Verbal autopsy interpretation: A comparative analysis of the InterVA model versus physician review in determining causes of death in the Nairobi DSS
Background: Developing countries generally lack complete vital registration systems that can produce cause of death information for health planning in their populations. As an alternative, verbal autopsy (VA) – the process of interviewing family members or caregivers on the circumstances leading to death – is often used by Demographic Surveillance Systems to generate cause of […]
Association of Care Environment with HIV Incidence and Death among Orphaned, Separated, and Street-Connected Children and Adolescents in Western Kenya
Importance: In 2015, there were nearly 140 million orphaned children globally, particularly in low- and middle-income regions, and millions more for whom the street is central to their everyday lives. A total of 16.6 million children were orphaned because of deaths associated with HIV/AIDS, of whom 90% live in sub-Saharan Africa. Although most orphaned and […]
Impact of 1% chlorhexidine gluconate bathing and emollient application on bacterial pathogen colonization dynamics in hospitalized preterm neonates – A pilot clinical trial
Background: Chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) body washes and emollient application may modulate bacterial pathogen colonization and prevent neonatal hospital-acquired infections. Methods: This pilot, non-randomized, open-label trial, enrolled preterm neonates (1000-1500g; day 1-3 of life) at a tertiary hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. Participants were sequentially allocated to 4 trial arms (n=20 each): 1% aqueous CHG […]
Qualitative assessment of community health workers’ perspective on their motivation in community-based primary health care in rural Malawi
Background: Community Health Workers (CHWs) have a positive impact on the provision of community-based primary health care through screening, treatment, referral, psychosocial support, and accompaniment. With a broad scope of work, CHW programs must balance the breadth and depth of tasks to maintain CHW motivation for high-quality care delivery. Few studies have described the CHW […]
Low immunization coverage in Wonago district, southern Ethiopia: A community-based cross-sectional study
Introduction Immunization is a cost-effective intervention that prevented more than 5 million deaths worldwide from 2010 to 2015. Despite increased vaccination coverage over the past four decades in many African countries, including Ethiopia, universal coverage has not yet been reached. Only 39% of children aged 12–23 months received full vaccinations in Ethiopia, according to the […]
The Burden of Undernutrition and Its Associated Factors Among Children Below 5 Years of Age in Bambao Region, Comoros
Background: Undernutrition remains a major public health problem in low- and middle-income countries and Comoros is no exception. This study aimed to examine the prevalence and identify the risk factors of undernutrition among children under-five years in Bambao region, Comoros. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Bambao region among 837 under-five years and their […]
Re-evaluation of population-level protection conferred by a rotavirus vaccine using the ‘fried-egg’ approach in a rural setting in Bangladesh
Background: Vaccine herd protection assessed in a cluster-randomized trial (CRT) may be masked by disease transmission into the cluster from outside. However, herd effects can be unmasked using a ‘fried-egg’ approach whereby the analysis, restricted to the innermost households of clusters, ‘yolk’, creates an insulating ‘egg-white’ periphery. This approach has been demonstrated to unmask vaccine […]
Food security reduces multiple HIV infection risks for high-vulnerability adolescent mothers and non-mothers in South Africa: a cross-sectional study
Introduction: Adolescent girls and young women, including adolescent mothers, in Southern Africa have high HIV seroconversion and transmission. We need to know which risks drive HIV infections, and what can reduce these risks. Methods: We interviewed 1712 adolescent girls and young women (11–23 years), including 1024 adolescent mothers who had conceived before age 20 and […]
Tuberculin skin test conversion and primary progressive tuberculosis disease in the first 5 years of life: a birth cohort study from Cape Town, South Africa
Background Tuberculosis is a leading cause of global childhood mortality. However, the epidemiology and burden of tuberculosis in infancy is not well understood. We aimed to investigate tuberculin skin test conversion and tuberculosis in the Drakenstein Child Health study, a South African birth cohort in a community in which tuberculosis incidence is hyperendemic. Methods In […]
Anthropometric failures and its associated factors among preschool-aged children in a rural community in southwest Ethiopia
Background In 2019, 144 million under-five-year-old children were stunted, and 47 million were wasted globally. In Ethiopia, approximately 350,000 children are estimated to die each year. Preschool aged children need focused attention because this age group not only has special needs, but also forms the platform for growth and development of all children. Under nutrition […]
