Informed consent comprehension in African research settings.

Objective: Previous reviews on participants' comprehension of informed consent information have focused on developed countries. Experience has shown that ethical standards developed on Western values may not be appropriate for African settings where research concepts are unfamiliar. We undertook this review to describe how informed consent comprehension is defined and measured in African research settings.

Malariometric Indices among Nigerian Children in a Rural Setting.

Malaria contributes to high childhood morbidity and mortality in Nigeria. To determine its endemicity in a rural farming community in the south-south of Nigeria, the following malariometric indices, namely, malaria parasitaemia, spleen rates, and anaemia were evaluated in children aged 2-10 years. This was a descriptive cross-sectional survey among school-age children residing in a rubber plantation settlement.

Oral iron supplements for children in malaria-endemic areas.

Background: Iron-deficiency anaemia is common during childhood. Iron supplementation has been claimed to increase the risk of malaria.

Objectives: To assess the effect of iron on malaria and deaths.

Therapeutic interventions for Burkitt lymphoma in children.

Background: Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is an important cancer found mostly in children but uncertainty remains as to the most effective form of management. In endemic areas, late-stage presentation as a result of delayed access to treatment compounds the situation.

Objectives: To assess the evidence for chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy and immunotherapy in the treatment of children with endemic BL.

Prescribing practice for malaria following introduction of artemether-lumefantrine in an urban area with declining endemicity in West Africa.

Background: The decline in malaria coinciding with the introduction of newer, costly anti-malarials has prompted studies into the overtreatment for malaria mostly in East Africa. The study presented here describes prescribing practices for malaria at health facilities in a West African country.

Methods: Cross-sectional surveys were carried out in two urban Gambian primary health facilities (PHFs) during and outside the malaria transmission season.

Oral iron supplementation for preventing or treating anaemia among children in malaria-endemic areas.

Background: Iron-deficiency anaemia is common during childhood. Iron supplementation has been claimed to increase the risk of malaria.

Objectives: To assess the effect of iron on malaria and deaths.

Antimotility agents for chronic diarrhoea in people with HIV/AIDS.

Background: AIDS-related diarrhoea is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in HIV positive individuals, especially in the sub-Saharan Africa where 70% of deaths from HIV occur. It often compromises quality of life both in those receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) and the ART naive. Empirical antidiarrhoeal treatment may be required in about 50% of cases which are non-pathogenic or idiopathic and in cases resulting from antiretroviral therapy.

Bacterial isolates from blood cultures of children with suspected septicaemia in Calabar, Nigeria.

Background: Septicaemia is a common cause of morbidity and mortality among children in the developing world. This pattern has changed little in the past decade. Physical signs and symptoms, though useful in identifying possible cases have limited specificity.