Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to N Nitunga.
Graves' disease was diagnosed in a 35-year old woman with a history of myxoedema in childhood. Clinical data, ultrasonography and radioisotope scanning showed that the disease had developed in an ectopic subhyoid thyroid gland. Although numerous thyroid diseases associated with an ectopic thyroid have been described, Graves' disease does not seem to be frequent since only one case has been published so far.
In the first seroepidemiological survey in Burundi in 1984, only 59 acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) cases were recognized. We report here clinical surveillance of AIDS cases in the 4 hospitals in Bujumbura during a 4-month period in 1986. The project was combined with a seroprevalence study of pregnant women in the 6 dispensaries in Bujumbura. 258 AIDS patients were recorded. 16% of the 925 pregnant women were seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The clinical characteristics of 120 adult AIDS patients were similar to those reported in Kinshasa or Kigali. From demographic findings we presume that the major mode of HIV transmission in Bujumbura is by sexual contact. The results of this study formed the starting point of prevention activities against AIDS in Burundi.