Abstract/Overview Autism is a spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders exhibited in early childhood with variable manifestations as children grow up. However, the level of awareness of the condition is poorly understood among pre-primary school teachers. This study, therefore, assessed the awareness of the spectrum condition of autism among pre-primary school teachers in western Kenya. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was employed and data collected from 321 participants using s...
Abstract/Overview Globally, severe pneumonia remains the leading infectious cause of death in children younger than 5 years. Comorbidities increase the risk of death among children with severe pneumonia across age groups and regions; however, the data is scanty on specific comorbidities. The study, therefore, was aimed at improving an understanding of the risk of death due to different comorbidities among children with severe pneumonia. The findings will not only inform the clinical pract...
Abstract/Overview Globally, malaria remains a major public health problem. In 2019 an estimated 229 million cases of malaria were reported, WHO African region accounted for 94% of total cases. In Kenya, malaria is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children under five years living in malaria endemic zones. This study investigated the factors that are associated with malaria prevalence among children under-five years living in North West Kisumu Ward, Kisumu County. This cross...
Abstract/Overview Over the past decade, Kenya has made tremendous efforts to enhance maternal and child health. Secure maternity policies such as free maternity care are one of the initiatives that have enhanced maternal and child health in all public health facilities. Despite these attempts, public health facilities for maternal and child health are still underused. This study employed a cross-sectional descriptive study design to identify determinants of free maternal health services b...
Abstract/Overview Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) is an important health outcome in the holistic management of patients especially those suffering from life limiting conditions such as cervical cancer. In Kenya, Cervical cancer is the most frequent cancer among women. However, little is known and documented on HRQoL of cervical cancer patients. This study assessed HRQoL of cervical cancer patients in western Kenya. A cross-sectional study involving 334 cervical cancer patients was ...
Abstract/Overview In Kenya, no studies have attempted to model alternative scenarios of the cost-implications of reaching universal coverage (i.e. 95% population coverage) of the existing maternity health services network at the ward administrative level. A cross-sectional study design used publicly available geospatial data in combination with routine data from the web-based district health information software (DHIS2) platform. AccessMod (version 5) was used for scaling up analysis. Arc...
Abstract/Overview We conducted a longitudinal study among 827 pregnant women in Nyanza Province, western Kenya, to determine the effect of earth-eating on geohelminth reinfection after treatment. The women were recruited at a gestational age of 14–24 weeks (median: 17) and followed up to 6 months postpartum. The median age was 23 (range: 14–47) years, the median parity 2 (range: 0–11). After deworming with mebendazole (500 mg, single dose) of those found infected at 32 weeks gestati...
Abstract/Overview Background—Our goal in the present study was to investigate the prevalence and correlates of genital warts in a population of female sex workers in Mombasa, Kenya. Because of the high prevalence of HIV-1 in this population, we were particularly interested in the association between HIV-1 infection and genital warts. Methods—We conducted a cross-sectional study of the prevalence and correlates of genital warts among high-risk women in Mombasa, Kenya. Between 2001 and ...
Abstract/Overview Awareness of the potential impact of malaria among school-age children has stimulated investigation into malaria interventions that can be delivered through schools. However, little evidence is available on the costs and cost-effectiveness of intervention options. This paper evaluates the costs and cost-effectiveness of intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) as delivered by teachers in schools in western Kenya.
Abstract/Overview Abstract Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a zoonotic disease that occurs sporadically in form of outbreaks and is transmitted by diverse mosquito species in different geographic regions. Knowledge on diversity, distribution and abundance of RVF vectors is useful for risk assessment of RVF outbreaks. Diversity, distribution and abundance of RVF vectors from four ecological zones in Baringo County were studied. Four potential RVF vectors, namely Mansonia uniformis; Mansonia afri...
Abstract/Overview Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection is associated with B cell activation and exhaustion, and hypergammaglobulinemia. How these changes influence B cell responses to coinfections such as malaria is poorly understood. To address this, we compared B cell phenotypes and Abs specific for the Plasmodium falciparum vaccine candidate apical membrane Ag-1 (AMA1) in HIV-infected and uninfected adults living in Kenya. Surprisingly, HIV-1 infection was not associat...