Publications by authors named "Bilaal S Ahmed"
Approximately 20% of the nationally reported tetanus infections in children aged 0 to 14 years that occurred in the United States between 2005 and 2015 were treated at Penn State Children's Hospital. With an electronic medical record search, we identified 5 cases of pediatric tetanus; 100% of these cases occurred in unimmunized children. Their median length of stay was 10 days, and the costs were significant.
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- The study explores health knowledge and practices in urban and rural Makeni, Sierra Leone, focusing on differences between areas with and without community health workers (CHWs).
- Findings reveal that urban areas have a notably lower ownership of insecticide-treated bednets compared to rural areas (58% vs 94%; p<.001).
- Maternal mortality perceptions primarily attribute causes to lack of clinical care or missed antenatal visits, with other factors including bleeding, anemia, and beliefs about divine will.
Background: HIV infection and malaria co-infection is not uncommon among children in co-endemic regions, and evidence suggests that HIV is a risk factor for severe malaria among children. HIV protease inhibitors (PIs) are highly effective in pediatric HIV treatment regimens, however, their effectiveness against malaria has been mixed, with some PIs demonstrating in vitro activity against Plasmodium falciparum. Recent findings suggest lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r)-based treatment regimens reduce the incidence of malaria infection by over 40% in pediatric HIV patients compared to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-based regimens.
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