Q fever and spotted fever group rickettsioses (SFGR) are common causes of severe febrile illness in northern Tanzania. Incidence estimates are needed to characterize the disease burden. Using hybrid surveillance-coupling case-finding at two referral hospitals and healthcare utilization data-we estimated the incidences of acute Q fever and SFGR in Moshi, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, from 2007 to 2008 and from 2012 to 2014.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Identifying febrile patients requiring antibacterial treatment is challenging, particularly in low-resource settings. In South-East Asia, C-reactive protein (CRP) has been demonstrated to be highly sensitive and moderately specific in detecting bacterial infections and to safely reduce unnecessary antibacterial prescriptions in primary care. As evidence is scant in sub-Saharan Africa, we assessed the sensitivity of CRP in identifying serious bacterial infections in Tanzania.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDuring the Ebola virus outbreak of 2013-2016, the Viral Special Pathogens Branch field laboratory in Sierra Leone tested approximately 26 000 specimens between August 2014 and October 2015. Analysis of the B2M endogenous control Ct values showed its utility in monitoring specimen quality, comparing results with different specimen types, and interpretation of results. For live patients, blood is the most sensitive specimen type and oral swabs have little diagnostic utility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTick-borne diseases cause substantial morbidity throughout the United States, and North Carolina has a high incidence of spotted fever rickettsioses and ehrlichiosis, with sporadic cases of Lyme disease. The occupational risk of tick-borne infections among outdoor workers is high, particularly those working on publicly managed lands. This study identified incident tick-borne infections and examined seroconversion risk factors among a cohort of North Carolina outdoor workers.
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