Integrating telepsychiatry services in a care setting in Kenya: a case report.

Globally, health providers and patients alike have been forced to adapt rapidly to the use of telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although telepsychiatry has been tested and found just as effective as face-to-face care, there still remains little uptake of this form of care provision in sub-Saharan Africa. This case study highlights the use of telepsychiatry in a previously telemedicine-naive private mental health facility in Kenya.

Implementation of telepsychiatry in Kenya: acceptability study.

Background: COVID-19-related restrictions on in-person contact in healthcare, increasing psychiatric illness during the pandemic and pre-existing shortages of mental healthcare providers have led to the emergence of telepsychiatry as an attractive option for the delivery of care. Telepsychiatry has been promoted as economical and effective, but its acceptance in low- and middle-income countries is poorly understood.

Aims: To explore the acceptance, experiences and perspectives of patients and healthcare providers in the uptake of telepsychiatry services in a middle-income country.

Harnessing social media in mental health practice in Kenya: a community case study report.

The use of social media to increase awareness on mental health is rapidly gaining momentum globally. However, despite evidence of a growing trend in social media use in sub Saharan Africa, little has been reported on tapping the potential of social media within a mental health practice to not only increase awareness but also facilitate linkage to specialist care. We describe one such mental health practice and its process of integration of the different social media platforms to promote mental health and increase linkage to specialist care.

Long Term School Based Deworming against Soil-Transmitted Helminths Also Benefits the Untreated Adult Population: Results from a Community-Wide Cross Sectional Survey.

Background: Soil-transmitted helminths (STH) are a public health problem in Kenya. The primary control strategy for these infections is preventive chemotherapy (PC) delivered through school based deworming (SBD) programs. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the inclusion of other at-risk groups in the PC.

Association between Schistosoma mansoni infection and access to improved water and sanitation facilities in Mwea, Kirinyaga County, Kenya.

Background: Schistosomiasis remains a public health problem in Central Kenya despite concerted control efforts. Access to improved water and sanitation has been emphasized as important control measures. Few studies have assessed the association between access to improved water sources and sanitation facilities with Schistosoma mansoni infection in different environmental settings.

FACTORS INFLUENCING VOLUNTARY MEDICAL MALE CIRCUMCISION AMONG MEN AGED 18-50 YEARS IN KIBERA DIVISION.

Background: Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) is the surgical removal of all or part of the foreskin from the penis. It is done for medical reasons as it has been shown to reduce the risk of female to male transmission of HIV by up to 60%. It has also been associated with lower transmission of sexually transmitted infections.

Questionnaire survey on the occurrence of risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii infection amongst farmers in Thika District, Kenya.

A survey was conducted to determine the occurrence of risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii infection amongst farmers in Thika District, Kenya. Interviews were conducted in a total of 385 households using a structured questionnaire. The water consumed at household level originated from taps (74.

Development and delivery of evidence-based messages to reduce the risk of zoonoses in Nairobi, Kenya.

This paper describes a trans-disciplinary process of co-generating and disseminating evidence-based messages for reducing the risk from cryptosporidiosis and other zoonoses in an urban community in Nairobi. Research findings about disease prevalence, risk factors and observed risky and risk-mitigating practices were analysed by a team comprising researchers, community members and local policy- and decision-makers. Using participatory planning, multiple strategies were developed for disseminating key information.

Outcome mapping for fostering and measuring change in risk management behaviour among urban dairy farmers in Nairobi, Kenya.

A study was undertaken to investigate and mitigate the risk from zoonotic Cryptosporidium associated with dairy farming in Dagoretti division, Nairobi, Kenya. Outcome mapping (OM), a relatively new tool for planning and evaluation, was used to foster and then monitor changes in farmer management of health risks. Elements of the OM framework, including the vision, mission and expected progress markers, were developed in participatory sessions and a set of progress markers was used for monitoring behaviour change in farmers participating in the project (the boundary partners).

A trans-disciplinary study on the health risks of cryptosporidiosis from dairy systems in Dagoretti, Nairobi, Kenya: study background and farming system characteristics.

This paper characterises the dairy farming system in Dagoretti, Nairobi. Characterisation was part of a broader ecohealth project to estimate the prevalence and risk of cryptosporidiosis and develop risk mitigation strategies. In the project a trans-disciplinary team addressed epidemiological, socioeconomic, environmental and policy aspects of cryptosporidiosis, an emerging zoonosis.

Factors associated with non-adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy in Nairobi, Kenya.

Background: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) requires high-level (> 95%) adherence. Kenya is rolling out ART access programmes and, issue of adherence to therapy is therefore imperative. However, published data on adherence to ART in Kenya is limited.

Delivery practices and associated factors among mothers seeking child welfare services in selected health facilities in Nyandarua South District, Kenya.

Background: A measure of the proportion of deliveries assisted by skilled attendants is one of the indicators of progress towards achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5, which aims at improving maternal health. This study aimed at establishing delivery practices and associated factors among mothers seeking child welfare services at selected health facilities in Nyandarua South district, Kenya to determine whether mothers were receiving appropriate delivery care.

Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional survey among women who had recently delivered while in the study area was carried out between August and October 2009.

Probiotics for the developing world.

Every minute of every day more and more children die of diarrheal diseases and women, and girls become infected by HIV. An estimated 7,000 women become infected each day. While many valiant efforts are being made to address these issues, until now they have proved to be markedly ineffective.

The detection of antibodies against Schistosoma mansoni soluble egg antigens (SEA) and CEF6 in ELISA, before and after chemotherapy.

Circulating IgG antibody reactivity and excreted egg counts were investigated in 489 Kenyans given chemotherapy for schistosomiasis mansoni. Antibody reactivity was measured in ELISA, using either unfractionated aqueous soluble constituents of Schistosoma mansoni eggs (SEA) or CEF6 (a soluble fraction of S. mansoni eggs containing two cationic antigens) as the antigen source.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae in children with pneumonia at Mbagathi District Hospital, Nairobi.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of mycoplasma pneumoniae in nasopharyngeal aspirates of children under five years of age suffering from pneumonia.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Methods: Two primer sets targeting the genes coding for adhesion protein and 16S rRNA were used in PCR and M.

Utilisation of antenatal and maternity services by mothers seeking child welfare services in Mbeere District, Eastern Province, Kenya.

Background: Utilisation of antenatal and maternity services is an important maternal health indicator. Increasing the proportion of mothers who are cared for in health facilities during pregnancy, childbirth and puerperium reduces the health risks to mothers and their children.

Objective: To determine the utilisation of antenatal and maternity services by mothers of Mbeere District bringing their children to the child welfare clinic.

Efficacy of oxamniquine and praziquantel in school children from two Schistosoma mansoni endemic areas.

Objective: To determine the relative susceptibility of Schistosoma mansoni infections to treatment with the oxamniquine (OXA) and praziquantel (PZQ).

Design And Setting: Three separate cross sectional studies were performed in six primary schools located in two Schistosoma mansoni endemic areas in Eastern Kenya: Kangundo (low morbidity) and Kibwezi (high morbidity).

Subjects: One thousand two hundred and fourteen infected children aged 6-20 years were involved.

Prevalence and familial aggregation of schistosomal liver morbidity in Kenya: evaluation by new ultrasound criteria.

Severe periportal fibrosis is not an inevitable consequence of infection with Schistosoma mansoni. Genetic predisposition may be a deciding factor in the development of disease. To assess the contribution of genetic factors in the severity of hepatic fibrosis, the degree of familial aggregation was determined in a Kenyan population.

High levels of TNF, soluble TNF receptors, soluble ICAM-1, and IFN-gamma, but low levels of IL-5, are associated with hepatosplenic disease in human schistosomiasis mansoni.

In a case-control study based in two areas of Kenya, hepatosplenic schistosomiasis mansoni was shown to be linked with low levels of IL-5 and with correspondingly high IFN-gamma, TNF, and circulating soluble TNF receptor I (sTNFR-I), sTNFR-II, and sICAM-1. PBMC from the hepatosplenic cases responded to in vitro Ag stimulation with significantly higher levels of IFN-gamma and TNF, but lower levels of IL-5, compared with nonhepatosplenic controls matched for age and infection intensity. Most of these correlations were confounded by differences between geographical areas.

Schistosomiasis mansoni in Kenya: relationship between infection and anaemia in schoolchildren at the community level.

Haematological surveys were carried out in 3 schools in 2 areas where Schistosoma mansoni is endemic in Machakos District, Kenya, before and after a treatment campaign using praziquantel. Earlier clinical impressions of differences in the levels of anaemia between the 2 areas were not confirmed. Although individual haemoglobin levels and haematocrits often fell below international norms, significant anaemia with abnormal red blood cell morphology was rare (< 5%), but varied between schools.

Epidemiology of HIV infection among long distance truck drivers in Kenya.

A total number of two hundred eighty three long distance truck drivers and their assistants (loaders) who ferry goods between Kenya and Zaire were included in a cross-sectional study between September 1991 and April 1992. Twenty six percent of the study subjects were seropositive for HIV-1 and none were HIV-2 seropositive. Countries of birth and residence were significantly associated with HIV infection (X2 = 23.

A survey of Schistosoma mansoni induced kidney disease in children in an endemic area of Machakos District, Kenya.

The association between Schistosoma mansoni infection and kidney lesions was investigated in school children selected from three primary schools in Machakos District, Kenya, namely Miu (n = 159), Kitengei (n = 160) and Misuuni (n = 99) schools. The children were examined parasitologically for S. mansoni infection, clinically for enlargement of the liver and spleen, and biochemically for proteinuria and serum and urine creatinine.

Immunity and morbidity in human schistosomiasis mansoni.

This paper reviews the results of a longitudinal, multidisciplinary study on schistosomiasis mansoni that has been in progress in Machakos District, Kenya, since 1980. Different methods of delivering chemotherapy have been compared in a medium scale operational control programme. It is concluded that treatment only of infected children is an effective and feasible means of control, the frequency of treatment depending on the severity of disease.