Efficacy and safety of artemether-lumefantrine against uncomplicated falciparum malaria infection in Tanzania, 2022, a single arm clinical trial.

Background: Artemether-lumefantrine (AL) is the first line anti-malarial drug for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria in Tanzania. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends regular efficacy monitoring of anti-malarial drugs to inform case management policy decisions. This study assessed the safety and efficacy of AL for treating uncomplicated P.

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Dengue Virus Circulation in the Rural Community, Handeni District in Tanga, Tanzania.

Dengue virus is among the most important re-emerging arbovirus that causes global public health attention. Dengue has historically been thought of as an urban disease that frequently occurs in rapidly urbanized settings. However, dengue has become more widespread in rural regions in recent years.

The Impact of Submicroscopic Parasitemia on Malaria Rapid Diagnosis in Northeastern Tanzania, an Area with Diverse Transmission Patterns.

Global malaria epidemiology has changed in the last decade with a substantial increase in cases and deaths being recorded. Tanzania accounts for about 4% of all cases and deaths reported in recent years. Several factors contribute to the resurgence of malaria, parasite resistance to antimalarials and mosquito resistance to insecticides being at the top of the list.

Human IgG responses to Aedes mosquito salivary peptide Nterm-34kDa and its comparison to Anopheles salivary antigen (gSG6-P1) IgG responses measured among individuals living in Lower Moshi, Tanzania.

Background: The level of human exposure to arbovirus vectors, the Aedes mosquitoes, is mainly assessed by entomological methods which are labour intensive, difficult to sustain at a large scale and are affected if transmission and exposure levels are low. Alternatively, serological biomarkers which detect levels of human exposure to mosquito bites may complement the existing epidemiologic tools as they seem cost-effective, simple, rapid, and sensitive. This study explored human IgG responses to an Aedes mosquito salivary gland peptide Nterm-34kDa in Lower Moshi, a highland area with evidence of circulating arboviruses and compared the Aedes IgG responses to Anopheles mosquitoes' salivary antigen (GSG6-P1) IgG responses.

Proportions of Pathogenic Bacteria Isolated from Door Locks and Working Benches in Clinical Laboratory: A Laboratory Based Study.

Background: Numerous studies have revealed the association of the door handle and contamination of pathogenic bacteria. Door handles of clinical and research laboratories have higher chances of contamination with pathogenic bacteria during closing and opening with contaminated gloves on, or sometimes after visiting the toilets without the use of disinfectant materials. There is limited epidemiological data regarding bacteria cross contamination of door locks of the Clinical laboratory at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre.

Predictive markers of transmission in areas with different malaria endemicity in north-eastern Tanzania based on seroprevalence of antibodies against Plasmodium falciparum.

Objective: A community-based cross-sectional study was done to assess Plasmodium falciparum exposure in areas with different malaria endemicity in north-eastern Tanzania using serological markers; PfAMA-1 and PfMSP-1.

Results: Bondo had a higher seroprevalence 36.6% (188) for PfAMA-1 as compared to Hai 13.

High Carriage Rate of Extended-Spectrum -Lactamase-Producing and Species among Poultry Meat Vendors in Dar es Salaam: The Urgent Need for Intervention to Prevent the Spread of Multidrug-Resistant Pathogens.

Background: Bacteria possessing extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL), especially and a species, are problematic, particularly in hospitalized patients. Poultry meat vendors are at risk of carrying ESBL-producing bacteria when processing and handling meat products in an unhygienic environment. There is limited information on the carriage rate of ESBL-producing pathogens among poultry meat vendors that necessitated the conduction of the study.

Adherence, Awareness, Access, and Use of Standard Diagnosis and Treatment Guideline for Malaria Case Management among Healthcare Workers in Meatu, Tanzania.

Background: Effective case management is a vital component of malaria control and elimination strategies. However, the level of adherence to the malaria diagnostic test and treatment guideline is not known, particularly at Meatu district. Therefore, this study aimed at determining the adherence, awareness, access, and use of standard diagnosis and treatment guidelines among healthcare workers in Meatu district.

Factors and Causes of Puerperal Sepsis in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania: A Descriptive Study among Postnatal Women who Attended Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre.

Background: Puerperal sepsis is the major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide. About 94% of maternal mortality occur in low and middle-income countries including Tanzania.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence, document factors and causes of puerperal sepsis among postnatal women who attended postnatal care in Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre Hospital in the year 2015.

Healthcare workers knowledge and diagnostic practices: a need for dengue and chikungunya training in Moshi Municipality, Kilimanjaro Tanzania.

Objective: Dengue and chikungunya virus diseases are becoming an increasingly important global health threats and are continuously expanding their geographical range. The study aims to investigate knowledge and diagnostic practice of dengue and chikungunya fever among healthcare workers in Moshi Municipality.

Results: Most of healthcare workers heard of chikungunya and dengue 146 (71.

Prevalence, determinants and knowledge of antibacterial self-medication: A cross sectional study in North-eastern Tanzania.

Self-medication is very common especially in developing countries and is documented to be associated with many health risks including antibiotic resistance. This study investigated the prevalence, determinants and knowledge of self-medication among residents of Siha District in Tanzania. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 residents in a rural District of Kilimanjaro region, North-eastern Tanzania from 1st to 28th April 2017.

Prevalence and causes of blood donor deferrals among clients presenting for blood donation in northern Tanzania.

Introduction: Blood is an important requirement in different medical and surgical conditions with half of all donations are from developing countries. Lack of eligibility among blood donors who present for blood transfusion, called blood donor deferral is associated with the unsustainable and inadequate amount of blood collected by blood banks worldwide. However, the prevalence and causes of blood donor deferrals are not well known in Tanzania where less than one-third of actual needs of blood is collected, leading to unmet demand of blood for transfusion, and causing unwanted morbidity and mortality.

Cross-sectional Survey on Antibiotic Prescription Practices Among Health Care Providers in Rombo District, Northern Tanzania.

Background: Irrational and inappropriate antibiotic prescription is a worldwide phenomenon - increasing the threat of serious antibiotic resistance. A better understanding of health care providers' knowledge, attitudes, and prescription practices related to antibiotics is essential for formulating effective antibiotics stewardship programmes. The aim of the present study was to assess knowledge, attitudes, and prescription practices toward antibiotics among health care providers.

Spectrum and antibiogram of bacteria isolated from patients presenting with infected wounds in a Tertiary Hospital, northern Tanzania.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the spectrum and antibiogram of the isolated bacteria from patients presenting with infected wounds at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in northern Tanzania.

Results: Bacterial growth was observed in the vast majority of wound swabs (91.4%).

Principal component analysis of socioeconomic factors and their association with malaria and arbovirus risk in Tanzania: a sensitivity analysis.

Principal component analysis (PCA) is frequently adopted for creating socioeconomic proxies in order to investigate the independent effects of wealth on disease status. The guidelines and methods for the creation of these proxies are well described and validated. The Demographic and Health Survey, World Health Survey and the Living Standards Measurement Survey are examples of large data sets that use PCA to create wealth indices particularly in low and middle-income countries (LMIC), where quantifying wealth-disease associations is problematic due to the unavailability of reliable income and expenditure data.

Knowledge and practice regarding dengue and chikungunya: a cross-sectional study among Healthcare workers and community in Northern Tanzania.

Objective: To investigate knowledge and prevention practices regarding dengue and chikungunya amongst community members, as well as knowledge, treatment and diagnostic practices among healthcare workers.

Method: We conducted a cross-sectional survey with 125 community members and 125 healthcare workers from 13 health facilities in six villages in the Hai district of Tanzania. A knowledge score was generated based on participant responses to a structured questionnaire, with a score of 40 or higher (of 80 and 50 total scores for community members and healthcare workers, respectively) indicating good knowledge.

10 Years of Environmental Change on the Slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and Its Associated Shift in Malaria Vector Distributions.

Introduction: Malaria prevalence has declined in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania over the past 10 years, particularly at lower altitudes. While this decline has been related to the scale-up of long-lasting insecticidal nets to achieve universal coverage targets, it has also been attributed to changes in environmental factors that are important for enabling and sustaining malaria transmission.

Objectives: Herein, we apply spatial analytical approaches to investigate the impact of environmental and demographic changes, including changes in temperature, precipitation, land cover, and population density, on the range of the major malaria vector species in two districts of Tanzania, situated on the southern slope of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Prevalence of dengue and chikungunya virus infections in north-eastern Tanzania: a cross sectional study among participants presenting with malaria-like symptoms.

Background: In spite of increasing reports of dengue and chikungunya activity in Tanzania, limited research has been done to document the general epidemiology of dengue and chikungunya in the country. This study aimed at determining the sero-prevalence and prevalence of acute infections of dengue and chikungunya virus among participants presenting with malaria-like symptoms (fever, headache, rash, vomit, and joint pain) in three communities with distinct ecologies of north-eastern Tanzania.

Methods: Cross sectional studies were conducted among 1100 participants (aged 2-70 years) presenting with malaria-like symptoms at health facilities at Bondo dispensary (Bondo, Tanga), Hai hospital (Hai, Kilimanjaro) and TPC hospital (Lower Moshi).

Occurrence of pfatpase6 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Associated with Artemisinin Resistance among Field Isolates of Plasmodium falciparum in North-Eastern Tanzania.

We aimed to determine the current prevalence of four P. falciparum candidate artemisinin resistance biomarkers L263E, E431K, A623E, and S769N in the pfatpase6 gene in a high transmission area in Tanzania in a retrospective cross sectional study using 154 archived samples collected from three previous malaria studies in 2010, 2011 and 2013. Mutations in pfatpase6 gene were detected in parasite DNA isolated from Dried Blood Spots by using PCR-RFLP.