Assessment of the performance of the plasma separation card for HIV-1 viral load monitoring in South Africa.

Scaling up of newer innovations that address the limitations of the dried blood spot and the logistics of plasma monitoring is needed. We employed a multi-site, cross-sectional assessment of the plasma separation card (PSC) on blood specimens collected from all consenting adults, assenting young and pediatric patients living with HIV from 10 primary healthcare clinics in South Africa. Venous blood for EDTA-plasma samples was collected and analyzed according to the standard of care assay, while collected capillary blood for the PSC samples was analyzed using the Roche COBAS AmpliPrep/Cobas TaqMan (CAP/CTM) HIV-1 Test at the National Reference laboratories. McNemar tests assessed the differences in concordance between the centrifuged plasma and dried plasma spots. The usability of PSC by blood spotting, PSC preparation, and pre-analytical work was assessed by collecting seven-point Likert-scale data from healthcare and laboratory workers. We enrolled 538 patients, mostly adults [n = 515, 95.7% (95% CI: 93.7%-97.1%)] and females [n = 322, 64.2% (95% CI: 60.0%-68.1%)]. Overall, 536 paired samples were collected using both PSC- and EDTA-plasma diagnostics, and 502 paired PSC- and EDTA-plasma samples assessed. Concordance between the paired samples was obtained for 446 samples. Analysis of these 446 paired samples at 1,000 copies per milliliter threshold yielded an overall sensitivity of 87.5% [95% CI: 73.2%-95.8%] and specificity of 99.3% [95% CI: 97.9%-99.8%]. Laboratory staff reported technical difficulties in most tasks. The usability of the PSC by healthcare workers was favorable. For policymakers to consider PSC scale-up for viral load monitoring, technical challenges around using PSC at the clinic and laboratory level need to be addressed. IMPORTANCE: Findings from this manuscript emphasize the reliability of the plasma separation card (PSC), a novel diagnostic method that can be implemented in healthcare facilities in resource-constrained settings. The agreement of the PSC with the standard of care EDTA plasma for viral load monitoring is high. Since the findings showed that these tests were highly specific, we recommend a scale-up of PSC in South Africa for diagnosis of treatment failure.

Exploring the syndemic interaction between social, environmental and structural contexts of HIV infection in peri-mining areas in South Africa: a qualitative study.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the syndemic interaction between social, environmental, and structural contexts and HIV infection in peri-mining areas in South Africa. DESIGN: Mixed qualitative methods consisting of in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) exploring the interaction between HIV infection and the social, environmental and structural factors affecting people living in the peri-mining areas of South Africa. Themes were analysed following the syndemic theoretical framework. SETTING: Participants were recruited from three mining companies and locations in the peri-mining communities surrounding the mining companies in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and Northern Cape provinces. PARTICIPANTS: Inclusion criteria included mineworkers, healthcare workers, female sex workers (FSWs), injection drug users (IDUs), and other community members, ≥18 years, living in the peri-mining area at the time of participation. Three FGDs were conducted (n=30): 13 men and 17 women aged 18-55 years. IDIs were conducted with 45 participants: mineworkers (n=10), healthcare workers (n=11), FSWs (n=15), truck drivers (n=4) and IDUs (n=5). RESULTS: The findings from this study indicate that a syndemic of four socio-behavioural factors is associated with HIV acquisition in peri-mining areas. These are migrancy, accessibility to alcohol and substance use, commercial and transactional sex, and uptake of HIV prevention services. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings have implications for HIV prevention programmes in mining companies, which rely on male condom usage promotion. More emphasis on better education about HIV prevalence, transmission and up-to-date prevention alternatives, such as pre-exposure prophylaxis for mineworkers is recommended. Furthermore, collaboration with community-based organisations is recommended to wholly address the syndemic factors influencing HIV transmission in peri-mining communities.

The effect of essential oil formulations for potato sprout suppression.

The concerns over safety and environmental impact of synthetic pesticides such as chlorpropham (CIPC) has stimulated interest in finding environmentally benign, natural sprout suppressants, including essential oils. The effects of Chenopodium ambrosioides and Lippia multiflora essential oils on sprout growth and decay of stored potatoes has been investigated. Formulations of essential oils with alumina, bentonite, or kaolin, both with and without Triton X-100 additive, were tested. These formulations have been compared to the pulverized plant materials themselves as well as wick-volatilized essential oils. The results showed that the tested oils possess compositions that make them suitable for application as sprout suppressants. Additionally, the formulation seems to be able to reduce the volatility of the essential oil and artificially extend dormancy of stored potatoes.

Volatile constituents and antibacterial screening of the essential oil of Chenopodium ambrosioides L. growing in Nigeria.

The essential oil of the aerial parts of Chenopodium ambrosioides L. has been isolated by hydrodistillation and analyzed using GC-MS. The major components were found to be alpha-terpinene (63.1%), p-cymene (26.4%) and ascaridole (3.9%). The oil displayed no antibacterial activity against either Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus cereus or Staphylococcus aureus, or the Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli (MIC=1250 microg/mL). A cluster analysis of C. ambrosioides essential oils reveals at least seven distinct chemotypes: ascaridole, alpha-terpinene, alpha-pinene, p-cymene, carvacrol, alpha-terpinyl acetate, and limonene.