Santé (Montrouge, France)
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Santé (Montrouge, France) · Oct 2007
Comparative Study[Individual and environmental characteristics associated with immunization of children in rural areas in Burkina Faso: a multi-level analysis].
National and international efforts to immunize children aim to remove barriers that hinder full vaccination programs and to reinforce factors promoting it. Despite Burkina Faso's participation in all international and sub-regional initiatives to protect mothers and children from vaccination-preventable communicable diseases, vaccination coverage there remains low and has grown irregularly, from 34.7% in 1993 to 29.3% in 1998 and 43.9% in 2003. The situation is even more critical in rural than in urban areas. ⋯ Adding resources to vaccination programs is always a challenge for a number of national healthcare systems. It is not, however, the only key to success. The organization of healthcare systems and the contacts and relationships they establish with their populations appear to be determinant. The local vaccination culture that results from this interaction may be a key to explaining the variations observed between the different health districts.
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Santé (Montrouge, France) · Jul 2007
Comparative Study[Female sex workers in Benin, 2002. Behavioural survey and HIV and other STI screening].
As part of an HIV prevention program aimed at female sex workers (FSWs) and their male clients in Benin, we conducted a survey combining laboratory testing and a behavioural questionnaire in 2002 to estimate the prevalence of HIV, Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) and Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and to determine the social, demographic and behavioral factors associated with these infections. The study provided a follow-up of the epidemiological situation in Cotonou, Benin's largest city, where the intervention began in 1993 with the collection of baseline data; it also collected such data for three other cities in Benin, to which the intervention was being extended in 2002. ⋯ In developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, interventions targeting FSWs are an essential priority for HIV prevention.
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Santé (Montrouge, France) · Oct 2006
Review[Epidemiology of epilepsy in sub-Saharan Africa: a review].
Epilepsy is, above all tropical, moreover, very african in its frequency and gravity. Data on the prevalence of epilepsy shows it to be two or three times more prevalent in tropical zones than in industrialized countries in non tropical areas, however it is rare to find data on the incidence and prognosis of epilepsy in sub-Saharan Africa. ⋯ Infectious diseases, in particular parasitic diseases such as neurocysticercosis or cerebral malaria, seem to be the cause of the majority of the cases of epilepsy. However it is necessary to do additional epidemiological studies to determine the etiologies of epilepsy more precisely in sub-Saharan Africa.
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Santé (Montrouge, France) · Jul 2006
[Service quality assurance by death analysis during the 2004 cholera outbreak in Douala].
Morbidity and mortality conferences (MMC) are used today in most medical departments as a tool for quality assurance as well as an educational tool. We introduced MMC with regard to cholera lethality during the 2004 cholera outbreak in Douala. The Delegation of Public Health (DPH) in Douala, coordinating body for the combat against the epidemic, decided to open cholera treatment units (CTU) in fourteen hospitals, equally distributed over the town. ⋯ These meetings analysing the reasons behind a case of cholera dying in a CTU gave the opportunity to discuss performance, to identify problems, and to search together for solutions. They were thought of as a tool for improving the quality of the service. Looking at the low over-all lethality rate during this major epidemic they seemed to have, at least partially succeeded.