Prevalence and Risk Factors for Periodontal Disease Among Women Attending Antenatal Care in Public Hospitals, Southwest Ethiopia, 2022: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study
Background: Periodontal disease is characterized by the inflammation of all tissues that surround and support the teeth, and it is the most common public health problem worldwide. It has many different contributing factors, such as poor oral hygiene, smoking, anemia, bacterial plaque, poor economic status, and nutritional deficiency. It also causes different feto-maternal complications like […]
Microbiota at multiple body sites during pregnancy in a rural tanzanian population and effects of Moringa-supplemented probiotic yogurt
The nutritional status of pregnant women is vital for healthy outcomes and is a concern for a large proportion of the world’s population. The role of the microbiota in pregnancy and nutrition is a promising new area of study with potential health ramifications. In many African countries, maternal and infant death and morbidity are associated […]
Scaling up integrated community case management of childhood illness: Update from Malawi
The Government of Malawi (GoM) initiated activities to deliver treatment of common childhood illnesses (suspected pneumonia, fever/suspected malaria, and diarrhea) in the community in 2008. The service providers are Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs), and they are posted nationwide to serve communities at a ratio of 1 to 1, 000 population. The GoM targeted the establishment […]
Comparison of methods to assess adherence to small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) and dispersible tablets among young Burkinabé children participating in a community-based intervention trial
Adherence to supplementation provided during an intervention trial can affect interpretation of study outcomes. We compared different approaches for estimating adherence to small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) and dispersible tablets in a randomised clinical trial in Burkina Faso. A total of 2435 children (9-18 months) were randomly assigned to receive daily 20g SQ-LNS with varying […]
Validity of verbal autopsy method to determine causes of death among adults in the urban setting of Ethiopia
Background: Verbal autopsy has been widely used to estimate causes of death in settings with inadequate vital registries, but little is known about its validity. This analysis was part of Addis Ababa Mortality Surveillance Program to examine the validity of verbal autopsy for determining causes of death compared with hospital medical records among adults in […]
Cost-effectiveness of the non-pneumatic anti-shock garment (NASG): Evidence from a cluster randomized controlled trial in Zambia and Zimbabwe
Background: Obstetric hemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal mortality, particularly in low resource settings where delays in obtaining definitive care contribute to high rates of death. The non-pneumatic anti-shock garment (NASG) first-aid device has been demonstrated to be highly cost-effective when applied at the referral hospital (RH) level. In this analysis we evaluate the […]
Effects of scaling up various community-level interventions on child mortality in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania: a modeling study
Background: Improving child health remains one of the most significant health challenges in sub-Saharan Africa, a region that accounts for half of the global burden of under-five mortality despite having approximately 13% of the world population and 25% of births globally. Improving access to evidence-based community-level interventions has increasingly been advocated to contribute to reducing […]
Characterization of Genetic Variants in the SLC5A5 Gene and Associations With Breast Milk Iodine Concentration in Lactating Women of African Descent: The NUPED Study
Background: The sodium iodide symporter is responsible for the transfer of iodine into breast milk and is encoded for by the SLC5A5 gene. The role of genetic variants in the SLC5A5 gene locus in relation to the transfer of iodine from plasma into breast milk in healthy lactating individuals has, to our knowledge, not been […]
A clinical decision support system is associated with reduced loss to follow-up among patients receiving HIV treatment in Kenya: a cluster randomized trial
Background: Loss to follow-up (LFTU) among HIV patients remains a major obstacle to achieving treatment goals with the risk of failure to achieve viral suppression and thereby increased HIV transmission. Although use of clinical decision support systems (CDSS) has been shown to improve adherence to HIV clinical guidance, to our knowledge, this is among the […]
Partner involvement in abortion trajectories and subsequent abortion safety in Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire
Background: Unsafe abortions contribute to maternal mortality and morbidity worldwide, with disproportionate impacts in lower-income countries. Identifying factors associated with an elevated risk of experiencing an abortion under the most unsafe conditions is an important component of addressing this burden. The partner’s role in obtaining a safe or unsafe abortion is not well understood. This […]