Hepatitis E virus infection among pig handlers in Accra, Ghana.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the correlates of hepatitis E virus infection (HEV) in a sample of persons who work with pigs. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Three pig farms in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. SUBJECTS: Persons who work with pigs seen at the selected pig farms between the months of January and May 2008. RESULTS: One hundred and five persons who work with pigs voluntarily completed a risk-factor questionnaire and provided blood samples for unlinked anonymous testing for the presence of antibodies to HEV. The median age of participants was 36.5 +/- 15.0 years (range 12-65 years). Of the 105 subjects tested, HEV seroprevelance was 38.1%. On multivariate analysis, the independent determinants of HEV infection were being employed on the farm for less than six months (odds ratio (OR) 9.1; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.0-81.4 and having piped water in the household and/or on the farm (OR 3.9; 95% CI 0.4-90.8). CONCLUSION: Consistent with similar studies worldwide, the results of our studies revealed a high prevalence of HEV infection in persons who work with pigs. Further studies need to be done to isolate, characterise the virus and define the clinical and epidemiological significance of HEV infection in this population.

Diagnosis of dual human immunodeficiency virus types 1 and 2 infections in a resource-limited setting.

BACKGROUND: The presence of dual HIV-1/HIV-2 infection in Ghana and the different drug requirements for the treatment of HIV-1 and HIV-2 presents difficulties for the treatment of dual infections with both viruses. OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of the dual sero-positive profile in treatment naive patients at a principal ART Clinic in Accra, Ghana and to investigate if rapid screening assays could be useful for diagnosis. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING: A principal antiretroviral treatment centre in Accra, Ghana. SUBJECTS: Three hundred and twenty eight antiretroviral treatment naive patients. RESULTS: A total of 12 (3.7%) of patients seen were dual seropositive. There was a slight tendency of dual seropositive females being older than their HIV-1 counterparts (p = 0.088, CI = -10.833 to 0.753). Eight of the 12 of the dual seropositives were reactive for Genie II and were considered as possibly infected with both HIV-I and HIV-2. Seven (87.5%) of Genie II dual seropositives had strong intensities (> 1+) on both HIV-2 specific bands (sgp105 and gp36) on Innolia. CD4 counts were not significantly different in dual seropositives as compared to HIV-1 infected patients. CONCLUSIONS: Dual HIV-1/HIV-2 seropositives (and possibly infections) maybe common especially in older women. The Genie II will be useful as a supplemental rapid test for rapid and accurate differentiation of HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies at treatment centres.

Two dose immunization trial with the trivalent oral poliomyelitis vaccine (TOPV) in Ghana

The Virology Unit of Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in a pilot study has tried by doubling the dose volume; a two dose immunization scheme; which when started at birth; is completed in the sixth week of life