concentrated on case detection and treatment. HIV infection has complicated the control of tuberculosis. There is unlikely to be a decline in the number of cases of TB unless additional strategies are developed to control both this disease and HIV simultaneously. Such strategies would include active case-finding in situations where TB transmission is high, the provision of a package of care for HIV-related illness, and the application of highly active antiretroviral therapy. The latter is likely to have the greatest impact, but for this therapy to become more accessible in Africa the drugs would have to be made available through international support and a programme structure would have to be developed for its administration. It could be delivered by means of a structure based on the five-point strategy called DOTS, which has been adopted for TB control. However, it may be unrealistic to give TB control programmes the responsibility for running such a programme. A better approach might be to deliver highly active antiretroviral therapy within a comprehensive HIV/AIDS management strategy complementing the preventive work already being undertaken by AIDS control programmes. TB programmes could contribute towards the development and implementation of this strategy.

Preventing tuberculosis among health workers in Malawi

OBJECTIVE Following the introduction of guidelines for the control of tuberculosis (TB) infection in all hospitals in Malawi, a study was carried out to determine whether the guidelines were being implemented, the time between admission to hospital and the diagnosis of pulmonary TB had been reduced, and the annual case notification rates among health workers had fallen and were comparable to those of primary-school teachers. METHODS The study involved 40 district and mission hospitals. Staff and patients were interviewed in order to determine whether the guidelines had been adopted. In four hospitals the diagnostic process in patients with smear-positive pulmonary TB was evaluated before and after the introduction of the guidelines, with the aid of case notes and TB registers. In all hospitals the proportion of health workers registered with TB before and after the guidelines were introduced, in 1996 and 1999, respectively, was determined by conducting interviews and consulting staff lists and TB registers. A similar method was used to determine the proportion of primary-school teachers who were registered with TB in 1999. FINDINGS The guidelines were not uniformly implemented. Only one hospital introduced voluntary counselling and testing for its staff. Most hospitals stated that they used rapid systems to diagnose pulmonary TB. However, there was no significant change in the interval between admission and diagnosis or between admission and treatment of patients with smear-positive pulmonary TB. The TB case notification rate for 2979 health workers in 1999 was 3.2%; this did not differ significantly from the value of 3.7% for 2697 health workers in 1996 but was significantly higher than that of 1.8% for 4367 primary-school teachers in 1999. CONCLUSION The introduction of guidelines for the control of TB infection is an important intervention for reducing nosocomial transmission of the disease, but rigorous monitoring and follow-up are needed in order to ensure that they are implemented.

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in patients being registered for smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis in Malawi

The National TB Control Programme of Malawi registers and treats large numbers of patients with chronic cough for smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). Smear-negative PTB is diagnosed according to clinical and radiographic criteria, as mycobacterial cultures are not routinely available. In an area of high HIV seroprevalence there is a concern that other opportunistic infections apart from TB, such as Pneumocystis carinii, may be missed owing to lack of diagnostic facilities. The aims of this study were to investigate (i) the extent of P. carinii pneumonia (PCP) in patients about to be registered for smear-negative PTB; (ii) whether there were any clinical or radiological features that could help identify PCP in the absence of more detailed investigations; and (iii) the treatment outcome of PCP patients. A cohort of 352 patients who were about to be started on treatment for smear-negative PTB were investigated further in 1997-99 by clinical assessment, HIV testing and bronchoscopy. HIV sero-prevalence was 89% (278/313). A total of 186 patients underwent bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage, and PCP was diagnosed by indirect immunofluorescence or polymerase chain reaction in 17 (9%) of this subgroup. Dyspnoea was significantly more common in PCP cases compared to non-PCP cases (RR 1.35; 95% CI 1.24-1.48; P = 0.008), but discrimination between the groups was difficult using clinical criteria alone. The outcome of PCP cases was poor despite management with high-dose co-trimoxazole and secondary co-trimoxazole prophylaxis, with a median survival of 4 months (25-75% range: 2-12 months).

Resources for controlling tuberculosis in Malawi

OBJECTIVE To document resources for controlling tuberculosis (TB) in Malawi. METHODS We performed a countrywide study of all 43 hospitals (3 central, 22 district and 18 mission) which register and treat patients with TB. To collect data for 1998 on the TB-related workload, diagnostic facilities, programme staff and treatment facilities, we used laboratory, radiographic and TB registers, conducted interviews and visited hospital facilities. FINDINGS The data show that in 1998, 88,257 TB suspects/patients contributed approximately 230,000 sputum specimens for smear microscopy, 55,667 chest X-rays were performed and 23,285 patients were registered for TB treatment. There were 86 trained laboratory personnel, 44 radiographers and 83 TB programme staff. Of these, about 40% had periods of illness during 1998. Approximately 20% of the microscopes and X-ray machines were broken. Some 16% of the hospital beds were designated for TB patients in special wards, but even so, the occupancy of beds in TB wards exceeded 100%. Although stocks of anti-TB drugs were good, there was a shortage of full-time TB ward nurses and 50% of district hospitals conducted no TB ward rounds. In general, there was a shortage of facilities for managing associated HIV-related disease; central hospitals, in particular, were underresourced. CONCLUSION Malawi needs better planning to utilize its manpower and should consider cross-training hospital personnel. The equipment needs regular maintenance, and more attention should be paid to HIV-related illness. The policies of decentralizing resources to the periphery and increasing diagnostic and case-holding resources for central hospitals should be continued.

Sputum-smear examination in patients with extrapulmonary tuberculosis in Malawi

In Malawi, it has been the practice for several years to obtain sputum for smear microscopy of acid-fast bacilli (AFB) from all patients with extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB). We audited this practice, and determined in patients aged > or = 15 years (i) the proportion of EPTB patients who had sputum smears examined, (ii) the number of sputum smears examined per patient, and (iii) the proportion of patients with EPTB who had sputum samples smear positive for AFB. Forty-one hospitals (3 central, 22 district and 16 mission) performing smear microscopy and registering EPTB patients were visited in 1998 and 1999, and a retrospective and prospective study was carried out using TB registers and laboratory sputum registers. In the retrospective study, 1124 (69%) of the 1637 patients with EPTB had sputum smears examined; 988 (88%) of the 1124 submitted 3 sputum specimens. In the prospective study, 2026 (84%) of the 2411 patients with EPTB had sputum smears examined: 94% of the 2026 submitted 3 sputum specimens. In both studies, high rates of sputum submission were found in patients with pleural effusion, miliary TB, lymphadenopathy and pericardial effusion. In the prospective study, only 34 (1.7%) EPTB patients submitting sputum were smear positive, and the proportion who were smear positive exceeded 3% only in patients with lymphadenopathy, miliary TB and TB meningitis. As a result of this study, the Malawi TB Control Programme has changed its policy, and now only insists on sputum-smear examination if patients with EPTB have a cough for > 3 weeks. These policy changes will be audited by further operational research.

The diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis in Malawi.

There is little information on a country-wide basis in sub-Saharan Africa about how the diagnosis of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) is made. A country-wide cross-sectional study was carried out in 40 non-private hospitals in Malawi which register and treat (TB) patients in order to assess diagnostic practices in adults registered with EPTB. All patients aged 15 years and above in hospital on treatment for EPTB were reviewed using TB registers, case note files and clinical assessment. There were 244 patients, 132 men and 112 women whose mean age was 36 years. In 138 (57%) patients, all appropriate procedures and investigations, commensurate with hospital resources, had been carried out. Of 171 EPTB patients with cough for 3 weeks or longer, 138 (81%) submitted sputum specimens for smear microscopy of acid-fast bacilli (AFB). A confirmed diagnosis of TB was made in 15 (6%) patients based on finding AFB or caseating granulomas in specimens. In 157 (64%) patients, the diagnosis of EPTB was considered to be correct. In 46 (19%) patients the diagnosis was considered to be TB, although different from the type of EPTB with which the patient was registered. In 39 (16%) patients an alternative non-TB diagnosis was made and in two (1%) patients it was not possible to make a decision. Diagnostic practices need to be improved, and ways of doing this are discussed.