ABSTRACT Vitamin A intake is one of the dietary interventions that support the achievement of nutrition priority outcomes. Inadequate Vitamin A intake leads to its deficiency which causes depressed immune response, impaired movement of iron, poor growth, night blindness and xerophthalmia major public health concerns. Vitamin A deficiency has been addressed through supplementation worldwide to children under the age of 59 months. The purpose of this study was to assess Vitamin A intake and su...
ABSTRACT Globally, diarrhea remains the second leading cause of reported mortalities among children (0-59 months) and a cause of significant morbidity, especially in developing countries. In Kenya, diarrhea accounts for 16% of deaths among children (0-59 months). It’s a major cause of mortality in children below five years after malaria and pneumonia in Busia County. Many of the children die due to poor home-based management of diarrhea. The main aim of the study was to explore the differe...
ABSTRACT Pre-school children represent the population most vulnerable to malaria and malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa. The available data is conflicting as to whether malnutrition is associated with an increased or decreased risk of malaria. This study sought to determine the impact of child malnutrition on anti-P. falciparum IgG response in a comparative cross-sectional approach. Anthropometric measurements of height and weight plus standard deviation in Z-scores were determined in 380 ch...
ABSTRACT About 33.4 million people were living with HIV as of 2008 globally; 2.1 million of them were children under 15 years, and about 15.7 million were women. In certain parts of the world, HIV infection has significantly affected child survival. The World Health Report 2005 estimated that HIV infection contributed 3% to the global mortality among children younger than 5 years of age in 2005. According to UNAIDS and WHO 2004, there were more than 1.3 million people infected with HIV and A...
ABSTRACT Complementary feeding is the greatest contributor to health and nutrition status of infants and young children. Malnutrition remains one of the greatest concerns in SubSaharan Africa region. In Kenya, national findings show inappropriate complementary feeding practices. Out-patient therapeutic programmes (OTPs) have been established to address severe acute malnutrition (SAM) among children 6-59 months of age. There are 6 OTP centres in Kamukunji sub-county in, Nairobi County. There ...
ABSTRACT Pneumococcal disease remains the biggest killer of children living in Kenya. This is true despite inclusion of the 10-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in the Kenya Expanded Program on Immunization. Serotype replacement, emergence of antibiotic resistance, inaccurate laboratory diagnosis due to optochin resistant bacterial types and a range of environmental and host related risk factors have been touted to be the cause of these statistics elsewhere. This study sought to establis...
ABSTRACT. This study was carried out to determine the incidences of Fusarium species, fumonisin B1 and aflatoxin B1 production in sorghum and finger millet grains collected from selected districts of Western Kenya region. The grains were collected randomly from five locations per district in Nyamira, Kakamega, Busia and Teso districts respectively. Ten farmers per location were randomly selected and samples of 0.25 kg of grains were picked per variety. A total of 16 sorghum varieties and 14...
ABSTRACT Human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) appeared on the scene over twenty years ago and has since caused many deaths; left millions orphaned and created uncertainty in any families. The virus has also created a socio-economic burden to many countries. The entry into and tropism of the host immune cells by the HIV-1 depends on chemokine receptors and coreceptor interactions among other factors. Genetic polymorphism in chemokine receptors and coreceptor genes influences susceptibi...
Abstract Tuberculosis (TB) is a major global public health problem. The disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Kenya. TB control has remained a major challenge for the National Leprosy and TB Control Programme (NLTP) especially in this HIV/AIDS era and the emergence of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB). Early identification of cases and commencement of effective chemotherapy is an effective method to control the spread of TB. Reliance by NLTP on passive case finding means th...
ABSTRACT Many developing countries including Kenya are struggling to provide proper sanitation to their population with most reporting less than 50 percent adequacy in sanitation. Different research works indicate sanitation is worse in schools compared to the general population despite the fact that schools hold a significant 26 percent proportion of the entire population. Provision of quality latrines in schools is critical in dealing with sanitation and health challenges. Healthy Environm...
ABSTRACT According to KAIS 2007, nearly 1 out of 10 pregnant women in Kenya are infected with HIV (9.6 percent). The objective of the study was to investigate the impact of utilization of knowledge on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV among pregnant women attending selected public health facilities in Embu District. In this study, utilization of knowledge on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, utilization of providerinitiated counselling and testing and the com...
ABSTRACT This research presents the agrochemical residues analysis on the study conducted in Weruweru River Sub-catchment, Kilimanjaro region in Tanzania. Agrochemicals have negative consequences on watershed management in the sub-catchment. It compromises water quality and environment, and thus causing threat to human health and aquatic organisms. This study was undertaken to assess the effects of agricultural pesticides and fertilizers and their residue levels in water and sediments sample...
ABSTRACT Underutilized cereals and tubers can contribute to food security and in addition provide nutritional balance in the diet as they form a ready source of essential nutrients yet they have been neglected as the dependence on maize, rice and wheat as main cereals increases. The objective of this study was to assess the consumption of underutilized cereals and tubers in urban households and their contribution towards household food security and dietary diversity. A cross sectional analyti...
ABSTRACT Bacteriuria is commonly found in women and about thirty three percent (33%) of adult women have encountered an incidence of symptomatic cystitis at least once in their life time. In case the uropathogens are unidentified and management undertaken, bacteriuria may cause more dangerous and adversed complications, including nephritis and renal failure. Majority of studies done in Kenya have focused on pregnant women with no documented information available on the sexually active non pr...
ABSTRACT Decline in crop yields in Tharaka-Nithi and Embu counties is linked to poor agricultural practices and climate variability. Research has reported positive results from implementation of mulching, tied ridging, minimum tillage and intercropping. This study was set up to: i) determine effect of soil and water conservation technologies on runoff ii) evaluate effect of the technologies on sediment and nutrient loss iii) investigate effect of the technologies on maize yield, and iv) anal...