HIV/AIDS

Findings from a study conducted by experts revealed that children and adolescents living with HIV are
more likely to be affected by oral diseases compared to those without the virus.
Children aged between 6 years and 12 years who are mostly transitioning between primary to
permanent teeth were the targeted children in the stud. A higher percentage of them were found to be
suffering from various dental related diseases.
Untreated dental carries, dry mouth and mouth ulcers were most prevalent in the children who were

HIV-1 transmission dynamics involving men who have sex with men (MSM) in Africa are not well understood. We investigated the rates of HIV-1 transmission between MSM across three regions in Kenya: Coast, Nairobi and Nyanza. We analysed 372 HIV-1 partial pol sequences sampled during 2006-2019 from MSM in Coast (N=178, 47.9%), Nairobi (N=137, 36.8%), and Nyanza (N=57, 15.3%) provinces in Kenya. Maximum-Likelihood (ML) phylogenetics and Bayesian inference were used to determine HIV-1 clusters, evolutionary dynamics, and virus migration rates between geographic regions.

Authors: Paul J. Fleming, Monika Doshi, Gary W. Harper, Frederick Otieno & Robert C. Bailey

The University of Nairobi joined the world in marking World Aids Day 2021 on 1st December, 2021.

The day that is marked internationally highlights the urgency in eliminating the inequalities that drive pandemics around the world. The Global AIDS Strategy (2021-2026) adopted at the 2021 UN High-Level Meeting on AIDS has outlined ending inequalities as key to fighting AIDS. This fight is integral because inequalities have fueled AIDS and other pandemics; these inequalities have been known to inhibit proven solutions to AIDS prevention and treatment.’

The University of Nairobi (UoN) virtually joined the world in marking 2020 World Aids Day on 1^st December.

The theme for this year’s commemoration was ‘Global Solidarity and shared responsibility’.

The University of Nairobi (UoN) Center of Excellence in HIV Medicine (COEHM) Project continues to lead the way in the fight against HIV in Kenya.

The University of Nairobi, Central Kenya Response - Integration, Strengthening and Sustainability plus Project (CRISS+ Project) is a 5 year (2017-2022) PEPFAR-funded HIV prevention, care & treatment project in partnership with Kiambu and Kirinyaga County health departments, Kiambu People Living with HIV/AIDS (KIPEWA) and the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).

Funding and effort has gone into understanding the body’s immune response to HIV, with scientific investigations of the blood. Now a team of UoN researchers KAVI-Institute of Clinical Research (KAVI-ICR) at the University of Nairobi has been awarded two research grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Swedish Research Foundation to investigate the body’s defense but this time studying the mucosal tissues of sexual organs.

Tailored services for adolescents and young adults (AYA) living with HIV may improve treatment outcomes.

Although HIV programmes have implemented varied approaches to enhance AYA services that could be leveraged to support transition to adult services, there is need to conduct research on the impact of these services on health outcomes.

KAVI Institute of Clinical Research enrolled the first volunteer to start a phase 1 clinical trial to test a novel HIV vaccine candidate, BG505 SOSIP.664 gp140.

The study dubbed the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative W001 (IAVI W001) is aimed at assessing the safety of the candidate and to determine if vaccination induces the human immune system to produce proteins known as neutralizing antibodies (NAbs).