A Model-Based Estimation of RSV-Attributable Incidence of Hospitalizations and Deaths in Italy Between 2015 and 2019.

Introduction: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) incidence is known to be underestimated in adults due to its infrequent diagnostic testing and lower sensitivity of single nasal/nasopharyngeal swab PCR testing outside of the early childhood period. RSV can trigger acute cardiac events as well as cause respiratory disease. Consequently, we used a model-based study to estimate RSV-attributable hospitalization and mortality incidence among adults in Italy between 2015 and 2019.

Sample-to-result molecular diagnostic platforms and their suitability for infectious disease testing in low- and middle-income countries.

Introduction: Diagnostics are an essential, undervalued part of the health-care system. For many diseases, molecular diagnostics are the gold standard, but are not easy to implement in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC). Sample-to-result (S2R) platforms combining all procedures in a closed system could offer a solution.

Pediatric Respiratory Syncytial Virus Diagnostic Testing Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Adding additional specimen types (eg, serology or sputum) to nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) increases respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) detection among adults. We assessed if a similar increase occurs in children and quantified underascertainment associated with diagnostic testing.

Methods: We searched databases for studies involving RSV detection in persons <18 years using ≥2 specimen types or tests.

Underascertainment of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in Adults Due to Diagnostic Testing Limitations: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Most observational population-based studies identify respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) by nasal/nasopharyngeal swab reverse transcriptase real-time PCR (RT-PCR) only. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analyses to quantify specimen and diagnostic testing-based underascertainment of adult RSV infection.

Methods: EMBASE, PubMed, and Web of Science were searched (January 2000-December 2021) for studies including adults using/comparing >1 RSV testing approach.

Systematic review and meta-analysis on the etiology of bacterial pneumonia in children in sub-Saharan Africa.

Introduction: Before the introduction of vaccination to protect children from pneumonia, and type B (HiB) were the most frequent aetiological agents causing bacterial pneumonia in children under five years old. However, the etiology of childhood pneumonia appears to be changing and nonvaccine- type , non-typeable , and are becoming more relevant.

Objective: We conducted a systematic review aimed at identifying the common causes of bacterial pneumonia in children in sub-Saharan Africa.

Tuberculosis treatment and resulting abnormal blood glucose: a scoping review of studies from 1981 - 2021.

Background: Hyperglycaemia is a risk factor for tuberculosis. Evidence of changes in blood glucose levels during and after tuberculosis treatment is unclear.

Objective: To compile evidence of changes in blood glucose during and after tuberculosis treatment and the effects of elevated blood glucose changes on treatment outcomes in previously normoglycaemic patients.

GeneXpert rollout in three high-burden tuberculosis countries in Africa: A review of pulmonary tuberculosis diagnosis and outcomes from 2001 to 2019.

Background: The rollout of GeneXpert aimed at increasing early diagnosis of tuberculosis to improve treatment outcomes and global tuberculosis targets.

Objective: This study evaluated trends in tuberculosis diagnosis and outcomes pre- and post-introduction of GeneXpert in three African countries - the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Nigeria and South Africa.

Methods: Data from 2001 to 2019 were extracted from the World Health Organization's data repository.

Ivermectin and albendazole coadministration: opportunities for strongyloidiasis control.

In 2020, WHO recognised the importance of strongyloidiasis alongside soil-transmitted helminths (STH) in their 2021-30 roadmap, which aspires to target Strongyloides stercoralis with preventive chemotherapy by use of ivermectin. Combination treatment with both albendazole, the primary drug used to treat STH, and ivermectin, would improve the efficiency of mass drug administration targeting both STH and S stercoralis. In this Personal View, we discuss the challenges and opportunities towards the development of an efficient control programme for strongyloidiasis, particularly if it is to run concurrently with STH control.

Building a national framework for multicentre research and clinical trials: experience from the Nigeria Implementation Science Alliance.

There is limited capacity and infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa to conduct clinical trials for the identification of efficient and effective new prevention, diagnostic and treatment modalities to address the disproportionate burden of disease. This paper reports on the process to establish locally driven infrastructure for multicentre research and trials in Nigeria known as the Nigeria Implementation Science Alliance Model Innovation and Research Centres (NISA-MIRCs). We used a participatory approach to establish a research network of 21 high-volume health facilities selected from all 6 geopolitical zones in Nigeria capable of conducting clinical trials, implementation research using effectiveness-implementation hybrid designs and health system research.

Identification of asymptomatic Leishmania infections: a scoping review.

Background: Asymptomatic Leishmania infection may play an important role in the transmission of the parasite in endemic areas. At present there is no consensus on the definition of asymptomatic Leishmania infection, nor is there a safe and accessible gold standard test for its identification.

Methods: This paper presents a scoping review to summarize definitions of asymptomatic Leishmania infection found in the literature, as well as to detail the approach (molecular, serological, cellular, and/or parasitological tests) used by researchers to identify this asymptomatic population.

Improving uptake of prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission services in Benue State, Nigeria through a faith-based congregational strategy.

Background: Nigeria has low antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage among HIV-positive pregnant women. In a previous cluster-randomized trial in Nigeria, Baby Shower events resulted in higher HIV testing coverage and linkage of pregnant women to ART; here, we assess outcomes of Baby Shower events in a non-research setting.

Methods: Baby Shower events, including a prayer ceremony, group education, music, gifting of a "mama pack" with safe delivery supplies, and HIV testing with ART linkage support for HIV-positive pregnant women, were conducted in eighty sites in Benue State, Nigeria.

COVID-19-related research in Africa: a cross-sectional review of the International Clinical Trial Registration Platform (ICTRP).

Objective: The declaration of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a pandemic in early 2020, has seen an upsurge in research globally to fill gaps in the epidemiology of the SARS-CoV-2 virus impact on health care and clinical management, as well as possible prevention and treatment modalities. Published literature on the different types of COVID-19 research conducted globally is varied and is particularly limited in Africa. This study sets out to describe the COVID-19-related research registered and conducted on the African continent.

Systematic Review on the Impact of Conditional Cash Transfers on Child Health Service Utilisation and Child Health in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Conditional cash transfers (CCTs) are interventions which provide assistance in the form of cash to specific vulnerable groups on the condition that they meet pre-defined requirements. The impact of conditional cash transfers on children's access to health services and on their overall health has not been established in sub-Saharan Africa. We conducted a systematic review aimed at summarising the available information on the impact of conditional cash transfers on health service utilisation and child health in sub-Saharan Africa.

Trends in clinical trial registration in sub-Saharan Africa between 2010 and 2020: a cross-sectional review of three clinical trial registries.

Objective: Prospective registration of clinical trials is an ethical, scientific, and legal requirement that serves several functions, including minimising research wastage and publication bias. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is increasingly hosting clinical trials over the past few years, and there is limited literature on trends in clinical trial registration and reporting in SSA. Therefore, we set out to determine the trends in clinical trials registered in SSA countries between 2010 and July 2020.

Immunogenicity and safety of a novel ten-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in healthy infants in The Gambia: a phase 3, randomised, double-blind, non-inferiority trial.

Background: An affordable pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) is needed to ensure sustainable access in low-income and middle-income countries. This trial examined the immunogenicity and safety of a novel ten-valent PCV (SIIPL-PCV) containing serotypes 1, 5, 6A, 6B, 7F, 9V, 14, 19A, 19F, and 23F compared with the pneumococcal polysaccharide protein D-conjugate vaccine (PHiD-CV; Synflorix; GlaxoSmithKline; Brentford, UK).

Methods: In this single-centre, randomised, double-blind, phase 3, non-inferiority trial in The Gambia, healthy, PCV-naive infants aged 6-8 weeks were enrolled and assigned using permuted block randomisation to receive one of three lots of SIIPL-PCV or to PHiD-CV in a ratio of 2:2:2:3.

Estimating the impact of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines on childhood pneumonia in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review.

: This study aimed to summarise the evidence on the impact of routine administration of 10-valent and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccines on pneumonia in children under five years of age in sub-Saharan Africa. A systematic search of the literature was conducted including primary research reporting on the impact of 10- or 13-valent pneumococcal vaccines on childhood pneumonia in a sub-Saharan African country. Case-control, cohort, pre-post and time-series study designs were eligible for inclusion.

Impact of interventions including vaccination against on the frequency of meningitis in the African meningitis belt: a scoping review protocol.

In the African meningitis belt (region from Senegal to Ethiopia), there are around 30,000 reported cases of meningococcal disease per year. The main aetiological agent is of serogroup A. Since 2010, vaccination efforts have increased and hundreds of millions of people have been vaccinated.

Hysterosalpingographic (HSG) Pattern of Infertility in Women of Reproductive Age.

Background: Infertility is a complex disorder with significant medical, psychological and economic problems.

Aims: The aim of the study is to evaluate the structural abnormalities of the uterus and fallopian tubes in infertile women as elucidated by hysterosalpingography.

Setting And Design: A retrospective study, conducted at the Radiology and Obstetric and Gynaecologic Departments of a tertiary health care institution.

Computed tomography pattern of traumatic head injury in Niger Delta, Nigeria: A multicenter evaluation.

Background And Purpose: Traumatic head injury has a high mortality and morbidity in low- and middle-income countries. Brain injury following trauma is the cause of death in about one-third of patients that die after trauma. The aim of the study was to assess the pattern of computed tomography (CT) findings in head trauma at the tertiary health institutions serving the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

Zinc salt enhances gastroprotective activity of risperidone in indomethacin-induced gastric ulcer.

Background: Zinc has been reported to mediate cellular responses to injury by producing cytoprotection via the scavenging of reactive oxygen species. Anti-stress medications are generally anti-psychotic drugs and anti- depressants. Some Anti-psychotic drugs such as risperidone have been reported to possess anti-ulcer activity.

Anti-Gastric Ulcer Effect of Betulinic Acid in Male Albino Rats.

Betulinic acid (BA) is a lupane-type triterpene that has been identified and isolated from various plant species used in ethnomedicine in various cultures across the world. This study was undertaken to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the anti-ulcer effect of Betulinic acid. The effect of BA on indomethacin-induced ulcer, gastric mucus secretion, gastric mucus cells count, basal and histamine-induced gastric acid secretion and levels of malondialdehyde formation were studied using dose of 0.

Free radical scavenging effect of donepezil as the possible contribution to its memory enhancing activity in mice.

Donepezil (DP) is the major drug currently used for enhancing memory function in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), an action ascribed to the elevation of central cholinergic neurotransmission. However, there are indications that DP may protect neurons against injury through the prevention of free radical-mediated neuroinflammation that has been implicated in the pathology of AD. Thus, this study was carried out to examine the effect of DP on memory impairment and on biomarkers of oxidative stress induced by scopolamine (SC) and lipopolysaccharide (LP) in mice.

Co-morbid medical conditions and medical complications of prostate cancer in Southern Nigeria.

Background: Prostate cancer often co-exists with other diseases. It accounts for 11% of all cancers in Nigerian men, and it is the commonest cause of mortality due to cancer in elderly males in Nigeria.

Objective: To present co-morbid medical conditions and medical complications of prostate cancer in patients with the disease in Southern Nigeria.

Anti-psychotic and sedative effect of calcium channel blockers in mice.

Calcium channel blockers (CCBs) are widely used as therapeutic agents, for the treatment of cardiovascular disorders. However, the discovery that CCBs bind to various regions of the brain suggest that they might also offer some beneficial effects in the treatment of neuropsychiatry disorders. This study was carried out to evaluate the anti-psychotic and sedative effects of two notable calcium channel blockers, verapamil and nifedipine in mice.