Publications by authors named "Megan Burke Fitzpatrick"

Objective: To identify the determinants of cervical cancer (CC) screening among underserved rural women in Zimbabwe.

Design: Community-based cross-sectional survey.

Sample: 840 rural women (25-65 years).

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Article Synopsis
  • - Zimbabwe began using the bivalent HPV vaccine in 2018 to target prepubescent girls, aiming to reduce diseases caused by HPV; a review of HPV genotypes was conducted to assess the vaccine's effectiveness.
  • - Studies show HPV 16 and 18 are the most common types in cervical cancer across urban areas, while HPV 35 was prevalent in rural areas; other genotypes like HPV 6 and 11 were noted in conditions like genital warts and respiratory papillomatosis in children.
  • - Despite the bivalent vaccine's effectiveness against HPV 16/18 (responsible for 83% of cervical cancers), it doesn't prevent benign lesions or all cancer cases, making the nonavalent vaccine a
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The persisting burden of cervical cancer in underserved populations and low-resource regions worldwide, worsened by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, requires proactive strategies and expanded screening options to maintain and improve screening coverage and its effects on incidence and mortality from cervical cancer. Self-sampling as a screening strategy has unique advantages from both a public health and individual patient perspective. Some of the barriers to screening can be mitigated by self-sampling, and resources can be better allocated to patients at the highest risk of developing cervical cancer.

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Introduction: Breast cancer is among the most common cancers among women in most of Africa. However, features of histologically confirmed breast cancers presenting in specific regional populations is limited. Our study describes the clinic-pathologic features of invasive breast cancer diagnosed in women undergoing biopsy for a clinically apparent mass in Senegal, West Africa.

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