Assessing Changes in Bacterial Load and Antibiotic Resistance in the Legon Sewage Treatment Plant between 2018 and 2023 in Accra, Ghana.

Wastewater treatment plants are efficient in reducing bacterial loads but are also considered potential drivers of environmental antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In this study, we determined the effect of increased influent wastewater volume (from 40% to 66%) in the Legon sewage treatment plant (STP) on the removal of from sewage, along with changes in AMR profiles. This before and after study compared loads and AMR patterns in influent and effluent samples from a published baseline study (January-June 2018) with a follow-up study (March-May 2023).

Perceptions about COVID-19 preventive measures among Ghanaian women.

Though the advent of COVID-19 vaccines has significantly reduced severe morbidity and mortality, infection rates continue to rise. Therefore, adhering to COVID-19 preventive measures remains essential in the fight against the pandemic, particularly in Africa, where vaccination rates remain low. However, the perceived risk associated with COVID-19 and public education and awareness campaigns has waned over time.

Assessing the adaptive capacity of smallholder cocoa farmers to climate variability in the Adansi South District of the Ashanti Region, Ghana.

This study assessed the adaptive capacity of smallholder cocoa farmers to address the adverse effects of climate variability in the Adansi South District of the Ashanti Region, Ghana. Specifically, the study sought to (i) assess the perception of the smallholder cocoa farmers to climate variability; (ii) determine the perceived effects of climate variability on cocoa production in the district; and; (iii) evaluate the adaptive capacity of the smallholder cocoa farmers to manage climate risks. The study used questionnaire surveys with 150 smallholder cocoa farmers, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions in three selected communities (Afiaso, Tonkoase, and Amudurase).

Insights into the relationship between ferroelectric and photovoltaic properties in CsGeI for solar energy conversion.

Materials such as oxide and halide perovskites that simultaneously exhibit spontaneous polarization and absorption of visible light are called photoferroelectrics. They hold great promise for the development of applications in optoelectronics, information storage, and energy conversion. Devices based on ferroelectric photovoltaic materials yield an open-circuit voltage that is much higher than the band gap of the corresponding active material owing to a strong internal electric field.

Facilitators and barriers to COVID-19 vaccine uptake among women in two regions of Ghana: A qualitative study.

Although COVID-19 vaccines are available, evidence suggests that several factors hinder or facilitate their use. Several studies have found gender differences in COVID-19 vaccine uptake, with women less likely to vaccinate than men in many countries, including Ghana. These studies, however, have primarily been quantitative.

Orthopaedic surgeons' perceptions and attitudes on COVID-19 related changes in practice: an international cross-sectional survey.

Introduction: the purpose of this study was to assess the orthopaedic surgeons' perceptions and attitudes on COVID-19 related changes in their practice.

Methods: an online survey was shared with orthopaedic surgeons practicing in different countries.

Results: this study showed that orthopaedic surgery plan management was adapted to respond more effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic while maintaining the continuity of health care and ensuring protection of medical staff and patients.

Household food sources and diarrhoea incidence in poor urban communities, Accra Ghana.

Diarrhoeal diseases remain a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, particularly in poor urban communities in the Global South. Studies on food access and safety have however not considered the sources of discrete food categories and their propensity to harbour and transmit diarrhoeal disease pathogens in poor urban settings. We sought to contribute to knowledge on urban food environment and enteric infections by interrogating the sources and categories of common foods and their tendency to transmit diarrhoea in low-income communities in Accra.

Sense of community and willingness to support malaria intervention programme in urban poor Accra, Ghana.

Background: The extensive research on community members' willingness to support malaria interventions ignores the role of psychosocial determinants. This study assesses the impact of individuals' sense of community (perceptions of community cohesion, altruism, seeking help from neighbours and migrant status) on their willingness to participate in a mosquito control programme using data on 768 individuals from the 2013 RIPS Urban Health and Poverty Survey in poor coastal communities in Accra, Ghana. A contingent valuation experiment was employed to elicit individuals' willingness to support the programme by contributing nothing, labour time/money only or both.

Drinking water from dug wells in rural ghana--salmonella contamination, environmental factors, and genotypes.

Salmonellosis is an important but neglected disease in sub-Saharan Africa. Food or fecal-oral associated transmissions are the primary cause of infections, while the role of waterborne transmission is unclear. Samples were collected from different dug wells in a rural area of Ghana and analyzed for contamination with bacteria, and with Salmonella in particular.

High prevalence of common respiratory viruses and no evidence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in Hajj pilgrims returning to Ghana, 2013.

Objective: The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) emerged in 2012 on the Arabian Peninsula and has caused severe respiratory disease with more than 800 laboratory-confirmed cases. The return of infected pilgrims to their home countries with a putative spread of MERS-CoV necessitates further surveillance.

Methods: A cross sectional study of 839 adult African Hajj pilgrims returning to Accra in Ghana, West Africa, was conducted in 2013 to assess the prevalence of respiratory symptoms as well as of MERS-CoV, human rhinovirus (HRV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza A virus (FLU A) infection.

Human coronaviruses associated with upper respiratory tract infections in three rural areas of Ghana.

Background: Acute respiratory tract infections (ARI) are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries, especially in Africa. This study sought to determine whether human coronaviruses (HCoVs) are associated with upper respiratory tract infections among older children and adults in Ghana.

Methods: We conducted a case control study among older children and adults in three rural areas of Ghana using asymptomatic subjects as controls.

Effect of the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness strategy on health care quality in Morocco.

Objective: To evaluate an intervention to promote health workers' use of the World Health Organization's Integrated Management of Childhood Illness clinical guidelines and to identify other factors influencing quality of care received by Moroccan children.

Setting: Public outpatient health facilities.

Design: Cross-sectional survey of consultations with sick children under 5 years old at facilities in two intervention and two comparison provinces in April 2000 (6-12 months after intervention).

Pregnancy outcomes in urban black South African women aged 35 years and older.

We measured maternal and fetal outcomes for black South African women of age 35 years and above, compared with younger controls. The study was carried out at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Maternity Hospital and the Soweto Community Health Centres, that provide maternity services for urban black pregnant women. This was a retrospective pregnancy cohort, comparing pregnant women aged 35 and above with a control group aged 20-29 years.