Nasopharyngeal carriage and antibiotic susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae among diabetes patients in western Kenya.

Aims: To compare nasopharyngeal carriage and antibiotic susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae among patients with and without diabetes at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in western Kenya.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at MTRH diabetes and eye clinics. Participants were selected using systematic random sampling.

Psychiatric morbidity among patients on treatment for tuberculosis at a tertiary referral hospital in Western Kenya.

Background: Mental disorders account for nine percent of the overall global burden of disease and are among the top ten leading causes of disability. Mental illness and tuberculosis share risk factors including poverty, overcrowding, stigma, poor nutrition, substance use and retro-viral disease co-infection. Presence of mental illness in tuberculosis delays health-seeking, affects drug adherence, increases cost of treatment, prolongs disease duration, lowers quality of life, and increases mortality.

Burden of stigma among tuberculosis patients in a pastoralist community in Kenya: A mixed methods study.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) stigma remains a barrier to early diagnosis and treatment completion. Increased understanding of stigma is necessary for improved interventions to minimise TB stigma and its effects. The purpose of this study is to quantitatively measure TB stigma and to explore qualitatively its manifestation among TB patients in a rural Kenyan community.

Childhood immunisation in Bungoma County, Kenya, from 2008 to 2011: need for improved uptake.

Uptake of immunisations in children aged 1-2 years in Bungoma County, Kenya, was determined as part of the 6-monthly Health and Demographic Surveillance System surveys. A total of 2699 children were assessed between 2008 and 2011. During this time period, full immunisation declined significantly from 84% to 58%, and measles vaccine declined uptake from 89% to 60% (P < 0.