Abstract: Zoophilic mosquitoes play an important role in the transmission of arboviruses of medical importance at human-wildlife interfaces, yet arbovirus surveillance efforts have been focused mostly on anthropophilic mosquitoes. Besides pathogen identification, knowing mosquito blood-meal sources aids in identifying disease transmission trends and reservoir hosts during inter-epidemic periods, which can inform appropriate vector control strategies. We morphologically identified mosquito sp...
Diarrheal diseases constitute a major public health problem, particularly in the developing world, where mortality and morbidity rates are still very high. Acute diarrhea is a common cause of death in developing countries and second most common cause of infant deaths worldwide. Diarrhea is a very common complication of infection with the HIV and often leads to wasting and malnutrition. In developing countries, up to 80% of children and 90% of adults with HIV infection develop diarrhea. Many o...
H. pylori is a microaerophilic organism and a gram negative bacterium which is found in the alimentary canal. It causes chronic gastritis and gastric ulcers. It is also linked to the development of duodenal ulcers and stomach cancer, conditions that were not previously believed to have a microbial cause. The persons infected with H. pylori usually have a 10 to 20% danger of developing peptic ulcersand a 1 to 2% likelihood of acquiring stomach cancerin lifetime. Nearly 15% of infected persons ...
Fungal dermatological conditions are caused by a group of fungi called dermatophytes. They cause infections in almost all parts of the body. The most common cause of skin infections are dermatophytes and opportunistic fungi. Dermatophytoes are not life threatening but they affect the quality of life of the patients as they can cause depression, lack of self confidence and isolation incase of deep lesions. In Kenya the prevalence and distribution of the infections as well as the common dermato...
People with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus have been found to be prone to urinary tract infections. There is a wide gap of information in developing countries regarding the prevalence and antibiotic sensitivity of the pathogens causing urinary tract infections in diabetic patients. Developed nations also face a relatively huge burden of managing urinary tract infections among non-insulin dependent diabetics. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and antibi...
ABSTRACT Newcastle disease virus (NDV) causes one of the most serious viral diseases of poultry. The virus is a member of the new Avularvirus genus in the family Paramyxoviridae. NDV has a negative stranded RNA genome which is approximately 15 Kb. NDV has a worldwide distribution, affects chicken, non-chicken poultry and wild birds. Mortality and morbidity of Newcastle disease (ND) in chicken may reach 100% in non immune birds. In Kenya, 70% of the thirty million poultry are indigenous chick...
ABSTRACT The global cholera burden is not precisely known since many of the cases lack proper investigation and documentation systems. More importantly, the situation is exacerbated by defective epidemiological surveillance as well as inadequate diagnostic procedures. Isolation of Vibrio cholerae is critical for disease outbreak confirmation. Rapid diagnostic testing of fecal specimens, on basis of lipopolysaccharide detection of V. cholerae O1 or O139 sub-types may enhance early outbreak de...
ABSTRACT Human fungal infections pose serious medical issues. Up to now, more than a hundred thousand fungal species are considered as natural contaminants. During the last decade, the incidence of superficial and deep mycotic infections has continued to increase explosively. There is a general consensus among researchers, clinicians and pharmaceutical companies that new, potent, effective and safe antifungal drugs are needed. Majority of work has been conducted on Camellia sinensis extracts ...
ABSTRACT Tungiasis is a neglected disease that afflicts four million Kenyans. To control its spread, there is a high demand for sustainable disease control strategies in rural endemic areas. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of tungiasis, associated risk factors, and the species of fleas causing it in rural western Kenya. A crossectional study was done in Otwenya Location, Maseno Division between August and September 2013. Seventy eight (78) randomly selected househo...
ABSTRACT Pseudomonas species are common causes of nosocomial infections. Globally nosocomial infections are among the most important problems complicating health care provision since they are caused by bacteria exhibiting resistance to many antibiotics. Their susceptibility to antibiotics is restricted to merely few drugs, and the occurrence of resistance by initially susceptible strains during therapy occurs at a relatively high frequency. The rate of transmission of Pseudomonas infection in...
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...