ABSTRACT Rapid diagnostic test kits are a crucial component of HIV diagnosis in resource limited settings. HIV RDTs are recommended because they are less expensive, require little expertise, require little sample volume and generate results in less than 20 minutes. The WHO, CDC, and UNAIDS recommend countries to undertake pre and post market evaluations of HIV RDTs used for HIV testing in that particular country. Little is known about post market evaluations of test used in Ghana. Most of th...
ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION: In the treatment of malaria in pregnant women in Ghana, the treatment regimen for first trimester is different from the treatment regimen for second and third trimesters. Quinine is the recommended treatment regimen in the first trimester of pregnancy but this is not well accepted by both prescribers and patients. This seems to be due to perception of likely unwanted side effects that may lead to spontaneous abortion and its longer treatment duration, (anecdotal eviden...
ABSTRACT The development and spread of resistance to current antimalarial strategies underline the necessity to develop innovative strategies. Recent studies suggest that ivermectin has a mosquitocidal effect and ivermectin mass administration might become an effective and complementary strategy in malaria elimination and eradication. However, ivermectin has been in use in many African Countries for over 25 years in Mass Drug Administration for onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis control....
ABSTRACT Background: Type II Diabetes (T2D) has been on the rise in recent times all over the world with the worst upsurge occurring in developing countries. In developing countries such as Ghana about half of diabetics are undiagnosed. This high number is found to be associated with the poor utilization of health services which is key in detecting hidden diseases. Health seeking behaviour is found to be directly associated with incidence and prevalence of diseases such that it ensures early ...
ABSTRACT Background: Malaria remains a significant source of morbidity and mortality in Ghana. The AngloGold Ashanti mining company in Obuasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana concerned about the threats malaria poses to its operations instituted a comprehensive malaria control programme including Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) in 2006. This district wide intervention against malaria needs to be evaluated and this report presents such analysis of the effect of the intervention on malaria parasit...
ABSTRACT leonatal sepsis is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among both term and preterm infants. The current study was carried out to identify factors associated with neonatal sepsis among neonates admitted to the Navrongo War Memorial Hospital. A retrospective cross sectional study involving the review of hospital records of neonates admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the hospital between January, 2015 and June. 2017 as undertaken. All neonates that...
ABSTRACT Background Intestinal helminths are very common in developing countries including Ghana. It is estimated in developing countries that one-third of all pregnant women are infected with helminths. Intestinal helminths infestation during pregnancy may be linked with adverse outcomes including prenatal mortality, maternal anaemia, low birth weight and growth restriction. This study’s objective was to determine the prevalence of intestinal helminths infestation among pregnant women att...
ABSTRACT Background Malaria has a high burden in sub-Saharan Africa which is caused by Plasmodium falciparum. Delayed or inaccurate diagnosis of malaria could lead to fatal consequences in patients seeking medical care for malaria. Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests (mRDT) provide an alternative in the absence of malaria microscopy to provide prompt and accurate diagnosis and is used to complement clinical diagnosis of individuals who report at health facilities with unspecific symptoms. Low sen...
ABSTRACT Background: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) associated with the use of calcium channel blockers (CCBs) are not frequently reported in Ghana. Studies overseas have linked underreporting of ADRs to low awareness of adverse drug reactions reporting schemes, low prevalence of severe adverse drug reactions, and gender differences. In Ghana, these factors have not been examined extensively. Objectives: The general objective of this study was to determine factors that influenced reporting of ...
ABSTRACT Background It is a common goal among emergency medical systems all over the world to respond as fast as possible to the scene of emergencies in order to improve patient outcome. The study was done to assess whether ambulance response time has an influence on prehospital trauma survival. Method: A retrospective cross sectional study whereby data from trauma patients transported by ambulances belonging to the National Ambulance Service from January to December 2014 in the Greate...
ABSTRACT The growing need to capture data on health events using faster and efficient means makes active surveillance an alternative means to capture anti-malarial drug safety data. A prospective cohort study was conducted at the Navrongo War Memorial hospital to determine the level of adverse events reporting following the intake of artimisinin based combination therapies (ACTs) by patients with uncomplicated malaria. The study employed active follow-up by telephone or home visit to documen...
ABSTRACT Background: Malaria associated anemia is a major problem in malaria endemic areas, especially among children five years and below. Studies have shown that treating children with uncomplicated malaria with efficacious antimalarial drugs clears parasites, which prevents the depletion of red blood cells and thereby improving the Hb concentration levels. No study has been conducted in the Kassena-Nankana District of northern Ghana to determine the effect of antimalarial on the Hb of chi...
ABSTRACT Malaria remains a major public health problem in Africa. An estimated 525,600 people died of malaria in 2013. The burden of malaria is heaviest in children less than 5 years who account for about 78 percent of all deaths. There was an increasing trend of reported severe malaria cases at the Kintampo Municipal hospital since 2012. This study was done to determine the association between household and community factors and severe malaria in children less than five years using a case co...