ABSTRACT Maternal mortality is unacceptably high in Kenya with 8,000 women dying every year from obstetric complications. Kakamega county is ranked fifth among counties with highest maternal death burden in Kenya. Increasing the proportion of skilled delivery is one of the most important interventions in averting maternal deaths. However, 53% of women in Kakamega still deliver at home attended by unskilled assistants contributing to high maternal deaths. The choice of childbirth place is infl...
ABSTRACT Metabolic syndrome (MS) is rapidly increasing in prevalence worldwide and is a top risk factor for noncommunicable diseases which are among the world's biggest killer diseases. In Africa, the prevalence of MS is estimated to be between 17% and 25%. Studies have compared the prevalence of MS but yielded varied rates among the youth and adults in various countries. These variations are suggestive of the fact that MS components could be population dependent. The prevalence of MS and ass...
ABSTRACT Malaria remains prevalent in many parts of Kenya but areas in the highlands of Nandi North sub-county have reported declining incidences of malaria infection and disease burden, and between April 2007 and March 2008 a possible interruption of transmission was reported. Given the low transmission intensity in the current study sites, it is not clear if fever and/or a combination of other symptoms are accurate predictors of malaria diagnosis. Relationship between malaria and anaemia is...
ABSTRACT Emergency obstetric care (EmOC) is a package of medical interventions required to manage the major direct obstetric complications. Provision of EmOC services averts direct maternal mortalities from these complications. Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) still remains high worldwide. Global MMR is estimated to be 251 per 100,000 live births; Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest MMR in the world at 900 per 100,000 live births. Whereas Kenya and Homa Bay County has MMR of 362 and 583 per 100,...
ABSTRACT The diagnosis and control of tuberculosis (TB) has taken various dimensions with interferon Gamma (IFN-γ) Release Assays (IGRA) currently employed for diagnosis of latent TB infection while the conventional method of vaccination is Bacille Calmette Guerrin (BCG). The variable efficacy and safety of BCG has led to a need of new vaccine candidates joining the development pipeline. However, the cellular mechanism of protection of BCG and the new anti-TB vaccines is not exhaustively und...
ABSTRACT The present study explored the anti-inflammatory potential of aqueous leaf extract of Brassica oleraceae in rodents, using standard laboratory models. Brassica oleraceae at doses of 75, 150 and 300 mg/kg were administered orally in carrageenan-induced rat hind paw edema, xylene induced ear edema in mice, and formalin-induced rat hind paw edema (sub-acute 7 days), using indomethacin (10 mg/kg), dexamethasone / mg/kg and acetylsalicylic acid (Aspirin, 100 mg/kg) respectively as standar...
ABSTRACT Pesticides used in agriculture for the control of various pests often leave residues in foodstuffs and these have been shown to pose health hazards, Analysis of pesticide residues in food is one way to determine the level of human exposure to these chemicals and hence their potential human health hazards. Maize (Zea mays L.) and beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) samples purchased from different markets in Lagos State were analyzed for residues of organochlorine, organophosphate and carb...
ABSTRACT Plasmodium falciparum malaria infection remains one of the greatest global public health problems. However, studies have shown that fetal haemoglobin (HbF) protects against malaria in sickle cell disease (SCD) and HbF cooperates with antibodies to provide protection. Associations between HbF and antibodies have been done only on infants and therefore protection could be due to maternal immunity. Children at 5 years old have developed their own immunity and also HbF levels do not sign...
ABSTRACT The female condom (FC) was developed as an alternative to male condom as a means to empower women so that they could have control over their own protection against STIs and unintended pregnancies. Despite serious campaign programs to sensitize women of reproductive age to take up contraception and provision of contraceptives in public health facilities the use of modern contraceptives is still low at 37.6% raising the need for more efforts to make modern contraceptive use more widesp...
ABSTRACT The ever increasing levels of electronic waste (e-waste) and limited capacities for disposal and recycling have worsened e-waste management considering only 10% of e-waste is properly managed globally. In developed countries, e-waste management is guided by extended producer responsibility frameworks that ensure e-waste collection and recycling through consumer participation whereas, in Asia and Africa e-waste is managed through inefficient solid waste systems resulting to degradatio...
ABSTRACT Increasing cost of health care remains a major challenge to achieving universal health care coverage in many developing countries. Health insurance schemes can be used to finance health care and protect people against catastrophic health care expenses. Most developing countries have low insurance coverage and rely on out of pocket health payments. Despite having 22 private and one public health insurance, only 17% of Kenya’s population had insurance cover while out of pocket expend...
xii ABSTRACT Introduction- Ethical issues have emerged in the recent years as a major component of health care for the critically ill patients, who are vulnerable and totally depend on the caregiver, optimally the nurse working in the critical care unit. As a result nurses working in the Critical Care Units are faced with ethical dilemmas on a day to day basis in the course of executing their duties. Ethical dilemmas have therefore become one of the priority concerns in the nursing profession...
ABSTRACT About 17,000 children below five years of age die each day across the world, 99% occur in developing nations with 50% accounted for by Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Kenya’s high under-five mortality rate (U5MR) at 52 deaths per 1,000 live births won’t scale down without solving the high under-five mortality (U5M) in rural areas. Despite Karemo Sub-County in Siaya County having relatively good access to public and private health facilities, it nevertheless exhibit U5MR of 184 deaths p...
ABSTRACT In Kenya, surface water bodies are the final destination for most pollutants. Western and Nyanza Regions in close proximity to Lake Victoria are characterized by inadequate sanitation services, chronic water shortages and poor water quality where only 8% have access to safe water. Unsanitary conditions are associated with scarcity of clean and potable water consequently leading to diarrheal diseases that plague residents. The microbiological quality of drinking water and risk factors...
ABSTRACT Improper child-feeding practices directly affect the nutritional status of under-fives and ultimately impact on their survival. Improving child-feeding practices of under- fives is critical to their overall health and developmental milestones. In 2001, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended exclusive breastfeeding for 180 days a change from the previous proposal to introduce complementary foods at four to six months. Luanda Sub-County experiences massive population explosion...