HIV Reports Background: To determine the timing of prevention of mother-to-child transmission cas... more HIV Reports Background: To determine the timing of prevention of mother-to-child transmission cascade programmatic barriers to understand the service gaps in preparation for scale up of Option B+ in the Southern Province of Zambia. Methods: A database search of the National Dried Blood Spot Registry in Zambia for DNA polymerase chain reaction identified human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected infants from 5 facilities in 2 districts in Southern Province, Zambia over a 6-month observation period (January 2013 to June 2013). Results: Seventeen HIV-positive infants out of 459 infants tested were identified from 5 health facilities that provided antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation within the antenatal care (ANC) clinic, for a transmission rate of 3.7%. Possible risk factors identified for mother to child transmission of HIV included late ANC presentation, home delivery, provision of maternal short course prophylaxis, maternal refusal to initiate treatment and loss to follow-up. Conclusions: As Zambia transitions to lifelong combination ART initiation for HIV-positive pregnant women under Option B+, and subsequent ART integration into ANC facilities, it is crucial to understand prevention of mother-to-child transmission program gaps to achieve the goal of eliminating mother to child transmission of HIV in Zambia.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a negative-strand RNA virus that is an important cause of br... more Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a negative-strand RNA virus that is an important cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia. We investigated the effect of RSV infection on the expression patterns of cellular proteins involved in regulating mRNA translation and degradation, and found that a processing-body protein involved in mRNA degradation, decapping protein 1a (DCP1), was phosphorylated rapidly following infection. UV-inactivated and sucrose-purified RSV were sufficient to mediate DCP1 phosphorylation, indicating that it occurs as a consequence of an early event in RSV infection. Analysis using kinase inhibitors showed that RSV-induced DCP1 phosphorylation occurred through the ERK1/2 pathway. The DCP1 phosphorylation sites were limited to serine 315, serine 319, and threonine 321. Overexpression of wt DCP1 led to a decrease in RSV-induced IL-8 production, but this effect was abrogated in cells overexpressing phosphorylation-deficient DCP1 mutants. These results suggest that DCP1 p...
After publication of the original article [1] it was brought to our attention that author Lawrenc... more After publication of the original article [1] it was brought to our attention that author Lawrence Mwananyanda was incorrectly included as Lawrence Mwyanayanda. The correct spelling of the name is included in the author list of this erratum and has also been updated in the original article.
International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 2015
To evaluate the impact of rapid syphilis tests (RSTs) on syphilis testing and treatment in pregna... more To evaluate the impact of rapid syphilis tests (RSTs) on syphilis testing and treatment in pregnant women in Kalomo District, Zambia. In March 2012, health workers at all 35 health facilities in Kalomo Distract were trained in RST use and penicillin treatment. In March 2013, data were retrospectively abstracted from 18 randomly selected health facilities and stratified into three time intervals: baseline (6months prior to RST introduction), midline (0-6 months after RST introduction), and endline (7-12 months after RST introduction). Data collected on 4154 pregnant women showed a syphilis-reactive seroprevalence of 2.7%. The proportion of women screened improved from baseline (140/1365, 10.6%) to midline (976/1446, 67.5%), finally decreasing at endline (752/1337, 56.3%) (P<0.001). There was no significant difference in the proportion of syphilis-seroreactive pregnant women who received 1 dose of penicillin before (1/2, 50%) or after (5/48, 10.4%; P=0.199) RST introduction with low treatment rates throughout. With RST scale-up in Zambia and other resource-limited settings, same-day test and treatment with penicillin should be prioritized to achieve the goal of eliminating congenital syphilis.
HIV Reports Background: To determine the timing of prevention of mother-to-child transmission cas... more HIV Reports Background: To determine the timing of prevention of mother-to-child transmission cascade programmatic barriers to understand the service gaps in preparation for scale up of Option B+ in the Southern Province of Zambia. Methods: A database search of the National Dried Blood Spot Registry in Zambia for DNA polymerase chain reaction identified human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected infants from 5 facilities in 2 districts in Southern Province, Zambia over a 6-month observation period (January 2013 to June 2013). Results: Seventeen HIV-positive infants out of 459 infants tested were identified from 5 health facilities that provided antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation within the antenatal care (ANC) clinic, for a transmission rate of 3.7%. Possible risk factors identified for mother to child transmission of HIV included late ANC presentation, home delivery, provision of maternal short course prophylaxis, maternal refusal to initiate treatment and loss to follow-up. Conclusions: As Zambia transitions to lifelong combination ART initiation for HIV-positive pregnant women under Option B+, and subsequent ART integration into ANC facilities, it is crucial to understand prevention of mother-to-child transmission program gaps to achieve the goal of eliminating mother to child transmission of HIV in Zambia.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a negative-strand RNA virus that is an important cause of br... more Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a negative-strand RNA virus that is an important cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia. We investigated the effect of RSV infection on the expression patterns of cellular proteins involved in regulating mRNA translation and degradation, and found that a processing-body protein involved in mRNA degradation, decapping protein 1a (DCP1), was phosphorylated rapidly following infection. UV-inactivated and sucrose-purified RSV were sufficient to mediate DCP1 phosphorylation, indicating that it occurs as a consequence of an early event in RSV infection. Analysis using kinase inhibitors showed that RSV-induced DCP1 phosphorylation occurred through the ERK1/2 pathway. The DCP1 phosphorylation sites were limited to serine 315, serine 319, and threonine 321. Overexpression of wt DCP1 led to a decrease in RSV-induced IL-8 production, but this effect was abrogated in cells overexpressing phosphorylation-deficient DCP1 mutants. These results suggest that DCP1 p...
After publication of the original article [1] it was brought to our attention that author Lawrenc... more After publication of the original article [1] it was brought to our attention that author Lawrence Mwananyanda was incorrectly included as Lawrence Mwyanayanda. The correct spelling of the name is included in the author list of this erratum and has also been updated in the original article.
International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 2015
To evaluate the impact of rapid syphilis tests (RSTs) on syphilis testing and treatment in pregna... more To evaluate the impact of rapid syphilis tests (RSTs) on syphilis testing and treatment in pregnant women in Kalomo District, Zambia. In March 2012, health workers at all 35 health facilities in Kalomo Distract were trained in RST use and penicillin treatment. In March 2013, data were retrospectively abstracted from 18 randomly selected health facilities and stratified into three time intervals: baseline (6months prior to RST introduction), midline (0-6 months after RST introduction), and endline (7-12 months after RST introduction). Data collected on 4154 pregnant women showed a syphilis-reactive seroprevalence of 2.7%. The proportion of women screened improved from baseline (140/1365, 10.6%) to midline (976/1446, 67.5%), finally decreasing at endline (752/1337, 56.3%) (P<0.001). There was no significant difference in the proportion of syphilis-seroreactive pregnant women who received 1 dose of penicillin before (1/2, 50%) or after (5/48, 10.4%; P=0.199) RST introduction with low treatment rates throughout. With RST scale-up in Zambia and other resource-limited settings, same-day test and treatment with penicillin should be prioritized to achieve the goal of eliminating congenital syphilis.
Uploads
Papers by Julie Duncan