Prevalence, risk factors and behavioural and emotional comorbidity of acute seizures in young Kenyan children: a population-based study.

Background: Acute symptomatic seizures and febrile seizures are common in children admitted to hospitals in Africa and may be markers of brain dysfunction. They may be associated with behavioural and emotional problems, but there are no published community-based studies in Africa.

Methods: We screened 7047 children aged 1-6 years (randomly sampled from 50,000 in the community) for seizures (using seven questions) and invited those who screened positive and a proportion of negatives for a clinical assessment.

Burden, risk factors, and comorbidities of behavioural and emotional problems in Kenyan children: a population-based study.

Background: Three-quarters of the burden of mental health problems occurs in low-and-middle-income countries, but few epidemiological studies of these problems in preschool children from sub-Saharan Africa have been published. Behavioural and emotional problems often start in early childhood, and this might be particularly important in Africa, where the incidence of perinatal and early risk factors is high. We therefore aimed to estimate the prevalence and risk factors of behavioural and emotional problems in young children in a rural area on the Kenyan coast.

Intramuscular Artesunate for Severe Malaria in African Children: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Current artesunate (ARS) regimens for severe malaria are complex. Once daily intramuscular (i.m.

Abnormal intra-aural pressure waves associated with death in African children with acute nontraumatic coma.

Background: We explored the relationship between tympanic membrane displacement (TMD) measurements, a tool to monitor intracranial pressure noninvasively, and clinical features and death in children with acute coma in Kilifi, Kenya.

Methods: Between November 2007 and September 2009, we made serial TMD measurements and clinical observations on children with acute coma (Blantyre coma score (BCS) ≤ 2) on the pediatric high dependency unit of Kilifi District Hospital, and on well children presenting to the hospital's outpatient department for routine follow-up. We examined middle ear function using tympanometry and measured cardiac pulse (CPA) and respiratory pulse pressure amplitudes (RPA) using the TMD analyzer.

Value of Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein 2 level and malaria retinopathy in distinguishing cerebral malaria from other acute encephalopathies in Kenyan children.

Background: The diagnosis of cerebral malaria is problematic in malaria-endemic areas because encephalopathy in patients with parasitemia may have another cause. Abnormal retinal findings are thought to increase the specificity of the diagnosis, and the level of histidine-rich protein 2 (HRP2) may reflect the parasite biomass.

Methods: We examined the retina and measured plasma HRP2 levels in children with acute nontraumatic encephalopathy in Kenya.

The validation of a three-stage screening methodology for detecting active convulsive epilepsy in population-based studies in health and demographic surveillance systems.

Background: There are few studies on the epidemiology of epilepsy in large populations in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC). Most studies in these regions use two-stage population-based screening surveys, which are time-consuming and costly to implement in large populations required to generate accurate estimates. We examined the sensitivity and specificity of a three-stage cross-sectional screening methodology in detecting active convulsive epilepsy (ACE), which can be embedded within on-going census of demographic surveillance systems.