Quality of Data Recording and Antimicrobial Use in a Municipal Veterinary Clinic in Ghana.

The recording of antimicrobial use data is critical for the development of interventions for the containment of antimicrobial resistance. This cross-sectional study assessed whether dissemination activities and recommendations made after an operational research (OR) study in 2021 resulted in better data recording and improved the use of antimicrobials in a rural veterinary clinic. Routinely collected data from treatment record books were compared between 2013 and 2019 (pre-OR) and from July 2021 to April 2023 (post-OR).

Distribution of snake species and snakebites in hotspots of Ethiopia.

Introduction: In Sub-Saharan Africa, snakebites are a public health problem. In Ethiopia, clinical cases have been described, but little information exists on snakebites burden and its geographical distribution. The aim of this study was to document the spatial distribution of venomous snakes and snakebites in Ethiopia.

Antibiotic Use in a Municipal Veterinary Clinic in Ghana.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a threat to public health, impacting both human and animal health as well as the economy. This study sought to describe antibiotic prescription practices and use in the Kintampo North Municipal Veterinary Clinic in Ghana using routinely collected data. Of the 513 animals presented for care between 2013 and 2019, the most common animals were dogs (71.

Blood Culture Testing Outcomes among Non-Malarial Febrile Children at Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Sites in Uganda, 2017-2018.

Blood culture (BC) processes are critical to the utility of diagnostic testing, bloodstream infection (BSI) management, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance. While Uganda has established BC guidelines, often laboratory practice does not meet the desired standards. This compromises pathogen recovery, reliability of antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and diagnostic test utility.

The availability of global guidance for the promotion of women's, newborns', children's and adolescents' health and nutrition in conflicts.

Background: Significant global gains in sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition (SRMNCAH&N) will be difficult unless conflict settings are adequately addressed. We aimed to determine the amount, scope and quality of publically available guidance documents, to characterise the process by which agencies develop their guidance and to identify gaps in guidance on SRMNCAH&N promotion in conflicts.

Methods: We identified guidance documents published between 2008 and 2018 through English-language Internet sites of humanitarian response organisations, reviewed them for their scope and assessed their quality with the AGREE II (Appraisal of Guidelines for REsearch and Evaluation II) tool.

Effects of the 2014 Ebola outbreak on antenatal care and delivery outcomes in Liberia: a nationwide analysis.

All health facilities, public and private, in Liberia, West Africa. To determine access to antenatal care (ANC), deliveries and their outcomes before, during and after the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study.

Did the Ebola outbreak disrupt immunisation services? A case study from Liberia.

All health facilities providing routine immunisation services in Liberia. To compare the number of routine facility-based and outreach immunisations and measles cases before, during and after the Ebola outbreak. A descriptive cross-sectional study.

Did the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Liberia affect HIV testing, linkage to care and ART initiation?

Health facilities providing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing, care and treatment in Liberia. To evaluate individuals aged ⩾15 years who were tested, diagnosed and enrolled into HIV care before (2013), during (2014) and after the Ebola outbreak (2015). A cross-sectional descriptive study.

Ebola and community health worker services in Kenema District, Sierra Leone: please mind the gap!

All community health workers (CHWs) in rural Kenema District, Sierra Leone. CHW programmes provide basic health services to fill gaps in human health resources. We compared trends in the reporting and management of childhood malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia by CHWs before, during and after the Ebola outbreak (2014-2016).

Life goes on: the resilience of maternal primary care during the Ebola outbreak in rural Sierra Leone.

All 100 health facilities providing maternal services in Moyamba, Sierra Leone, a rural district that experienced a smaller Ebola outbreak than other areas. To compare trends in antenatal care (the first and fourth visit [ANC1 and ANC4]), delivery, and postnatal care (PNC1) service utilisation before, during and after the Ebola outbreak (2014-2016). Cross-sectional study using secondary programme data.

Increase in acute malnutrition in children following the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in rural Sierra Leone.

All health facility and community malnutrition screening programmes in Tonkolili, a rural Ebola-affected district in Sierra Leone. Before the Ebola disease outbreak, Sierra Leone had set a goal to reduce the prevalence of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in children aged <5 years to <0.2%.

Community Health Volunteers in Primary Healthcare in Rural Uganda: Factors Influencing Performance.

Introduction: Community health volunteers (CHVs) play an integral role in primary healthcare. Several countries rely on CHV programs as a major element in improving access to care and attaining universal health coverage. However, their performance has been heterogeneous and at times context-specific, and influenced by multiple factors.

Integrated community case management: quality of care and adherence to medication in Beneshangul-Gumuz Region, Ethiopia.

Background: The International Rescue Committee (IRC) supports implementation of integrated Community Case Management (iCCM) in all 20 woredas (districts) of Benishangul Gumuz Region (BSG) in Ethiopia.

Objectives: To identify the gaps in the provision of quality iCCM services provided by Health Extension Workers (HEWs) and to assess caregivers' adherence to prescribed medicines for children under five years of age.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study with both quantitative and qualitative study methods.

Community involvement in obstetric emergency management in rural areas: a case of Rukungiri district, Western Uganda.

Background: Maternal mortality is a major public health problem worldwide especially in low income countries. Most causes of maternal deaths are due to direct obstetric complications. Maternal mortality ratio remains high in Rukungiri district, western Uganda estimated at 475 per 100,000 live births.

O'nyong-nyong fever in south-central Uganda, 1996-1997: clinical features and validation of a clinical case definition for surveillance purposes.

O'nyong-nyong (ONN) fever, caused by infection with a mosquito-borne central African alphavirus, is an acute, nonfatal illness characterized by polyarthralgia. During 1996-1997, south-central Uganda experienced the second ONN fever epidemic ever recognized. Among 391 persons interviewed and sampled, 40 cases of confirmed and 21 of presumptive, well-characterized acute, recent, or previous ONN fever were identified through active case-finding efforts or during a household serosurvey and by the application of clinical and laboratory criteria.

O'nyong-nyong fever in south-central Uganda, 1996-1997: description of the epidemic and results of a household-based seroprevalence survey.

O'nyong-nyong (ONN) fever, an acute, nonfatal illness characterized by polyarthralgia, is caused by infection with a mosquito-borne central African alphavirus. During 1996-1997, south-central Uganda experienced the second ONN fever epidemic ever recognized. During January and early February 1997, active case-finding and a household cluster serosurvey were conducted in two affected and two comparison areas.