African health sciences最新文献

Background: The burden of infertility is serious for women in high-fertility countries.

Objectives: We sought to identify demographic, behavioral/environmental, and reproductive risk factors for various infertility factors (i.e., ovarian, tubal, uterine/cervical, male/other) among women seeking infertility treatment in central Tanzania; to determine the association between pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and tubal factor infertility (TFI); and to identify barriers to infertility treatment by women's home regional zone.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of women seeking infertility treatment in Dodoma, Tanzania from January-March 2020. We surveyed 168 participants aged 18-49 years and reviewed their medical records to confirm infertility status and potential risk factors. We estimated prevalence ratios for factors associated with infertility using logistic regression. Treatment barriers were compared by women's regional zone to see if barriers varied geographically.

Results: The median age of participants was 32 years (range: 18-48). Infertility factors did not vary greatly by patient demographics, behavioral/environmental, or reproductive risk factors. Approximately 31.48% of women had PID diagnoses. Those with PID had 1.94 (95% CI: 1.30, 2.90) times the prevalence of TFI diagnosis as those with other infertility factors, after adjusting for age, pesticide use, alcohol use, age at sexual debut, prior obstetric events, and family history of infertility. Logistical barriers to treatment, such as time and cost, were more frequently reported than emotional, stigma, or other barriers, regardless of regional zone.

Conclusions: PID was strongly associated with TFI after adjustment for confounders. Infertility treatment access due to cost remains a challenge in Tanzania.

Background: The emanation of multi-drugs resistant microorganisms and the challenges faced in combating multi-drug resistant infections is a public health issue and this has increased the search for effective antibiotics from natural sources.

Objectives: This work aims to determine the susceptibility of some pathogenic bacterial species to snail slime.

Methods: The antibacterial activity of aqueous and ethanolic snail slime extracts were investigated against Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi, Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli using the agar well diffusion method.

Results: The results showed that all the organisms were sensitive to both extracts but were more susceptible to aqueous extracts; the highest zone of inhibition for aqueous extracts was 27.33mm ± 2.51mm for Staphylococcus aureus at concentration of 1000µl/ml, while the lowest was 11.33mm ± 1.53mm against Escherichia coli. The highest zone of inhibition for ethanolic fraction was 15.67 ± 1.15mm for Salmonella typhi. The lowest inhibition was 9.33mm ± 0.58mm for Escherichia coli. The MIC was 3.125% for Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli and 6.25% for S. typhi. The extracts were not cidal at the concentrations used. Statistical analysis revealed that the treatments between the aqueous and ethanolic extracts against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhi were significant (p ≤ 0.05). The treatment against B. subtilis showed no significant difference between the two extracts (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: This study has revealed that snail slime possesses antibacterial properties which can be used as anti-microbial agents against infectious diseases.

Background: The prevailing unwillingness to accept COVID-19 vaccination among the eligible population has been a serious setback in Nigeria's bid to reach herd immunity against the pandemic.

Objective: We assessed the impact of a multidisciplinary health communication intervention (MHCI) on willingness to accept COVID-19 vaccination among eligible unvaccinated community dwellers (EUCD) in Nsukka Urban, Enugu State, Nigeria.

Methods: Through a quasi-experiment that adopted a pre-test, post-test, non-control group design, we studied a total of 85 eligible unvaccinated adults. A researcher-designed "Willingness to Accept COVID-19 Vaccination Questionnaire" was the instrument used for data collection. The data gathered was analysed by means of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. Specifically, descriptive and inferential statistics were used to test the formulated research questions and the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance.

Results: We found that the mean scores of willingness to accept COVID-19 vaccination increased significantly after the treatment. There was no significant interaction effect of gender, level of education, and age on the mean of willingness to accept COVID-19 vaccination scores of EUCD after MHCI.

Conclusion: The study established that MHCI is impactful in bolstering the willingness to accept COVID-19 vaccination. The Nigerian government should adopt and implement this intervention in schools, communities, and other institutions in order to attain herd immunity in Nigeria.

Background: Early resumption of sexual intercourse in the puerperium is a concern for couples because it is often not discussed during pre-natal or postpartum care.

Objective: This cross-sectional survey aimed to establish the current burden and factors associated with the early resumption of sexual intercourse within the puerperium at the National Referral Hospital and Mengo Hospital.

Methods: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study among 445 parous women attending the six-week postpartum review and the young child clinic at Kawempe National Referral and Mengo Hospitals between March and May 2021.

Results: The prevalence of ERSP within the puerperium was 39%. This study's earliest time to resume sexual intercourse was one week; the majority had resumed by week four (9.2%). Factors associated with the early resumption of sexual relations were the person's tribe, going to the husband's home after birth, and parity. The prevalence of sexual morbidities was 13%. Seventy-five (75%) of mothers did not receive information from the health care workers on when they can resume sex following childbirth.

Conclusion: Puerperal sexual intercourse is still prevalent in Uganda. Interventions to reduce the resumption of sexual intercourse in the puerperium should focus on these determinants to delay puerperal sexual intercourse.

Introduction: The causative agent of COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) is an enveloped RNA (ribonucleic acid) virus of the SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2) family. The effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the differentiation and maturation of blood cells have been the subject of several studies, we report our experience of an investigation of the morphologic abnormalities of leukocytes observed during COVID-19.

Patients and methods: This is a prospective study of 5 months, from February 2021 to June 2021. Forty COVID-19 patients and 20 healthy controls were included in this study. We performed complete blood count and peripheral blood smear of all patients and control samples. Leukocytes abnormalities were quantified as a percentage of 100 leukocytes of the same lineage.

Results: The morphological abnormalities of the leukocytes found in percentage of patients have been mainly neutrophils bilobed 72,5%, hypogranulation 45%, acquired pseudo Pelger-Huet 35%, vacuolated neutrophils 42,5%, Apoptotic neutrophils 35,5 %, neutrophils with toxic granulations 30%, myelemia 45%, atypical lymphocytes 52,5%, lymphoplasmocytes 60% and vacuolated monocytes 27, 5%.

Conclusion: Our study revealed several morphological abnormalities of the different cells of the leukocyte lineage. The presence of toxic granulations in the cytoplasm of the myelocytes was specific to this study.

Background: Immunization has averted millions of hospitalizations and deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases. It is a strong public health tool for childhood infection control and prevention. Many mothers are aware of routine immunization but with doubtable knowledge.

Objectives: This study determined the mothers/caregivers' knowledge of routine childhood immunization and vaccination status of their children, aged 12-23 months in Ilorin East Area of Kwara State, Nigeria. It also identified some of the socio-demographic factors associated with good knowledge status of the mothers/caregivers.

Methods: This was a community-based cross-sectional study, carried out between December, 2019 and January, 2020, among 456 mothers / caregivers-children's pairs. Subjects were recruited using multistage cluster sampling technique. Data were collected using a pretested, semi-structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire.

Results: Up to 98.0% of the respondents were aware of childhood immunization with healthcare providers (92.1%) being their major source of information. Majority of the respondents (85.3%) had good knowledge of immunization, defined by a score ≤6 out of the 10 questions tested. There was a significant relationship between respondents' knowledge and full vaccination status of the children (p=0.001). The significant factors associated with good knowledge from binary logistic regression were mothers / caregivers' age >30 years, antenatal clinic attendance and at least secondary education (OR, p value = 10.60, 0.013; 8.50, <0.001; and 3.98, <0.001 respectively).

Conclusion: Mothers / caregivers' knowledge on immunization was good and this positively affected the full vaccination status of their children. There is a need to sustain female education and encourage antenatal clinic attendance, as tools to improve childhood immunization.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between female university students' breast cancer risk factors and their health beliefs about breast self-examination (BSE).

Methods: The sample of this descriptive and correlational study was 389 female students who were determined by stratified sampling method. Data were collected through the Socio-demographic Characteristics and Breast Cancer Risk Factors Determination Form and the Champion's Health Belief Model Scale (CHBMS). Data obtained from the study were analysed using SPSS for Windows 16.0 program. Data analysis was performed using percentage distributions, z test, and Spearman correlation analysis. Statistical significance was accepted p<0.05.

Results: While a positive correlation was detected between students' perceived breast cancer risk for themselves and perceived susceptibility, severity, benefit, self-efficacy related to BSE and health motivation mean scores, a negative and significant correlation was detected with perceived barriers to BSE mean score (p<0.05).

Conclusion: Results showed that although female university students had some risk factors in terms of breast cancer, they have low levels of perceived risk factors for themselves.

Background: The COVID-19 Pandemic, which started to be seen in Northern Cyprus (NC) as of March 2020, has affected the psychological mood of many people in our country as well as all over the world.

Objectives: It was aimed to evaluate the post-illness anxiety and depression levels of people who were diagnosed with COVID-19 positive, completed the quarantine period and then received a negative PCR report.

Methods: Through the questionnaire used in the study carried out between 1-30 April 2021, the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants and their personal experiences about COVID-19 were questioned and they were asked to answer the questions about the hospital anxiety and depression (HAD) scale.

Results: The average score of the participants (n=120) in the HAD scale was determined as 11.66±5.90. According to the average scores of the scale, the anxiety and depression levels of the patients fall into the category of '11 and above abnormal'. The patients' general average scores of anxieties were 6.20±3.48 (normal) and depression was 5.46±3.55 (normal).

Conclusion: Although it was determined that the HAD scores of the individuals from NC infected with COVID-19 were not high, most of them needed psychological support as they stated in their own statements.

Background: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a public health concern worldwide. Healthcare professionals are among the most vulnerable groups in the fight against COVID-19 because they are directly involved in the care of at-risk persons and patients with Covid-19.

Objectives: This study aimed to measure the level to which healthcare workers feel that they can be discriminated due to their involvement in the direct care of COVID-19 patients.

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among healthcare professionals in Nigeria. A nineteen-item discrimination against COVID-19 (DisCOV-19) questionnaire was developed and validated for the study. Descriptive statistics and One-Way Analysis of Variance were used for data analysis. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: Out of the 286 healthcare practitioners that participated in the study, 58.4% and 30.1% were pharmacists and physicians, respectively. The majority of the participants were at least "moderately concerned" about disability (60.9%), death (71.7%), unknown complications (65.1%), and risk of infecting family members and friends (83.2%) if asked to provide care for COVID-19 patients. The physicians had a significantly higher mean discrimination score compared to the pharmacists (p=0.041). Pharmacists had a significantly lower mean discrimination score than the nurses (p=0.011).

Conclusions: Many of the healthcare professionals reported a certain level of concern and perceived that they could face some forms of discrimination for providing care to COVID-19 patients.