Lucy Carpenter: Annual Report 1999-2000

Lucy Carpenter (Faculty Fellow) continued to collaborate with the MRC Programme on AIDS in a study evaluating population-based methods for reducing rates of new HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases in rural Uganda. The main method being evaluated is a behavioural change programme - either alone, or in combination with improved management of other sexually transmitted diseases. Data collection for this very large study in rural Uganda involved three population-based surveys each comprising over 20,000 adults. Follow-up of HIV-negative adults for sero-conversion has now been completed and preparations for the final analyses are currently underway.

A related area of research in which she has been actively engaged is an international collaboration on HIV and cancer organized by the ICRF cancer epidemiology unit. Work in this area is valuable for increasing general understanding of the importance of infections as potential causes of cancer. The collaboration has initially focused on the impact of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) on the occurrence of cancer in HIV-infected adults in developed countries. This has been found to reduce rates of two cancers already known to be linked with AIDS - non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and Kasposi's Sarcoma - but not other cancers. This gives some reassurance that, as HIV-infected people survive longer, thanks to HAART, their cancer risks are not likely to increase.

Publications

(with A. Ross, D. Morgan, R. Lubega, B. Mayanja and J.A.G. Whitworth) 'Reduced Fertility Associated with HIV: The Contribution of Pre-existing Subfertility', AIDS, 13, 1999.

(with J. F. Kengeya-Kayondo, P.M. Kintu, J. Nabaitu, R. Pool, J.A.G. Whitworth) 'Risk Perception and HIV-1 Prevalence in 15,000 Adults in Rural South-West Uganda', AIDS, 13, 1999.

(with N. French, J. Nakiyingi, E. Lugada, C. Watera, K. Moi, M. Moore, D. Antvelink, D. Mulder, E.N. Janoff, J. Whitworth, and C.F. Gilks) '23-valent Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine in HIV-1-infected Ugandan Adults: Double-blind, Randomized and Placebo Controlled Trial', Lancet, 355, 2000.

(with A. Kamali, J.A.G. Whitworth, R. Pool, A. Ruberantwari, A, Ojwiya) 'Seven Year Trends in HIV-1 Infection Rates, and Changes in Sexual Behaviour, Among Adults in Rural Uganda', AIDS, 14, 2000.

(with M.A. Quigley, D. Morgan, S.S. Malamba, B. Mayanja, M.J. Okongo and J.A.G. Whitworth) 'A Case-control Study of Risk Factors for HIV Incidence in Rural Uganda', Journal of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, 23, 2000.