African health sciences
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African health sciences · Jun 2019
Case ReportsDiagnostic challenges and surgical management of co-existent osteoblastoma and aneurysmal bone cyst of the lumbar spine in a child: case report.
Osteoblastomas (OTB) with co-existent aneurysmal bone cysts (ABC) of the spine are extremely rare and more so in the lumbar spine. To the authors' knowledge, only one case of lumbar spine involvement has been reported in a paediatric patient. ⋯ The case highlights the diagnostic challenges of co-existent OTB-ABC and the significant role of surgical management via spinal reconstruction, stabilization and fusion after gross total tumour excision.
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African health sciences · Jun 2019
Maternal mortality trends at the Princess Marina and Nyangabwe referral hospitals in Botswana.
Despite the fact that about 94% of pregnant women attend ANC, 95% deliver at health facilities and 99% deliveries are assisted by skilled birth attendants in Botswana, the national Maternal Mortality Rate is still high. ⋯ Maternal deaths at the hospitals remained similar during the two periods. Qualitative studies are needed to determine why EMOC training has not resulted in significant reduction in MMR in Botswana.
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African health sciences · Jun 2019
Assessment of community knowledge, attitude, and stigma of Buruli ulcer disease in Southern Nigeria.
Poor knowledge can influence timely care-seeking among persons with Buruli ulcer disease (BUD). ⋯ There is poor community knowledge of BUD in endemic settings of Southern Nigeria which influenced the attitude and perceptions of community members towards persons with BUD.
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African health sciences · Jun 2019
Stability of a monovalent rotavirus vaccine after exposure to different temperatures observed in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Rotavirus infection and its associated hospitalization of children less than 5 years old in middle- and low-income countries remains a public health challenge. We hypothesized that the Rotarix®potency is affected by non-optimal temperatures which translates into reduced vaccine effectiveness in these settings. ⋯ This study revealed that the Rotarix® vaccine remains potent even after exposure to non-optimal temperatures. However, this study only explored the effect of a constant 'adverse' temperature on vaccine potency and not the effect of temperature fluctuations.
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African health sciences · Jun 2019
A system approach to improving maternal and child health care delivery in Kenyan communities and primary care facilities: baseline survey on maternal health.
Maternal, fetal and neonatal mortality are 10 to 100 fold higher in many low-income compared to high-income countries. Reasons for these discrepancies include limited antenatal care and delivery outside health facilities. ⋯ Findings suggest that women are not attending recommended four plus antenatal clinic visits and even those that attend are few are during the first trimester.