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Articles by Alex Gasasira on Ebola, HIV, and Polio

Wednesday, 23rd of December 2015

Gasasira on Ebola, HIV, and Polio

Alex Gasasira is a man of many parts. His work with W.H.O. has covered HIV, Ebola and polio, among other things, including AFP surveillance and routine immunization, in many countries of sub-Saharan Africa.

Especially notable in his co-authored work are the articles on HIV and malaria (item 4), a connection less widely discussed than the HIV-TB connection.  The first item in the Ebola section, from the New England Journal of Medicine, assembles the evidence on sexual transmission of Ebola.

With Africa free of WPV for over 1 year, the items in the polio section may appear to be of purely historical interest. The lessons of Africa, especially Nigeria in recent years, may, however remain applicable to Afghanistan and Pakistan. In particular, does GPS tracking of vaccination teams (item 2, polio section) have applicability in Asia? What applications are most suitable for the LQAS methodology (items 4 and 8)?

Good reading.

BD

HIV and ARVs

1. The clock is ticking: the rate and timeliness of antiretroviral therapy initiation from the time of treatment eligibility in Kenya.         http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26507824                                                                                         
2. Trends and Determinants of Antiretroviral Therapy Patient Monitoring Practices in Kenya and Uganda.    http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0135653                                                                                                                                      
3. Uptake of WHO recommendations for first-line antiretroviral therapy in Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0120350
4. The effect of HIV on malaria in the context of the current standard of care for HIV-infected populations in Africa. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3535690/
5. The association between malnutrition and the incidence of malaria among young HIV-infected and -uninfected Ugandan children: a prospective study. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3337276/pdf/1475-2875-11-90.pdf
6. Short-term risk of HIV disease progression and death in Ugandan children not eligible for antiretroviral therapy. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3025136/pdf/nihms-221614.pdf

 

Ebola Disease Epidemiology in Liberia

1. Molecular Evidence of Sexual Transmission of Ebola Virus. http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1509773
2. Elimination of Ebola Virus Transmission in Liberia - September 3, 2015. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6435a5.htm
3. Establishment of a community care center for isolation and management of Ebola patients - Bomi County, Liberia, October 2014. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm63e1104a1.htm
4. Ebola virus disease in West Africa--the first 9 months of the epidemic and forward projections. http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1411100

Polio

1. Reasons and circumstances for the late notification of Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) cases in health facilities in Luanda. http://www.panafrican-med-journal.com/content/article/18/239/full/#.VntgxdBLF5Q
2. Using geographic information systems to track polio vaccination team performance: pilot project report. http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/210/suppl_1/S98.long
3. An evaluation of polio supplemental immunization activities in Kano, Katsina, and Zamfara States, Nigeria: lessons in progress. http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/210/suppl_1/S91.full.pdf+html
4. Cluster lot quality assurance sampling: effect of increasing the number of clusters on classification precision and operational feasibility. http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/210/suppl_1/S341.long
5. Vaccine perception among acceptors and non-acceptors in Sokoto State, Nigeria. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X14004198
6. Survey of poliovirus antibodies in Kano, Northern Nigeria. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X13011729
7. Multiple independent emergences of type 2 vaccine-derived polioviruses during a large outbreak in northern Nigeria http://jvi.asm.org/content/87/9/4907.full
8. Clustered lot quality assurance sampling: a pragmatic tool for timely assessment of vaccination coverage. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21481106
9. Outbreak of type 2 vaccine-derived poliovirus in Nigeria: emergence and widespread circulation in an underimmunized population. http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/203/7/898.full

10.  Implications of a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus in Nigeria. http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0910074