Publications by authors named "K N Ukwaja"
Background: Gender-related barriers significantly impede care-seeking for tuberculosis (TB), leading to poor treatment outcomes. This study aimed to assess changes in knowledge and beliefs following a training program on gender-transformative TB programming among stakeholders in Southern Nigeria.
Methods: A cross-sectional pretest/posttest design was employed to evaluate the training's effectiveness among participants from September 2023 to March 2024.
Article Synopsis
- A study in Nigeria aimed to assess community knowledge and stigma surrounding leprosy, revealing a significant gap in understanding and high levels of stigma among residents.
- Nearly half (49.4%) of the 811 survey participants had poor knowledge about leprosy, largely due to cultural beliefs and misconceptions about its transmission.
- The findings highlight the need for targeted health education and interventions to reduce stigma and improve knowledge about leprosy in the community.
Introduction: One of the unexpected outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic was the relatively low levels of morbidity and mortality in Africa compared to the rest of the world. Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, accounted for less than 0.01% of the global COVID-19 fatalities.
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- The study focuses on the emergence and dissemination patterns of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.318 and B.1.525 (Eta) variants in Nigeria and Africa, highlighting their significance for public health policies during a pandemic.
- By combining genomic and travel data, the research indicates that both variants originated from within Africa, with B.1.525 emerging specifically in Nigeria before spreading globally.
- The findings emphasize the importance of understanding regional connectivity and bidirectional transmission in Africa, revealing that the risks of virus importation between countries have been underestimated.
Tezepelumab is a human monoclonal antibody that blocks thymic stromal lymphopoietin, an epithelial-cell-derived cytokine implicated in the pathogenesis of asthma. It was approved by the United States Federal Drug Administration (US FDA) as an add-on maintenance treatment for patients with severe uncontrolled asthma in December 2021. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the safety and efficacy of tezepelumab on forced expiratory volume (FEV) (L), the rate of asthma exacerbations, health-related quality of life, fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) (ppb), and blood eosinophil count (cells/mL) in patients with severe, uncontrolled asthma.
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