The Pan African medical journal
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Despite the existence of a highly effective measles vaccine and the decrease in worldwide deaths from measles by more than 79% from the 2000 baseline levels, measles today remains one of the leading causes of vaccine-preventable deaths in the world. The African region is a key player in the global fight against measles. Africa has made tremendous progress in its effort to immunize children and to control the disease, increasing its regional measles vaccination coverage from 56% in 2001 to 85% in 2010. ⋯ Alternative serosurveys such as Dried Blood Spot and Urine sample surveys were also tested in Kenya. In 2013 and 2016, two studies were also conducted in Kenya on the use of SMS reminder system for routine immunization. These studies, which showed SMS to significantly improve the vaccination coverage, paved way for use of SMS in a larger scale in Kenya.
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Observational Study
Management and outcome of traumatic brain injury patients at Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Traumatic brain Injuries represents a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and road traffic crashes accounts for a significant proportion of these injuries. However, access to neurosurgical care is poor in low income countries like Tanzania. The aim of this study was to assess the management and outcome of Traumatic brain injury patients at a tertiary level health facility in Tanzania. ⋯ Traumatic brain injury is a public health problem in Tanzania, mostly due to road traffic crashes. It is therefore important to reinforce preventive measures for road traffic crashes. There is also a need to develop and implement protocols for pre-hospital as well as in-hospital management of brain trauma in Tanzania.
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In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), several influenza epidemics are ignored because they are confused with other infectious diseases which have similar symptoms. Our study aims to assess influenza epidemics occurred in the DRC before 2008, year of the implementation of the influenza surveillance program in the DRC. We searched all the documents [articles, report,…] about influenza epidemic or acute respiratory infections [ARI] in the DRC before 2008 by using chosen key words. ⋯ Their attack rates ranged between 22.6 and 57.7% and lethality rates ranged between 3.2 and 3.7%. The two epidemics in Bosobolo and Kinshasa were associated with H3N2 influenza virus. This literature review highlights a high morbidity and mortality due to rare influenza epidemics in the DRC.
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Postoperative sore throat is listed from the top as patients' most undesirable outcome in the postoperative period. It is believed to originate from mucosal dehydration or edema, tracheal ischemia secondary to the pressure of endotracheal tube cuffs, aggressive oropharyngeal suctioning, and mucosal erosion from friction between delicate tissues and the endotracheal tube. Even if the problem was indicated in many literatures, it has never been studied in our country. The study aimed to assess prevalence and factors associated with postoperative sore throat among patients who were operated under general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation. ⋯ The prevalence of postoperative sore throat was high in Gondar University Hospital. Awareness creation about the problem should be made for health professionals and postoperative sore throat management protocol need to be introduced.
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Expanded programme on immunizations in resource-limited settings currently measure vaccination coverage defined as the proportion of children aged 12-23 months that have completed their vaccination. However, this indicator does not address the important question of when the scheduled vaccines were administered. We assessed the determinants of timely immunization to help the national EPI program manage vaccine-preventable diseases and impact positively on child survival in Senegal. ⋯ A significant delay in receipt of infant vaccines is found in Senegal while vaccine coverage is suboptimal. The national expanded program on immunization should consider measuring age at immunization or using seroepidemiological data to better monitor its impact.