A study of the john Cunningham virus (jcv) seroprevalence among Zambian adults presenting with “meningoencephalitis” to the university teaching hospital, Lusaka, Zambia
type: CreativeWork
description: The John Cunningham virus (JCV) is an opportunistic virus, which leads to the development of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Infection with the JCV occurs in childhood and the virus remains quiescent in the body, activating during immunosuppression. Exposure to the virus can be detected by testing for JC virus specific antibodies in an ELISA test. One of the major unanswered questions of JC virus epidemiology is whether it is less frequent in Africa than in the West. Our aim was to determine the JCV seroprevalence and factors associated with its positivity among Zambian adults presenting to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) with suspected meningoencephalitis and to assess the JCV ELISA test as a possible tool for PML risk stratification. This was a cross sectional nested study in the TB meningitis in Zambia (TMZ) study which looked at improving ways of TB diagnosis in patients with meningoencephalitis. It included adults 18 years and older who presented with suspected meningoencephalitis and had undergone a lumbar puncture as part of their evaluation. Confirmed PML cases were also recruited based on clinical features, confirmed by JCV DNA PCR of CSF. Data was analysed using Epi Info 7. Descriptive statistics were used to determine patient characteristics and JCV seroprevalence and compared using chi-square tests. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine the significance of factors associated with JCV positivity as well as for stratifying PML risk by comparing features of the HIV positive JCV positive group with confirmed PML cases. Final analysis for JCV seroprevalence was done in 96 patients and noted to be 46% (95% CI, 35.62 – 56.31). The JCV seroprevalence in the HIV positive group was 40.82% and in the HIV negative group was 51.06 % but there was no statistical difference (p-value 0.31). None of the other factors studied had any impact on the JCV seroprevalence. There was a bimodal distribution of age associated with JCV seroposi…
abstract: The John Cunningham virus (JCV) is an opportunistic virus, which leads to the development of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Infection with the JCV occurs in childhood and the virus remains quiescent in the body, activating during immunosuppression. Exposure to the virus can be detected by testing for JC virus specific antibodies in an ELISA test. One of the major unanswered questions of JC virus epidemiology is whether it is less frequent in Africa than in the West. Our aim was to determine the JCV seroprevalence and factors associated with its positivity among Zambian adults presenting to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) with suspected meningoencephalitis and to assess the JCV ELISA test as a possible tool for PML risk stratification. This was a cross sectional nested study in the TB meningitis in Zambia (TMZ) study which looked at improving ways of TB diagnosis in patients with meningoencephalitis. It included adults 18 years and older who presented with suspected meningoencephalitis and had undergone a lumbar puncture as part of their evaluation. Confirmed PML cases were also recruited based on clinical features, confirmed by JCV DNA PCR of CSF. Data was analysed using Epi Info 7. Descriptive statistics were used to determine patient characteristics and JCV seroprevalence and compared using chi-square tests. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine the significance of factors associated with JCV positivity as well as for stratifying PML risk by comparing features of the HIV positive JCV positive group with confirmed PML cases. Final analysis for JCV seroprevalence was done in 96 patients and noted to be 46% (95% CI, 35.62 – 56.31). The JCV seroprevalence in the HIV positive group was 40.82% and in the HIV negative group was 51.06 % but there was no statistical difference (p-value 0.31). None of the other factors studied had any impact on the JCV seroprevalence. There was a bimodal distribution of age associated with JCV seroposi…
author: Patel, Atiyah
language: en
keywords: Crohn disease--Zambia, Meningoencephalitis--Zambia
date published: 2020
date modified: 2026-07-27T22:06:58Z
provider: University of Zimbabwe
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: The University of Zambia