Minimum dietary diversity and associated factors among children under the age of five attending public health facilities in Wolaita Soddo town, Southern Ethiopia, 2021: a cross-sectional study

Background: Poor quality diets are the greatest obstacles to survival, growth, development, and learning in children. Dietary diversity is a major problem in developing countries including Ethiopia. For better feeding practices and focused interventions, it is essential to identify dietary diversity in children. In order to draw firm conclusions, previous studies in Ethiopia were unable […]

Utilization of focused antenatal care among expectant women in Murang’a county, Kenya

Focused Antenatal Care (FANC) is crucial to improving maternal and infant health. Despite the Government of Kenya’ efforts to reduce maternal and neonatal morbidities and mortalities, these conditions prevail in Murunga. The current study examined how individual, organizational, and policy factors influence the utilization of focused antenatal care services amongst women in the Gatanga sub-county, […]

Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Young Children Born to HIV-Infected Mothers: A Pilot Study

Introduction: Over 15 million children who were exposed to HIV perinatally but uninfected (HEU) are alive globally, and they are faced with multiple risk factors for poor neurodevelopment. While children who are HIV-infected (HIV+) appear to have worse neurodevelopmental scores compared to children unexposed and uninfected with HIV (HUU), the evidence is mixed in children […]

Dietary diversity, nutritional status and associated factors among lactating mothers visiting government health facilities at Dessie town, Amhara region, Ethiopia

Background Maternal undernutrition is one of the most common causes of maternal morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Severe undernutrition among mothers leads to reduced lactation performance which further contributes to an increased risk of infant mortality. However, data regarding nutritional status of lactating mothers at Dessie town and its surrounding areas is lacking. This […]

The impact of community based continuous training project on improving couples’ knowledge on birth preparedness and complication readiness in rural setting Tanzania; A controlled quasi-experimental study

Background It is widely accepted that community-based interventions are vital strategies towards reduction of maternal and neonatal mortalities in developing counties. This study aimed at finding the impact a Community Based Continuous Training (CBCT) project in improving couples’ knowledge on birth preparedness and complication readiness in rural Tanzania. Method The quasi-experimental study design with control […]

Does early linear growth failure influence later school performance? A cohort study in karonga district, Northern Malawi

Introduction Stunting or linear growth retardation in childhood is associated with delayed cognitive development due to related causes (malnutrition, illness, poor stimulation), which leads to poor school outcomes at later ages, although evidence of the association between the timing and persistence of stunting and school outcomes within the sub-Saharan African context is limited. Methods Anthropometric […]

Operational lessons learned in conducting an international study on pharmacovigilance in pregnancy in resource-constrained settings: The WHO Global Vaccine safety Multi-Country collaboration project

The WHO Global Vaccine Safety Multi-Country Collaboration study on safety in pregnancy aims to estimate the minimum detectable risk for selected perinatal and neonatal outcomes and assess the applicability of standardized case definitions for study outcomes and maternal immunization in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This paper documents the operational lessons learned from the study. […]

Maternal Health Care Seeking Behavior for Neonatal Danger Signs and Associated Factors Among Post-Partum Mothers in Southeast Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Early health care seeking could save neonates’ lives and have a significant role in decreasing neonatal death, while delayed health care seeking has many contributions to neonatal mortality. Therefore, this study aimed to assess maternal health-seeking behavior for neonatal danger signs and associated factors among postpartum mothers in Southeast Ethiopia. A community-based cross-sectional study was […]

Rapid replacement by non-vaccine pneumococcal serotypes may mitigate the impact of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine on nasopharyngeal bacterial ecology

There is growing concern that interventions that alter microbial ecology can adversely affect health. We characterised the impact of the seven-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) on pneumococcal carriage and the bacterial component of the nasopharyngeal microbiome during infancy. Newborns were recruited into three groups as follows: Group1 (n = 33) was the control group and […]

In Utero ART Exposure and Birth and Early Growth Outcomes among HIV-Exposed Uninfected Infants Attending Immunization Services: Results from National PMTCT Surveillance, South Africa

Background: Despite the recognized benefit of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for preventing and treating HIV, some studies have reported adverse birth outcomes with in utero ART exposure. We evaluated the effect of infant in utero HIV and ART exposure on preterm delivery (PTD), low birth weight (LBW), small for gestational age (SGA), and underweight for age […]