African health sciences
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African health sciences · Dec 2001
Editorial CommentClarifying the role of misoprostol in obstetrics.
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African health sciences · Dec 2001
Antibacterial and antifungal activities of extracts of Zanthoxylum chalybeum and Warburgia ugandensis, Ugandan medicinal plants.
Measles is a killer disease of children in Uganda. The treatment of the disease is mainly directed at the secondary microbial infections. A large proportion of the population in Uganda still relies on the use of herbal remedies, which have been claimed to produce beneficial responses. ⋯ Chromatography of extracts of Warburgia ugandensis stem bark afforded compound 49-169 K, which was characterized as the sesquiterpine muzigadial (by (1)H-NMR spectroscopy), which did not show antibacterial activity but had antifungal activity against C. albicans. Therefore, the claimed efficacy of W. ugandensis could be attributable to antibacterial and antifungal activity of its components. Since Z. chalybeum extracts had neither antifungal nor antibacterial activities, its mode of action is unclear from these results.
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African health sciences · Dec 2001
Ebola haemorrhagic fever among hospitalised children and adolescents in northern Uganda: epidemiologic and clinical observations.
A unique feature of previous Ebola outbreaks has been the relative sparing of children. For the first time, an out break of an unusual illness-Ebola haemorrhagic fever occurred in Northern Uganda Gulu district. ⋯ Strategies to shield children from exposure to dying and sick Ebola relatives are recommended in the event of future Ebola outbreaks. Health education to children and adolescents to avoid contact with sick and their body fluids should be emphasized.
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African health sciences · Aug 2001
Evaluation of the adjuvant effect of Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin mutant (LTK63) on the systemic immune responses to intranasally co-administered measles virus nucleoprotein. Part I: antibody responses.
The adjuvanticity and immunogenicity of the heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) of Escherichia coli and of its non-toxic mutant, LTK63, was evaluated after intranasal administration of CBA mice with recombinant measles virus nucleoprotein (rMVNP) with or without LT or LTK63. Both LT and LTK63 were shown to be highly immunogenic with higher responses observed 4 weeks after the booster immunization. Although the nucleoprotein was immunogenic on its own, mice immunized with the nucleoprotein plus wild type LT produced significantly high antibody responses (p< 0.01). ⋯ No significant differences were observed between groups of mice immunized intranasally with rMVNP plus LT or LTK63 (p> 0.05). Data on IgG antibody isotype profiles showed that IgG 1 and IgG 2a were predominant in mice immunized with rMVNP + LT or LTK63 whereas IgG 1 predominated when rMVNP was given on its own implying that LT and LTK63 induce both Th1 and Th2-type immune responses. These results highlight the great potential of this non-toxic mutant of LT as a safe vaccine adjuvant.