A total of 343 women, aged 25 60 years, attending gynaecological polyclinics in DR Congo were included for sample enrolment.
Sample enrolment was performed strictly according to protocol, thus providing a high-quality data set and making extrapolations redundant.
They were asked to complete a questionnaire and give a blood sample at enrolment.
Pfmdr-1 and Pfcrt genes were amplified in samples from enrolment (and day of recurrence in cases of CQ treatment failure) by nested PCR approach, as described [12].
The sampling frame, enrolment methodology and response rates for this cross-sectional survey are described elsewhere in detail [ 10- 13].
These studies used standardized protocols (including bacteriological NP samples at enrolment), the same inclusion criteria of AOM [ 13] and the same age of enrolled children [ 3, 14- 16].
**Normoalbuminuria, microalbuminuria, and macroalbuminuria: 24-hour urinary albumin excretion ≤29 mg, 30-299 mg, and ≥300 mg, respectively, in two out of three consecutive samples before enrolment.
Researchers took blood samples at enrolment and at 14 weeks to measure serum albumin concentration, haemoglobin concentration, CD4 count (FacsCount, Becton-Dickinson, Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA), and HIV viral load (Roche Amplicor; Roche, Basel. Switzerland; detection level 48 copies/ml).
Based on the global prevalence rates of HPV types in ICC [ 20] and allowing for ~ 30% non-evaluable samples, target enrolment was 285 women to provide 200 samples evaluable for the prevalence of HPV-16 and HPV-18 with a precision of ± 7% and ± 5%, respectively.
25 To distinguish between recrudescence and new infection, samples from enrolment and the day of treatment failure were compared in a stepwise manner on the basis of polymorphisms in merozoite surface protein-1, merozoite surface protein-2, and four microsatellite markers (TA40, TA60, TA81, and PfPK2).
