ABSTRACT Breast cancer contributes to 23% of all female cancers and is mostly developed among women aged 40-49 in Kenya. There is paucity of data explaining why breast cancer in Kenya and other African countries occurs at a younger age, although many risk factors were identified and studied in Western countries, there is a lack of research on the consistency of these risk factors among developing countries. Breast cancer seen in Africans is likely to be high-grade and hormone receptor negativ...
ABSTRACT Cardiovascular disease (CVD) causes 30% of deaths globally and has been reported to be on the increase in sub-Saharan Africa. Medications prescribed for CVD are largely an ongoing lifetime commitment aimed to preserve optimal heart function for as long as possible and as a result patients must adhere to their prescription. However, prescription adherence is influenced to a large part by prescription awareness, which is having information about prescribed drugs and their side effects ...
ABSTRACT Schistosomiasis is a chronic disease and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in sub Saharan Africa. Globally over 240 million people are infected while more than 700 million people living in endemic areas are at risk of infection. In Kenya, about 9 million people are infected with schistosomiasis. Endemic areas are found around the shores of Lake Victoria (Western Kenya), coastal strip and some pouches of Eastern Province. In Western Kenya, Kisumu West District (currently Seme...
ABSTRACT Malaria is an important public health problem world wide with 283 million infections resulting in 584,000 deaths per year globally. In Kenya, malaria accounts for an estimated 18% of outpatients and 6% of hospital admissions. Antimalarial resistance is among the contributory factors to an increase in mortality. Kenya was the epicenter of chloroquine resistance in Africa. Recent reports of reduced susceptibility to the commonly used artemisinin combination drugs at the Kenyan coast an...
ABSTRACT Globally, the integration of community health workers (CHWs) in healthcare delivery is widening. CHWs are very important if the universal provision of healthcare and the third Sustainable Development Goals are to be met. However, these CHWs are volunteers hence they need to be highly motivated to ensure effective performance of their responsibilities. Despite the importance of performance motivation and its association with health service delivery, the CHWs performance motivation in ...
ABSTRACT World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that in 2017 there were 435 000 deaths from malaria globally with Sub-Saharan Africa region carrying a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. In 2017, the region had 92% of malaria cases and 93 % of malaria deaths. In Kenya, malaria is the second major cause of death with an estimated 6.7 million new clinical cases are reported each year. Malaria burden is not homogenous in Kenya since areas around Lake Victoria and coast...
ABSTRACT Malaria and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are co-endemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Infection with HIV results in B cell anomalies. Antibodies are critical in protection against malaria and it is hypothesized that B cell anomalies resulting from HIV infection interfere with antibody responses contributing to severe and frequent malaria episodes. Individuals infected with HIV have elevated antibody and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. However, it is unclear whether malaria-specific a...
ABSTRACT Ninety percent (90%) of TB infections are self-limiting; 10% will progress into active or latent TB. Persons with latent TB cannot spread disease but can go on to become infectious cases later. The risk of TB infection and progression from latent infection to active infection is higher in children than in adults. A person with active TB can infect up to 15 persons yearly through close contact. Contact investigation is therefore recommended for close contacts of TB patients to identif...
ABSTRACT Patients have explicit desires or requests for services when they visit hospitals. However, inadequate attention to their needs may result in patient dissatisfaction. Preliminary reports indicated patients’ dissatisfaction with outpatient healthcare services provided at Busia District Hospital. This facility also lacked a routine system for assessing patients’ satisfaction with the services rendered. The study aimed to assess the levels and determinants of client satisfaction wit...
ABSTRACT Staphylococcus aureus is a predominant pathogen isolated from diabetic foot ulcers. In recent years, complications-related to diabetic foot infections has increased due to increased incidence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Management of these infections requires appropriate antibiotic selection on the basis of culture and susceptibility test results. Although diabetes is among the top ten causes of mortality in Vihiga, most public hospitals in Kenya do not isolate and conduct anti...