Abstracts
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SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 15th MARCH 2003

ABSTRACTS

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

The Organising Committee invites delegates to submit abstracts for consideration and inclusion in the conference programme.

Before preparing your abstract carefully study the instructions given below.

  1. The maximum number of words allowed is 350 excluding title and author etc.
  2. No references allowed
  3. The abstract must have the following sequence : Introduction, Methods, Results, Conclusion.
  4. Authors should be listed by family name, followed by initials only. Do NOT include first names, titles or degrees.
  5. MS Word or Word Perfect processing programmes must be used and abstracts must be printed in ARIAL font. Can be sent electronically or on a disk. (If the abstract is sent on disk, a hard copy must be included). Abstracts must be typed in single line spacing and must conform to the instructions below.
  6. Print must be 12 point; and the font must be in Arial font.
  7. The abstract will be photoprinted in the Abstract Book. An untidy abstract will not be included in the programme, please ensure that all spelling is correct as changes will not be made after submission of your abstract.
  8. Indicate the title, the author(s) and institution as follows:
    1. Title in capital letters
    2. Author(s). Underline the name of the presenting person
    3. The name and address of the institution
    4. E-Mail address of presenting author
  1. Authors must state whether they wish their presentation to be considered as a paper or a poster. The Academic Committee reserves the right to alter the author’s choice between paper or poster. Poster size should not exceed 900mm vertical and 700mm horizontal and 18 pitch letter size should be used with double spacing.
  2. The abstract must be e-mailed to the Conference Secretariat at CAPGAN2003@nu.ac.za If you do not have access to e-mail then you must please forward a disk and hard copy to the Conference Secretariat, post clearly to:

    3. CAPGAN Conference 2003
    C/O InterAction Conferencing
    Graduate School Building
    University of Natal
    Durban 4041, South Africa

  3. Authors will be notified whether or not their abstracts have been accepted by e-mail or by fax, if you do not have access to e-mail.
  4. Deadline for Receipt of Abstracts : 15 March 2003
  5. IMPORTANT Presenting author must register with full payment before the abstract can be finally accepted. If the abstract is submitted without a registration form and payment, it will NOT be accepted.
  6. Please note that all papers and poster presentations must have Ethical Approval from your own Faculty and this must be indicated on the abstracts when they are submitted.

EXAMPLE OF ABSTRACT LAYOUT

CD4 Count, HIV Viral Load and Enteric Pathogens in HIV-Infected Children with Persistent Diarrhoea in Durban, S. Africa

Rollins NC1, Pent M2, Kindra G1, Kasambira T2, Sturm W3, Steele D4, Skolnik PR2, Bennish ML5.

1Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Natal, S. Africa; 2 Tufts University School of Medicine, USA; 3Microbiology, University of Natal, S. Africa; 4Diarrhoeal Pathogens Research Unit, MEDUNSA, S. Africa; 5 Africa Centre for Health and Population Research, S. Africa.

Introduction: Persistent diarrhoea is a common problem for HIV-infected children in Africa. At King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban, 32% of 1100 paediatric diarrhoea in-patients yearly have HIV infection. There is little information on the pathogens causing persistent diarrhoea in these children, and on the relationship between the infecting pathogen and the stage of HIV/AIDS. Such information would help in the management of this condition.

Methods: Blood and stool samples were collected from HIV-infected children 6 to 36 months coming to King Edward VIII Hospital with diarrhoea lasting > 7 days for routine culture and for TB, C. parvum and G. lamblia (by direct microscopy and immunofluorescence), and rotavirus and astrovirus (by ELISA). The study was approved by the UND ethics committee.

Results: Mean age of 101 patients enrolled was 14.9 m. Study children were a mean 64% of median weight-for-age. CD4 counts, HIV in plasma and enteric pathogens were available on all 101 children; viral enteric studies were available on 59. 8 w follow-up data was available on 84. Median HIV RNA was 1.197 x 106 copies/ml (range: 502-21.9 x106 copies/ml) and CD4 count was 726 x103/ml (range 12-2,880). C. parvum was identified in 25 (24.8%) children, C. jejuni in 10 (9.9%), C. coli in 2 (2%), rotavirus in 7/59 (11.9%), M. tuberculosis in one (0.9%) and an acid fast bacillus in one(0.9%). No enteric pathogen was identified in 60 (58.8%) children. There was no correlation between enteric pathogen and viral load. However, C. parvum infected children had significantly lower CD4 counts (g.mean: 299 vs. 648 x103/ml, p=0.002) and CD4:CD8 ratio (g.mean: 0.195 vs. 0.366, p=0.004). C. parvum-infected children did not differ from other children in age, weight-for-age or plasma HIV RNA. Significantly more C. parvum-infected children died within 8 weeks of admission than children who were not infected (6/16 vs. 7/68, p = 0.007).

Conclusions: C. parvum is commonly associated with persistent diarrhoea in children with advanced HIV infection in S. Africa and is associated with a lower CD4 count and higher mortality. Few easily treatable enteric infections were identified in these children.

 
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Last modified: January 21, 2003