Abstract Tuberculosis (TB) disease is caused by acid-fast bacilli called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The emergence of drug-resistant TB variants as well as co-infection with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) have complicated treatment for TB. Kenya currently implements TB screening and HIV testing for all patients and their caretakers, regardless of their reason for visiting the hospitals. Drug resistance is tested in all HIV-positive TB suspects to guide the choice of drugs in cases of...
Abstract The World Health Organization declared coronavirus disease of 2019 as an epidemic and public health emergency of international concern on January 30th, 2020. Different factors during a pandemic can contribute to low quality of life in the general population. Quality of life is considered multidimensional and subjective and is assessed by using patient reported outcome measures. The aim and objective of this review is to assess the impact of coronavirus disease of 2019 and associated...
Abstract Objective. The objective of the study was to determine the knowledge of mental health and mental illness by the community in Bungoma county Kenya. Design. The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study and Quantitative methods were adopted. Setting. The study was carried out in Bungoma County Sample. Five Sub-Counties in Bungoma County were purposively sampled to increase the representation. The household’s heads were sampled by stratified sampling; the researcher divided the p...
Abstract Background: Anopheles mosquitoes are the main malaria vector and as malaria cases decline in Sub Saharan Africa, there is a growing realisation that new interventions need to be added to complement the existing control strategies. To date, vector control is the most effective way to prevent malaria. Since the malaria parasite is maintained by mosquitoes which oviposit, feed and rest in the outdoor environment, there is an urgent need to focus on the control of oviposition sites seek...
Abstract Pesticide application in agricultural and residential areas is a worldwide practice. However, human pesticide poisoning and environmental pollution through pesticide residues remain a challenge in the developing world. The present study investigated the intensity of pesticide application in large-scale farms in Trans-Nzoia County to screen and prioritize the pesticides for potential human health and environmental risks. A cross-sectional survey involving 348 farmers was conducted in...
Abstract Diabetes mellitus is a disease of antiquity with worrying global incidence and prevalence. Conventional management and/or treatment interventions have been hampered by drawbacks like high costs, inaccessibility, likelihood of potential adverse and toxic effects among others. Use of antidiabetic phytodrugs has been on the rise, particularly in the developing countries, perhaps due to cost implications and accessibility advantages. In this study, an aqueous leaf extract of the medicin...
Abstract: Schistosomiasis is a severe neglected tropical disease caused by trematodes and transmitted by freshwater snails. Snails are known to be highly tolerant to agricultural pesticides. However, little attention has been paid to the ecological consequences of pesticide pollution in areas endemic for schistosomiasis, where people live in close contact with non-sanitized freshwaters. In complementary laboratory and feld studies on Kenyan inland areas along Lake Victoria, we show that pest...
Abstract: Background Tungiasis is a highly neglected tropical skin disease caused by the sand fea, Tunga penetrans, the female of which burrows into the skin, causing pain and itching. The disease occurs throughout South America and sub-Saharan Africa but there are few systematic data on national disease burdens. The tungiasis research community is keen to develop survey methods to fll this gap. Here we used a school-based, thorough examination method to determine the prevalence and risk fac...
Abstract: A study was carried out at Karima Village in the Mwea Rice Irrigation Scheme in Kenya to assess the impact of rice husbandry and associated land cover change for mosquito larval abundance. A multi-temporal, land use land cover (LULC) classification dataset incorporating distributions of Anopheles arabiensis aquatic larval habitats was produced in ERDAS Imagine version 8.7 using combined images from IKONOS at 4m spatial resolution from 2005 and Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM)™ classi...
Abstract: Background: Within the last decades, there has been increasing research on the occurrence of chemicals of emerging concern (CECs) in aquatic ecosystems due to their potential adverse efects on freshwater organisms and risk to human health. However, information on CECs in freshwater environments in sub-Saharan countries is very limited. Here, we investigated the occurrence of CECs in snails and sediments collected from 48 sites within the Lake Victoria South Basin, Kenya, which have...
Abstract: Climate change and bush encroachment pose huge challenges to rangeland management in Namibia. These challenges require a holistic management approach that ensures consistent and optimum forage productivity and sustainability. Mechanical and chemical control methods are the most used techniques in controlling woody encroaching species to improve pastoral properties in the Namibian savannas. However, there is very little information regarding the management options that concurrently ...
Abstract Large-scale production of mine wastes and their secure disposal has been a problem of global concern. In this work, the chemical kinetics of roasting of crude pyrite, a mine waste from Merelani to form sulphur dioxide, a key precursor in the production of sulphuric acid was studied. Conversion of pyrite into sulphur dioxide revealed pseudo first order kinetic with respect of solid reactant in gas-solid system. The activation energy (Ea) value of 15kJ/mol was deduced from Arrhenius e...
Abstract Heavy metals in soil and water were determined at four points along Msimbazi River valley in Dar es Salaam city, which is popular for vegetable farming. Results indicated that the concentration of chromium in water ranged from (1.414±0.922) to 0.01 mg/L. Maximum and minimum lead concentrations of 0.113 and 0.083 mg/L were detected. The concentration of copper was generally low at all sites, ranging from (0.013±0.005) to (0.016±0.005) mg/L. The concentration of lead in water throug...
Abstract Leaching and speciation of heavy metals in stabilized gold mine tailings were investigated by using leaching tests and leaching model (Visual MINTEQ 3.1®) respectively. Results indicate that the Stabilized/Solidified (S/S) tailings has high acid neutralizing capacity, which is dependent on binder content used. The dissolution of alkaline metals and oxyanions (such as SO4 2-, HCO3 2-) raises both the pH and electric conductivity of the leachant and, in-turn, affects leaching of the ...
Abstract This paper presents results of the investigation of Chromium III removal from tannery wastewater using groundnut shells under laboratory scale batch experiments. The effects of pH, contact time, particle size and dosage of the adsorbent on the adsorption of Cr (III) were studied. Determination of Chromium ion concentration in the wastewater was done using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). Results show that removal mechanism is dominantly adsorption, which is dependent of th...