The Pan African medical journal
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Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a rare cause of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) that mainly occurs in young women with no risk factors and no coronary atherosclerosis. Diagnosis is made by invasive coronary angiography (CA), computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA), intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT). The rarity of this entity as well as the complications of invasive treatment make it difficult to choose therapy between conservative management, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). We report a case of a 36-year-old woman presented with non ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) related to spontaneous dissection of coronary arteries (left main trunk, left anterior descending artery and left circumflex artery) treated medically with spectacular results at 2 months, controlled by CTCA.
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Over the past half century, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a low-income and post-conflict country, has experienced several Ebola Virus Disease outbreaks, with different fatality rates. The DRC is currently experiencing the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. ⋯ Results of this analysis revealed the perceptions, enablers, and nurturers that impacted public trust in the government and its health agencies among the Congolese population. Future interventions designed to address the COVID-19 in the DRC should account for these socio-cultural factors.
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Unlike developed countries which have purely intensivists also called critical care physicians or intensive care physicians to manage critically ill patients like those with severe forms of COVID-19, the practice of critical care medicine in Africa is coined to anaesthesiology. Hence, anaesthesiologist-intensivist physicians are the medical specialists taking care of critically ill COVID-19 patients in Africa. Likewise, unlike intensive care units (ICUs) in high income countries, those in most African countries face the challenge of a lack of emergency drugs and resuscitation equipment, limited health infrastructure and understaffed and underfunded health care systems. ⋯ However, despites the numerous efforts made in African anaesthesiologist-Intensivist phycisians to care for critically ill COVID-19 patients, the pandemic is spreading at a rapid rate across Africa. There is an urgent need for African health authorities to anticipate on how to scale up the future high ICU capacity needs and limited ICU workforce, infrastructure and equipment to manage severe forms of COVID-19 in future. It cannot be overemphasized that these severe forms of COVID-19 are potentially fatal and are a major contributor to the death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Poor data quality and use have been identified as key challenges that negatively impact immunization programs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In addition, many LMICs have a shortage of health personnel, and staff available have demanding workloads across several health programs. In order to address these challenges, the Better Immunization Data (BID) Initiative introduced a comprehensive suite of interventions, including an electronic immunization registry aimed at improving the quality, reliability, and use of immunization data in Arusha Region, Tanzania, and Southern Province of Zambia. The objective of this study was to assess the incremental costs of implementing the BID interventions in immunization programs in these two countries. ⋯ The introduction of electronic immunization registries and stock management systems through the BID Initiative was estimated to result in potential time savings in both countries. Health worker time was the area most impacted by the interventions, suggesting that time savings gained could be utilized for patient care. Information generated through this work provides evidence to inform stakeholder decision-making for scale-up of the BID interventions in Tanzania and Zambia and to inform other Low-to-Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) interested in similar interventions.
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since the first spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Morocco in March 2020, the Moroccan Health System underwent an important pressure and remarkable efforts were spent to provide efficient reactions to this emergency. Public hospitals have set adapted strategies dedicated to overcoming the overload of COVID-19 patients, and our Oncology and Hematology Center (OHC) has implemented a flexible adapted strategy aiming to reduce the burden of COVID-19. We report our single-center experience on the detailed infection control measures undertaken to minimize virus transmission. ⋯ by having a 0% rate of infection, the efficiency of our measures is proven, but efforts are still needed as we have to measure the impact of this pandemic in our cancer management.