Publications by authors named "J A Odoom"
Unlabelled: In the Global Polio Laboratory Network (GPLN), poliovirus (PV) screening results from acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance is based on virus isolation (VI) through cell culture, entailing long turnaround times and the amplification of live poliovirus. An alternative Direct Detection strategy (DD-ITD) for screening viral nucleic acid from stools, bypassing the need for virus culture, has been developed and extensively validated by GPLN partners. A multi-laboratory demonstration project was conceived to field-test the DD-ITD method by GPLN laboratories from the WHO African, Western Pacific, and Eastern Mediterranean regions, where wild serotype 1 or vaccine-derived polioviruses still circulate.
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- The Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched in Ghana in 1996, successfully stopping the wild poliovirus by 2008, but faced vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 outbreaks in 2019 and 2022.
- A retrospective analysis of Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) surveillance data from 2018 to 2022 revealed that most cases involved young children, with over 77% experiencing fever at the onset of paralysis.
- The surveillance system in Ghana exhibited effectiveness with high non-polio AFP rates and stool adequacy, but improvements are needed in data completeness and timely processing of stool samples.
Article Synopsis
- Circulating Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus Type 2 (cVDPV2) was found in sewage and stool samples from children with acute flaccid paralysis in northern Ghana, prompting an investigation into the outbreak.
- A total of 18 cases of cVDPV2 were confirmed across three regions, linked to a strain from Nigeria, highlighting issues in water quality, sanitation, and community health practices.
- The outbreak marked the first incidence of cVDPV2 in Ghana since 1996 but was controlled through enhanced surveillance and vaccination campaigns, including the Monovalent Oral Polio Vaccine 2 (mOPV2) and a nationwide IPV catch-up campaign.
Article Synopsis
- * 17% of the samples tested positive for the virus, with a higher prevalence in wastewater (11%) compared to sewage (6%), particularly in the Greater Accra Region.
- * Despite finding viral RNA, attempts to isolate the virus were unsuccessful, indicating that while SARS-CoV-2 persists in the environment, it may not be infectious in these samples.
Objective: This study aimed to determine the duration of SARS-CoV-2 clearance in persons in Ghana. The research question was whether the duration of virus clearance in Ghana matched the 14 days recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO); this had direct implications for transmission, which was key in managing the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design: This was a retrospective analytical study.