Prevalence and factors associated with overweight and obesity in Kenya.

Overweight and obesity rates continue to rise globally and are associated with increased chronic disease morbidity and mortality. There is evidence of high overweight and obesity prevalence in Kenya, however; a gap exists in the knowledge of national prevalence and predictors of overweight and obesity. This cross-sectional study examined data from the 2015 World Health Organization (WHO) Kenya STEPwise Survey-the first nationally representative survey to objectively measure body mass index (BMI) among Kenyan men and women.

Antiplatelet therapy with or without anticoagulant therapy for lower extremity peripheral artery disease: A systematic review.

Purpose: To identify randomized controlled trials that compared antiplatelet monotherapy to combination antiplatelet plus anticoagulant therapy and evaluated major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) or major adverse limb events (MALE), death, or bleeding in patients with lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD).

Summary: A systematic search of MEDLINE, Embase, and CENTRAL databases revealed 5 trials. Two trials consisted of patients with stable PAD, while 3 trials examined patients with PAD post revascularization.

Ankle-Knee Initial Contact Angle and Latency to Maximum Angle are Affected by Prolonged Run.

The initial contact and midstance angles may influence injury risk. Previous literature has not assessed these angles under the influence of new footwear for a non-exhaustive prolonged run or the relationship between the angles. To assess lower extremity kinematic changes and the relationship between kinematic parameters at initial contact and midstance with prolonged running under the influence of different types of footwear.

Early or Late Gestational Exposure to Maternal Immune Activation Alters Neurodevelopmental Trajectories in Mice: An Integrated Neuroimaging, Behavioral, and Transcriptional Study.

Background: Exposure to maternal immune activation (MIA) in utero is a risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders later in life. The impact of the gestational timing of MIA exposure on downstream development remains unclear.

Methods: We characterized neurodevelopmental trajectories of mice exposed to the viral mimetic poly I:C (polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid) either on gestational day 9 (early) or on day 17 (late) using longitudinal structural magnetic resonance imaging from weaning to adulthood.

Physical exercise is a risk factor for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Convergent evidence from Mendelian randomisation, transcriptomics and risk genotypes.

Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a universally fatal neurodegenerative disease. ALS is determined by gene-environment interactions and improved understanding of these interactions may lead to effective personalised medicine. The role of physical exercise in the development of ALS is currently controversial.

Community-based molecular and serological surveillance of subclinical malaria in Myanmar.

Background: In the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), current malaria surveillance strategies rely on a network of village health volunteers (VHVs) reporting the results of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), known to miss many asymptomatic infections. Integration of more sensitive diagnostic molecular and serological measures into the VHV network may improve surveillance of residual malaria transmission in hard-to-reach areas in the region and inform targeted interventions and elimination responses. However, data on residual malaria transmission that would be captured by these measures in the VHV-led testing and treatment surveillance network in the GMS is unknown.

Whole-genome analysis of Malawian Plasmodium falciparum isolates identifies possible targets of allele-specific immunity to clinical malaria.

Individuals acquire immunity to clinical malaria after repeated Plasmodium falciparum infections. Immunity to disease is thought to reflect the acquisition of a repertoire of responses to multiple alleles in diverse parasite antigens. In previous studies, we identified polymorphic sites within individual antigens that are associated with parasite immune evasion by examining antigen allele dynamics in individuals followed longitudinally.

A 10-color flow cytometry panel for diagnosis and minimal residual disease in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Diagnosis and minimal residual disease (MRD) monitoring of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) by flow cytometry currently requires multiple antibody panels. We added CD23 and CD200 to the EuroFlow lymphoid screening tube (LST) to create a 10-color modified LST (mLST) capable of diagnosing typical CLL in a single tube. We then explored if the mLST could be used for MRD by comparing its performance to the European Research Initiative on CLL (ERIC) panel using spiked cryopreserved and fresh patient samples.

Use of Call Centers in Polio Eradication Efforts in Island Settlement in Chad.

Background: One of the four key strategies of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) is high immunization coverage, with oral polio vaccine as part of routine immunization schedules. However, given the weak routine immunization structures in the African Region, coverage is enhanced with supplemental immunization activities (SIAs), and mop-up immunizations. Unfortunately, anecdotal information show that vaccination teams sometimes omit some catchments areas without immunization.

Between the city and the farm: food environments in artisanal mining communities in Upper Guinea.

Objective: Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is a widespread livelihood in low- and middle-income countries; however, many in ASM communities face high levels of poverty and malnutrition. The food environments in ASM communities have non-agricultural rural characteristics that differ from those in urban and agricultural rural areas examined in much existing food environment literature.

Design: We examine these complex external and personal food environments in ASM communities via a study using qualitative and quantitative methods.

Perceptions of Independent Pharmacist Prescribing among Health Authority- and Community-Based Pharmacists in Northern British Columbia.

Pharmacists across Canada have varying degrees of ability to prescribe medications depending on their jurisdiction of licensure. The purpose of this study was to the evaluate attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions of independent pharmacist prescribing among health authority- and community-based pharmacists. This prospective, cross-sectional online survey assessed the perceptions of independent pharmacist prescribing of health authority and community pharmacists practising in northern British Columbia (BC), which was defined as within the geographical boundaries of Northern Health.

Higher gametocyte production and mosquito infectivity in chronic compared to incident Plasmodium falciparum infections.

Plasmodium falciparum gametocyte kinetics and infectivity may differ between chronic and incident infections. In the current study, we assess parasite kinetics and infectivity to mosquitoes among children (aged 5-10 years) from Burkina Faso with (a) incident infections following parasite clearance (n = 48) and (b) chronic asymptomatic infections (n = 60). In the incident infection cohort, 92% (44/48) of children develop symptoms within 35 days, compared to 23% (14/60) in the chronic cohort.

A Risk Score Model for Locoregional Recurrence Following Upfront Surgery for Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: Implications for Adjuvant Therapy.

Aims: The aims of the study were to identify predictors of locoregional failure (LRF) following surgery for pancreatic adenocarcinoma, develop a prediction risk score model of LRF and evaluate the impact of postoperative radiation therapy (PORT) on LRF.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective review was conducted on patients with stages I-III pancreatic adenocarcinoma who underwent surgery at our institution (2005-2016). Univariable and then multivariable analyses were used to evaluate clinicopathological factors associated with LRF for patients who did not receive PORT.

Field Deployment of a Mobile Biosafety Laboratory Reveals the Co-Circulation of Dengue Viruses Serotype 1 and Serotype 2 in Louga City, Senegal, 2017.

Dengue virus (DENV) is the most prevalent arboviral threat worldwide. This virus belonging to genus , family, is responsible for a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations, ranging from asymptomatic or mild febrile illness (dengue fever) to life-threatening infections (severe dengue). Many sporadic cases and outbreaks have occurred in Senegal since 1970.

Malaria Infection Is Common and Associated With Perinatal Mortality and Preterm Delivery Despite Widespread Use of Chemoprevention in Mali: An Observational Study 2010 to 2014.

Background: In malaria-endemic areas, pregnant women and especially first-time mothers are more susceptible to Plasmodium falciparum. Malaria diagnosis is often missed during pregnancy, because many women with placental malaria remain asymptomatic or have submicroscopic parasitemia, masking the association between malaria and pregnancy outcomes. Severe maternal anemia and low birthweight deliveries are well-established sequelae, but few studies have confirmed the relationship between malaria infection and severe outcomes like perinatal mortality in high transmission zones.

Safety and Tolerability of Mass Diethylcarbamazine and Albendazole Administration for the Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis in Kenya: An Active Surveillance Study.

Preventive chemotherapy with diethylcarbamazine citrate (DEC) and albendazole (ALB) is the core intervention strategy to eliminate lymphatic filariasis (LF). We conducted a large-scale prospective active safety surveillance study to identify the incidence, type, severity, and risk factors for adverse events (AEs) following mass drug administration (MDA) of single-dose DEC and ALB in 10,010 participants from Kilifi County, Kenya. AEs were actively monitored and graded at 24 h, 48 h, and on day 7 Post-MDA.

[Epidemiological and clinical profile of children with Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Center for the Treatment of Epidemics and Infection Prevention (CTEIP) of the University Hospital of Donka in Conakry].

COVID-19 is caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is genetically similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus. In pediatrics, it has a benign clinical course. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in Guinea, whose epicenter was Conakry, pediatric cases have been reported at the CTEIP in Donka.

Self-Perceptions, Normative Beliefs, and Substance Use Associated With High School Girls Comparing Themselves to Peers.

Background: We assessed whether self-descriptions, self-perceptions, perceived substance use of friends, and actual substance use were associated with high school girls' frequency of making social comparisons to peers.

Methods: We analyzed data from the Adolescent Health Risk Behavior Survey data for 357 high school girls using multinomial logistic regression.

Results: Compared to those who "never/rarely" made social comparisons, participants who self-described as fearing something constantly (p = .

2021 Canadian Cardiovascular Society Guidelines for the Management of Dyslipidemia for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Adults.

The 2021 guidelines primary panel selected clinically relevant questions and produced updated recommendations, on the basis of important new findings that have emerged since the 2016 guidelines. In patients with clinical atherosclerosis, abdominal aortic aneurysm, most patients with diabetes or chronic kidney disease, and those with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ≥ 5 mmol/L, statin therapy continues to be recommended. We have introduced the concept of lipid/lipoprotein treatment thresholds for intensifying lipid-lowering therapy with nonstatin agents, and have identified the secondary prevention patients who have been shown to derive the largest benefit from intensification of therapy with these agents.

"If you don't find anything, you can't eat" - Mining livelihoods and income, gender roles, and food choices in northern Guinea.

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) continues to grow as a viable economic activity in sub-Saharan Africa. The health and environmental impacts of the industry, notably linked to the use of potentially toxic chemicals, has been well documented. What has not been explored to the same extent is how pressures associated with ASM affect food choices of individuals and families living in mining camps.

Comparative Assessment of the Pharmacovigilance Systems within the Neglected Tropical Diseases Programs in East Africa-Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania.

Monitoring the safety of medicines used in public health programs (PHPs), including the neglected tropical diseases (NTD) program, is a WHO recommendation, and requires a well-established and robust pharmacovigilance system. The objective of this study was to assess the pharmacovigilance systems within the NTD programs in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania. The East African Community Harmonized Pharmacovigilance Indicators tool for PHPs was used to interview the staff of the national NTD programs.

Aspirin prescribing for cardiovascular disease in middle-aged and older adults in Ireland: Findings from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing.

Aspirin use for cardiovascular indications is widespread despite evidence not supporting use in patients without cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study characterises aspirin prescribing among people aged ≥50 years in Ireland for primary and secondary prevention, and factors associated with prescription. This cross-sectional study includes participants from wave 3 (2014-2015) of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing.