Browsing by Author "Weiss, Helen"

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    Alcohol consumption and high risk sexual behavior among female sex workers in Uganda
    (African Journal of AIDS Research, 2014) Mbonye, Martin; Rutakumwa, Rwamahe; Weiss, Helen; Seeley, Janet
    sex workers. We explored the drivers of alcohol consumption and its relationship to high risk sexual behaviour. Participants were drawn from a cohort of 1 027 women selected from ‘hot spots’ in the suburbs of Kampala city. We conducted 3 in-depth interviews with 40 female sex workers between 2010 and 2011. Data were analysed thematically, focusing on alcohol use within the context of sex work. Alcohol consumption was very high with only seven women reporting that they did not drink. Alcohol consumption was driven by the emotional and economic needs of the participants, but also promoted by clients who encouraged consumption. Many sex workers only started drinking alcohol when they joined sex work on the advice of more experienced peers, as a way to cope with the job. Alcohol was blamed for unsafe sex, acts of violence and poor decision making which increased sexual and physical violence. Alcohol was reported to affect medication adherence for HIV-positive women who forgot to take medicine. The findings suggest that the drivers of alcohol consumption are multifaceted in this group and require both individual and structural interventions. Alcohol reduction counselling can be supportive at the individual level and should be an integral part of HIV prevention programmes for female sex workers and others such as patrons in bars. The counselling should be addressed in a sensitive manner to bar owners and managers.
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    Prevalence and Correlates of Mycoplasma genitalium Infection Among Female Sex Workers in Kampala, Uganda
    (Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2012) Vandepitte, Judith; Muller, Etienne; Bukenya, Justine; Nakubulwa, Susan; Kyakuwa, Nassim; Buve, Anne; Weiss, Helen; Hayes, Richard; Grosskurth, Heiner
    The importance of Mycoplasma genitalium in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)–burdened sub–Saharan Africa is relatively unknown. We assessed the prevalence and explored determinants of this emerging sexually transmitted infection (STI) in high-risk women in Uganda. Methods. Endocervical swabs from 1025 female sex workers in Kampala were tested for Mycoplasma genitalium using a commercial Real-TM polymerase chain reaction assay. Factors associated with prevalent Mycoplasma genitalium, including sociodemographics, reproductive history, risk behavior, and HIV and other STIs, were examined using multivariable logistic regression. Results. The prevalence of Mycoplasma genitalium was 14% and higher in HIV-positive women than in HIVnegative women (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.64; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12–2.41). Mycoplasma genitalium infection was less prevalent in older women (adjusted OR, 0.61; 95% CI, .41–.90 for women ages 25–34 years vs ,25 years; adjusted OR, 0.32; 95% CI, .15–.71 for women $35 years vs those ,25 years) and in those who had been pregnant but never had a live birth (adjusted OR, 2.25; 95% CI, 1.04–4.88). Mycoplasma genitalium was associated with Neisseria gonorrhoeae (adjusted OR, 1.84; 95% CI, 1.13–2.98) and with Candida infection (adjusted OR, 0.41; 95% CI, .18–.91), and there was some evidence of association with Trichomonas vaginalis (adjusted OR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.00–2.44). Conclusions. The relatively high prevalence of Mycoplasma genitalium and its association with prevalent HIV urgently calls for further research to explore the potential role this emerging STI plays in the acquisition and transmission of HIV infection.