ABSTRACT Drug abuse is a major public health problem among the youth worldwide especially in developing countries. The accessibility, affordability, and consumption of abused drugs by the youths have attracted great concern among public health personnel. The impact of drug abuse in human health and well-being is substantial and its contribution ranges from medical, social, family, legal and economic problems which are created by its uncontrolled use. Thus, drug abuse-related problems among th...
Abstract School Health began in Kenya in 1960‟s as an initiative of UNESCO and FAO as an intervention tool to encourage attendance and reduce malnutrition in school-going children. The introduction of free, Universal Primary Education (UPE) in 2003 increased pupil enrolment from 5.9 to over 7.8 million thus overstretching water, hygiene and sanitation facilities hence necessitating for a policy. In 2009, the Kenya Government developed the National School-based health program with its policy...
ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to assess the influence of demography, water consumption level, water supply and water utilization on perception of CBWR sustainability at Rironi Self Help Water Project (SHWP) in Kiambu County, Kenya. The study objectives were: to determine the influence of demographic characteristics of project members on perception of CBWR sustainability, to establish the influence of water supply on perception of CBWR sustainability, to establish the influence of wate...
ABSTRACT Trachoma is one of the water-related infectious diseases that affects the eyes and manifests itself in impoverished, rural areas with little access to clean safe water and proper sanitation that disproportionately afflicts women and children in poor communities. It is a bacterial disease caused by Chlamydia trachomatis that is highly infectious and can spread through an infected person’s hands or clothing or transmitted by flies that have been in contact with discharge or nose of a...
ABSTRACT Puerperal sepsis is a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality and is usually within the first 42 days after child birth/pregnancy termination. It is a common pregnancy-related condition, which could eventually lead to obstetric shock or even death. Studies have shown that puerperal sepsis is the second cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in the resource poor countries. One‘s susceptibility to developing an infection is related to such factors as cesarean section, exte...
ABSTRACT Tomato production in Kenya, especially in the coastal region has remained low due to pests and diseases attack especially Meloidogyne spp. (root-knot nematodes) which is a serious threat. A study was therefore conducted in the coastal region of Kenya with the aim of sourcing for endophytic fungi (EF) which could be used alongside moderately resistant tomato cultivars to manage Meloidogyne spp. Pathogenecity test of these isolates was carried out in the screenhouse using cv. Cal J. In...
ABSTRACT The terms Total Quality Management and Continuous Quality Improvement are no longer used to show high class or feel good attitude but are practices put in place to gain an edge in the business, and have become woven into the very fabric of hospital operations. The role of Total Quality Management in a firm is to ensure integration of firms operations and processes to achieve clients’ satisfaction and meet organizational objective. This study sought to examine critical attributes fo...
Although most studies document the benefit of delaying umbilical cord clamping in relation to improved haemoglobin levels, few of those studies have been done in low resource settings. Standard routine practice in most facilities is generally clamping umblical cord in less than 60 seconds. This study therefore sought to establish the effects of umbilical cord clamping time on infant nutritional status at 6 months at Longisa County Referral Hospital through randomized controlled trial des...
ABSTRACT The World Health Organization (WHO, 2018) defines adolescents as individuals in the 10-19 years age group. Every year estimated 21million girls aged 15-19 years, and 2.5 million girls under 15 years become pregnant and approximately 3.9 million girls aged 15-19 years undergo unsafe abortion every year. Despite the high sexual activity by the Malawian adolescents which is rated at 51 percent, there is low utilization of modern contraception. Failure to utilize the modern contraceptio...
ABSTRACT Although vaccines currently approved for routine childhood immunization are safe and effective, frequent Adverse Events Following Immunization often cause ill health and sometimes loss of public trust in immunization programs. Nurses are essential in AEFI surveillance. During the pre-licensure clinical trials, serious adverse events with low occurrence frequency go undetected due to limited number of enrolled subjects. In Nairobi County, only one Adverse Event Following Immunization ...
ABSTRACT Despite numerous benefits of minimally processed fruits vended as street foods, it has been recognized that they can be a source of foodborne illnesses that can majorly result from poor hygiene practices and unsanitary conditions at fruit vending points. The main objective of the study was to assess the hygiene status and microbial contamination in fruit vending businesses in Nairobi central ward. The study was cross sectional with analytical component and through purposive sampling...
ABSTRACT The global cholera burden is not precisely known since many of the cases lack proper investigation and documentation systems. More importantly, the situation is exacerbated by defective epidemiological surveillance as well as inadequate diagnostic procedures. Isolation of Vibrio cholerae is critical for disease outbreak confirmation. Rapid diagnostic testing of fecal specimens, on basis of lipopolysaccharide detection of V. cholerae O1 or O139 sub-types may enhance early outbreak de...
The increase in human population has put tremendous pressure on natural resources. In Kenya, the growing human population is associated with an increase in developmental needs thus posing a threat to the land resource. This problem has been noted in the high potential areas of the country which support a large population seeking to fully exploit the land resources for their livelihoods and welfare. In Lugari district, human population has been increasing over the years and people have c...
ABSTRACT Typhoid is a disease of public health importance which affects people of all walks of lives in urban, per-urban and rural areas. Water borne diseases, typhoid included kill about five million babies annually and make one sixth of the world population ill. It is estimated that globally about 17 million cases of typhoid fever occur annually causing 600,000 deaths. Typhoid fever is still common in the developing world, where it affects about 12.5 million persons each year. In Kenya the ...
ABSTRACT Obesity is a complex condition that is caused by a mixture of medical, psychological and environmental factors. Childhood obesity is characterized by rise in the number of fat cells. It is one of today’s visible yet neglected Public Health problems with serious health implications such as type2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases that affect individuals in all ages and socio-economic groups. This was a crossectional study aimed at investigating the prevalence of obes...