Seroprevalence and distribution of arboviral infections among rural Kenyan adults: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Arthorpod-borne viruses (arboviruses) cause wide-spread morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa, but little research has documented the burden and distribution of these pathogens.

Methods: Using a population-based, cross-sectional study design, we administered a detailed questionnaire and used ELISA to test the blood of 1,141 healthy Kenyan adults from three districts for the presence of anti-viral Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to the following viruses: dengue (DENV), West Nile (WNV), yellow fever (YFV), Chikungunya (CHIKV), and Rift Valley fever (RVFV).

Results: Of these, 14.

Literacy and recent history of diarrhoea are predictive of Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia in Kenyan adults.

Background: Malaria is one of the most serious health problems in Kenya. In 2004, the Kenya Medical Research Institute and the US Army Medical Research Unit--Kenya surveyed adults in Samburu, Malindi, and Busia districts to determine socioeconomic risk factors for infection.

Methods: Sociodemographic, health, and antimalarial data were collected along with blood for malaria testing.

Influenza: the next pandemic?: A review.

Objectives: To examine existing information on the recent influenza outbreaks in order to create awareness of a possible influenza pandemic and to suggest future research areas in developing control strategies in Kenya.

Data Sources: Review of literature via Internet, articles, journals and un-refereed features from the media and personal communications.

Data Selection: Most published data from 1979 to March 2005 found to reveal cases of influenza outbreaks were included in the review.

The use of short-course zidovudine to prevent perinatal transmission of human immunodeficiency virus in rural Kenya.

To determine the feasibility of using short-course zidovudine (ZDV) to prevent mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in a breastfeeding population in a rural area in Kenya, pregnant mothers attending clinics in seven health centers in western Kenya between 1996 and 1998 were requested to volunteer for participation in this study. The HIV-infected mothers were given a daily dose of 400 mg of ZDV starting at 36 weeks of gestation and another 300 mg every three hours intrapartum. After delivery, mothers and their children were followed-up and clinically monitored every 3-4 months for two years, and child and mother mortality rates were analyzed.

Maternal immune responses and risk of infant infection with HIV-1 after a short course Zidovudine in a cohort of HIV-1 infected pregnant women in rural Kenya.

Objective: To investigate the effects of short-course nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (Zidovudine, ZDW/AZT) on maternal immune responses and risk of infant infection with HIV-1 among rural-based mothers in western Kenya.

Design: A prospective cohort study involving HIV-1 seropositive pregnant mothers and their infants.

Subjects: One hundred and seven HIV-1 seropositive asymptomatic pregnant women and their infants.

Knowledge and attitudes to malaria control and acceptability of permethrin impregnated sisal curtains.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to conduct a survey on the knowledge and practices relating to malaria prevention and treatment in two rural communities in Western Kenya, and to determine the acceptability of specially designed permethrin impregnated sisal strands curtains previously introduced into one of the study communities as barriers to mosquito biting.

Design: A knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) survey was conducted by pre-trained interviewers using a pre-tested questionnaire.

Setting: The study was conducted in two communities located 15 km northwest of Kisumu town, and next to the swamps bordering Lake Victoria in Kisumu District, Western Kenya.

Field trial of permethrin impregnated sisal curtains in malaria control in western Kenya.

A trial to determine the effectiveness of sisal eaves-curtains impregnated with permethrin for malaria control was conducted in the malaria holoendemic western Kenya between 1991 and 1993. Indoor resting densities of Anopheles gambiae s.l.

Some observations on the biting behavior of Anopheles gambiae s.s., Anopheles arabiensis, and Anopheles funestus and their implications for malaria control.

Studies were carried out in three villages in western Kenya on the biting behavior of Anopheles gambiae s.s., Anopheles arabiensis, and Anopheles funestus.

The effect of permethrin impregnated sisal curtains on vector density and malaria incidence: a pilot study.

Impregnation of bednets and curtains with suitable pyrethroids may reduce entomological inoculation rates (EIR) and malaria incidence. We conducted a quasi-experimental pilot study over 3 months in Western Kenya on 20 houses with 54 children. Ten houses in the experimental site received sisal curtains treated with permethrin at either 0.

Comparative determination of Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite rates in Afrotropical Anopheles from Kenya by dissection and ELISA.

The Plasmodium falciparum rate was determined by microscopical examination of one salivary gland (three lobes) and by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of the other salivary gland in each of 1580 Anopheles mosquitoes collected from western Kenya during both the wet and dry seasons. The sporozoite rate in the wet season was much higher than that in the dry season, and the sporozoite rate determined by ELISA was generally lower than that determined by microscopy. The ELISA gave a positive reaction to circumsporozoite protein in some glands whose counterparts did not show the presence of sporozoites by microscopy, thus giving an 'overestimation' of the sporozoite rate.

Intestinal parasitoses and other infections in a college community.

In order to assess the health status of students doing their teaching diploma course at the Siriba Teachers College, Maseno, a study of their blood slides, their stools for ova and cysts and their urine samples for urinary tract infection was carried out. A total of 298 students were investigated: 27 (6%) had intestinal parasites, 96 (32.2%) had urinary tract infection, i.