Prevalence and factors associated with teenage pregnancy in refugee settlements of northern Uganda post-COVID-19 (2020-2023): a cross-sectional study.

Background: Following the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an increase in teenage pregnancies nationally, however, limited data exists regarding the same among girls living in refugee settlements.

Objectives: We evaluated the prevalence of teenage pregnancy and associated factors in Palorinya and Bidi Bidi refugee settlements in Obongi and Yumbe districts of northern Uganda, in the post-COVID-19 era.

Design: We conducted a cross-sectional study.

Digitalizing disease surveillance: experience from Sierra Leone.

The Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) system was adopted by the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health (MOH) in 2008, which was based on paper-based tools for health data recording and reporting from health facilities to the national level. The Sierra Leone MoH introduced the implementation of electronic case-based disease surveillance reporting of immediately notifiable diseases. This study aimed to document and describe the experience of Sierra Leone in transforming her paper-based disease surveillance system into an electronic disease surveillance system.

Mortality patterns over a 10-year period in Kibera, an urban informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya, 2009-2018.

Background: Reliable mortality data are important for evaluating the impact of health interventions. However, data on mortality patterns among populations living in urban informal settlements are limited.

Objectives: To examine the mortality patterns and trends in an urban informal settlement in Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya.

Dynamic Incidence of Typhoid Fever over a 10-Year Period (2010-2019) in Kibera, an Urban Informal Settlement in Nairobi, Kenya.

Typhoid fever burden can vary over time. Long-term data can inform prevention strategies; however, such data are lacking in many African settings. We reexamined typhoid fever incidence and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) over a 10-year period in Kibera, a densely populated urban informal settlement where a high burden has been previously described.

Extending and Strengthening Routine DHIS2 Surveillance Systems for COVID-19 Responses in Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, and Uganda.

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged countries to protect their populations from this emerging disease. One aspect of that challenge was to rapidly modify national surveillance systems or create new systems that would effectively detect new cases of COVID-19. Fifty-five countries leveraged past investments in District Health Information Software version 2 (DHIS2) to quickly adapt their national public health surveillance systems for COVID-19 case reporting and response activities.

Metabolically healthy overweight/obesity are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease in adults, even in the absence of metabolic risk factors: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.

This review examined the risk of cardiovascular disease in adults with metabolically healthy overweight/obesity. A systematic review and meta-analysis using data from Medline, EMBASE, SCOPUS and Cochrane Library searched from inception up to 31st October 2019. We included prospective cohort studies of adults who are metabolically healthy or unhealthy.

Inappropriate use of antibiotics for childhood diarrhea case management - Kenya, 2009-2016.

Background: Antibiotics are essential to treat for many childhood bacterial infections; however inappropriate antibiotic use contributes to antimicrobial resistance. For childhood diarrhea, empiric antibiotic use is recommended for dysentery (bloody diarrhea) for which first-line therapy is ciprofloxacin. We assessed inappropriate antibiotic prescription for childhood diarrhea in two primary healthcare facilities in Kenya.

A Cross-Cutting Approach to Surveillance and Laboratory Capacity as a Platform to Improve Health Security in Uganda.

Global health security depends on effective surveillance for infectious diseases. In Uganda, resources are inadequate to support collection and reporting of data necessary for an effective and responsive surveillance system. We used a cross-cutting approach to improve surveillance and laboratory capacity in Uganda by leveraging an existing pediatric inpatient malaria sentinel surveillance system to collect data on expanded causes of illness, facilitate development of real-time surveillance, and provide data on antimicrobial resistance.

Dengue serosurvey in Sint Eustatius.

Four distinct serotypes of dengue viruses (DENV) are the cause of re-emerging dengue fever (DF) and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). Dengue circulation in the Caribbean has gone from none or single serotype to multiple serotypes co-circulating with reports of continuing cycles of progressively more severe disease in the region. Few studies have investigated dengue on Sint Eustatius.

A phase 3 trial of RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine in African infants.

Background: The candidate malaria vaccine RTS,S/AS01 reduced episodes of both clinical and severe malaria in children 5 to 17 months of age by approximately 50% in an ongoing phase 3 trial. We studied infants 6 to 12 weeks of age recruited for the same trial.

Methods: We administered RTS,S/AS01 or a comparator vaccine to 6537 infants who were 6 to 12 weeks of age at the time of the first vaccination in conjunction with Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) vaccines in a three-dose monthly schedule.

HIV-infected ugandan adults taking antiretroviral therapy with CD4 counts >200 cells/μL who discontinue cotrimoxazole prophylaxis have increased risk of malaria and diarrhea.

Background: Cotrimoxazole prophylaxis prolongs survival and prevents opportunistic infections, malaria, and diarrhea in persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Many countries recommend that individuals taking antiretroviral therapy (ART) discontinue cotrimoxazole when CD4 counts are >200 cells/μL. However, this practice has not been evaluated in sub-Saharan Africa.