There are about 292 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Zambia. The country of the clinical trial is determined by the location of where the clinical research is being studied. Most studies are often held in multiple locations & countries.
TB-Speed SAM is a multicentric, prospective diagnostic cohort study conducted in three countries with high and very high TB incidence (Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Zambia). It aims at assessing several diagnostic tests that could result in the development of a score and algorithm for TB treatment decision in hospitalised children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM).
There is a growing interest for the use of stool samples as an alternative to respiratory samples for the diagnosis of intrathoracic TB in children unable to produce sputum. Unlike respiratory samples, stool samples require processing before molecular testing. Several groups have already evaluated different processing methods. However, it is difficult to know which method has the best accuracy and potential for use at Primary Health Care level, due to the difference in study designs and populations. Therefore, in this study, the investigators propose to evaluate the accuracy of different promising stool processing methods in the same population within the same study with an adapted design. Furthermore, no study has so far evaluated for stool testing the new Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra cartridge that has a lower level of detection than the previous Xpert MTB/RIF cartridge. The investigators propose to evaluate the accuracy of Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra (Ultra) performed on stool samples collected from children with presumptive TB and processed using four different processing methods (Standard sucrose flotation method, optimized sucrose flotation method, SPK, and SOS) against bacteriological results from respiratory specimens and to perform a head-to-head comparison of the diagnostic accuracy and feasibility of these different methods in Uganda and Zambia. The selection of processing methods was based on accuracy results, degree of simplification allowing their introduction at PHC level, and finding from the TB-Speed in-vitro stool processing study. The standard sucrose flotation method is kept to assess if results obtained with the optimised sucrose-flotation method in our in-vitro study can be reproduced in-vivo
Malaria in pregnancy has devastating consequences for mother and foetus. WHO recommends intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) for asymptomatic women, but high-level parasite resistance to SP threatens its efficacy. Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) has the potential to replace SP for IPTp. However, the DP strategy has not been found to be superior to SP for reducing the incidence of low birthweight (LBW), small-for-gestational age (SGA), or preterm birth. This may be the result of sulphadoxine having antibacterial properties; it is derived from sulphonamide, which have been used for decades to treat curable STIs/RTIs. However, SP is unlikely to be curative of STIs/RTIs, nor highly effective against malaria parasites. Thus, combination treatment that contains a more efficacious antimalarial and a more efficacious anti-STI/RTI may produce better birth outcomes. The investigators will therefore determine whether combining SP with metronidazole (MTZ) or, separately, DP with MTZ can improve birth outcomes more than SP alone, potentially paving the way for integrated control strategies that will reduce the dual burden of malaria and curable STIs/RTIs. This is an individually-randomized, 3-arm, partially-placebo controlled superiority trial comparing the efficacy, safety and tolerance of IPTp-SP versus IPTp-SP with MTZ, or IPTp-DP with MTZ to reduce adverse birth outcomes attributable to malaria and curable STIs/RTIs in 5,436 women in the Nchelenge District of Zambia.
To achieve global goals for the treatment of HIV, most high-prevalence countries are experimenting with and scaling up differentiated service delivery models (DSD). A handful of efforts have been formally described and evaluated in the literature; many others are being implemented formally or informally under routine care, without a research or evaluation goal. For most countries, however, there is little evidence on the big picture-the proportion of clinics offering alternative models, eligibility criteria and the proportion of patients considered eligible, the number of patients actually participating, health outcomes such as viral suppression, empirical resource utilization compared to traditional care, variations among the models, duration of patient participation, fidelity to model guidelines, effects on clinic efficiency, and sustainability without external donor support. AMBIT a set of data synthesis, data collection, and data analysis activities aimed at generating information for near- and long-term decision making and creating an approach and platform for ongoing evaluation of differentiated models of HIV treatment delivery in the future. The project will collect and analyze a wide range of existing data sets pertinent to DSD. This protocol is for an analysis of existing medical record data collected by the Ministry of Health, implementing partners, and other completed, ongoing, or new evaluations, trials, and observational studies. Outcomes to be reported include coverage/uptake of DSD, patients' outcomes, and distribution of each model. There will be no study interaction with individual patients, providers, caregivers, or others for this analysis.
The overall objective of this study is to evaluate whether the addition of secondary distribution HIV self-test kits to existing partner notification guidelines increases the proportion of male partners who access facility-based HIV testing services, when compared to the partner notification strategy alone
The impact of licensed rotavirus vaccines in LMICs is limited by their lower immunogenicity and efficacy in these settings. Improved vaccines and vaccination schedules would result in substantially greater reductions in infant diarrhoeal disease and mortality. Placebo-controlled trials of new rotavirus vaccines are no longer ethical, leading to challenges for traditional routes of licensure for vaccines that are in the development pipeline. A HIC model of rotavirus would address these challenges, whilst also offering an opportunity to study the causes of poor oral vaccine immunogenicity. Rotarix™ is in routine use in Zambia administered at 6 and 10 weeks infant age. Shedding of rotavirus vaccine after vaccination has recently been explored as a measure of mucosal immunity, analogous to oral poliovirus vaccine challenge models. We propose to explore methodological development of an attenuated vaccine as a HIC model to advance rotavirus immunology and vaccinology in Zambian infants. We will evaluate use of minimally invasive procedures including sublingual/submandibular sampling and stool collection for viral shedding as measures of vaccine-induced and naturally acquired mucosal immunity. This approach holds the potential to develop the first rotavirus HIC model in a low-income country and could be used to accelerate licensure of new rotavirus vaccines and explore causes of poor oral vaccine efficacy as well as correlates of vaccine protection. To do this, we will recruit a cohort of 22 Zambian infants receiving Rotarix™ at 6 and 10 weeks as part of their routine immunisation. Infants will be followed up actively on the day of vaccination, days 1,3,5 and 7 following each vaccine dose for collection of stool and saliva samples. Blood samples for IgA and IgG titres will be collected on days 0, 28, 31 and 56, and standard ELISA methods used to determine vaccine seroconversion. The work brings together collaborators at the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia, Imperial College in UK and Christian Medical College, Vellore in India to prepare the Zambian centre as a potential HIC model site.
TB-Speed HIV is a prospective multicentre management study evaluating the safety and feasibility of the recently proposed PAANTHER TB treatment decision algorithm for HIV-infected children with presumptive TB. It will be conducted in four countries with high and very high TB (Tuberculosis) incidence (Côte d'Ivoire, Uganda, Mozambique, and Zambia) which have not participated in the study that developed the PAATHER algorithm.
This purpose of this study is to look at the best way to offer the Like Father Like Son + Spear & Shield program.
Youth-led strategies remain untested in clinic-based programs to achieve viral suppression (VS) and reduce self-stigma (feelings of worthlessness/shame) among adolescents and young adults (AYA) living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. In response, Project YES! will conduct a randomized controlled trial to test the impact of a theory-based intervention that places trained and paid HIV-positive youth peer mentors (YPMs) in four HIV clinics in Ndola, Zambia. AYA, ages 15 to 24 years, will be randomly assigned to either an intervention arm, consisting of monthly one-on-one and small group sessions with a YPM and optional caregiver support groups, or a usual care arm. Survey data and blood samples will be collected and analyzed to test the hypothesis that youth who are in the intervention group will experience more viral suppression than youth in the comparison group.
Linear growth failure, a manifestation of chronic undernutrition in early childhood, is a recalcitrant problem in resource constrained settings. The underlying causes of growth failure are multifactorial, but persistent and recurrent infection and inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract and immune activation, a condition commonly referred to as environmental enteropathy, is an important contributor. A highly enriched 13C-Sucrose Breath Test, a measure of sucrase-isomaltase activity, will be evaluated as a non-invasive biomarker of environmental enteropathy, and more specifically of intestinal brush border enzyme activity in 6 resource poor countries (Bangladesh, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Peru and Zambia) in 100 volunteers aged 12-15 months (total n=600) and evaluated relative to the lactose rhamnose test and linear and ponderal growth over a 3-6 month period following biomarker assessment. Field usability will also be assessed.