No abstract

Despite the high prevalence of infection by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in South Africa, information on its association with cancer is sparse. Our study was carried out to examine the relationship between HIV and a number of cancer types or sites that are common in South Africa. A total of 4,883 subjects, presenting with a cancer or cardiovascular disease at the 3 tertiary referral hospitals in Johannesburg, were interviewed and had blood tested for HIV. Odds ratios associated with HIV infection were calculated by using unconditional logistic regression models for 16 major cancer types where data was available for 50 or more patients. In the comparison group, the prevalence of HIV infection was 8.3% in males and 9.1% in females. Significant excess risks associated with HIV infection were found for Kaposi's sarcoma (OR=21.9, 95% CI=12.5–38.6), non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (OR=5.0, 95%CI=2.7–9.5), vulval cancer (OR=4.8, 95%CI=1.9–12.2) and cervical cancer (OR=1.6, 95%CI=1.1–2.3) but not for any of the other major cancer types examined, including Hodgkin disease, multiple myeloma and lung cancer. In Johannesburg, South Africa, HIV infection was associated with significantly increased risks of Kaposi's sarcoma, non‐Hodgkin lymphoma and cancers of the cervix and the vulva. The relative risks for Kaposi's sarcoma and non‐Hodgkin lymphoma associated with HIV infection were substantially lower than those found in the West. Int. J. Cancer 88:489–492, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

SUMMARY During a national investigation concerning all patients with Huntington's chorea in South Africa, 17 affected children, comprising 7 7% of the patients in the survey, were identified. Although the frequency of juvenile Huntington's chorea in the white community was equal to that reported from around the world, the frequency was much higher in the population of mixed ancestry. It is possible that this unique situation is related to the genetic constitution of this latter group.

Thirty-seven matched cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma samples from 34 human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) -infected patients with suspected meningitis were analyzed for levels of HIV-1 RNA and markers of inflammation. Patients with tuberculous (n Å 9) or cryptococcal (n Å 6) meningitis had the highest CSF virus loads, which in many cases exceeded the levels in plasma, compared with patients with meningococcal meningitis (n Å 3), aseptic meningitis (n Å 8), tuberculoma (n Å 2), or AIDS dementia complex (n Å 4) or with normal lumbar punctures (n Å 3). CSF virus load correlated significantly with the number of infiltrating lymphocytes (r Å .60, P õ .001) but not with plasma virus load, the levels of b 2 -microglobulin in the CSF, or the integrity of the blood-brain barrier. These data suggest significant intrathecal HIV-1 replication in patients with lymphocytic meningeal infections such as tuberculous and cryptococcal meningitis.Nervous system pathology is a common manifestation of logic impairment, particularly cognitive dysfunction in AIDS dementia complex (ADC) [8 -11], few studies have looked at human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection [1,2]. The virus enters the central nervous system (CNS) early in the effects of meningeal infection on the virus load in the CSF. The aim of this study was, therefore, to assess the effect of the course of HIV-1 infection and has been shown to be present at all stages of disease, irrespective of neurologic symptoms active infection in the CNS on the HIV-1 RNA load in the CSF and to correlate this with markers of inflammation and lymphocytes were counted in blood collected in EDTA (Onyx