Correct diagnosis of childhood pneumonia in public facilities in Tanzania: a randomised comparison of diagnostic methods.

Objective: This study compares two methods for clinical diagnosis of childhood pneumonia that aim to estimate rates of underdiagnosis and overdiagnosis of childhood pneumonia by examining the sensitivity of Integrated Management of Childhood Diseases implementation in routine care against lung ultrasound (LUS) diagnosis.

Setting: We conducted observations in 83 public health facilities (dispensaries, health centres and district hospitals) in Pwani, Dodoma and Tabora, Tanzania between October and December 2017.

Methods: We used a novel method to estimate rates of underdiagnosis and overdiagnosis of childhood pneumonia by comparing directly observed public provider diagnoses to the results of diagnoses made by trained clinicians using Mindray DP-10 ultrasound machines.

Risk factors associated with under nutrition among children aged 6-59 months in Ngorongoro, Arusha region, Tanzania: a case-control study, 2017.

Introduction: childhood undernutrition is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in children below five years of age especially in developing countries like Tanzania, particularly in rural area. Inappropriate child caring and feeding practices have been strongly associated with it. Many actions have been taken to reduce prevalence of undernutrition in children in Ngorongoro district, however, the problem persist.

Performance evaluation of the highly sensitive histidine-rich protein 2 rapid test for plasmodium falciparum malaria in North-West Tanzania.

Background: Precise detection of Plasmodium infections in community surveys is essential for effective malaria control. Microscopy and rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are the major techniques used to identify malaria infections in the field-based surveys. Although microscopy is still considered as the gold standard, RDTs are increasingly becoming versatile due to their rapid and adequate performance characteristics.

Awareness and factors associated with reported intake of folic acid-fortified flour among women of reproductive age in Ifakara, Morogoro region, Tanzania: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Folic acid fortification of staple foods has been in place in many countries for over two decades. Studies have shown that folic acid fortification can significantly reduce incidence of neural tube defects. Tanzania adopted a mandatory fortification policy for commercially-produced wheat and maize flour in 2011.

Factors associated with non-uptake of measles-rubella vaccine second dose among children under five years in Mtwara district council, Tanzania, 2017.

Introduction: in 2014, Tanzania introduced the combined measles-rubella vaccine in the routine immunization schedule. Two doses of measles-rubella vaccine (MR1 and MR2) are recommended at 9 and 18 months, respectively. In 2015, MR2 coverage among eligible 18-month-old children in Tanzania was only 57%, lower than the WHO-recommended coverage (95%).