Establishing and operating a 'virtual ward' system to provide care for patients with COVID-19 at home: experience from The Gambia.

Health systems in sub-Saharan Africa have remained overstretched from dealing with endemic diseases, which limit their capacity to absorb additional stress from new and emerging infectious diseases. Against this backdrop, the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic presented an additional challenge of insufficient hospital beds and human resource for health needed to deliver hospital-based COVID-19 care. Emerging evidence from high-income countries suggests that a 'virtual ward' (VW) system can provide adequate home-based care for selected patients with COVID-19, thereby reducing the need for admissions and mitigate additional stress on hospital beds.

Peripheral arterial disease and its correlates in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in a teaching hospital in northern Nigeria: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a risk factor for diabetic foot ulcer, limb amputation as well as coronary heart disease. It is more common in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and co-exists with peripheral neuropathy. Prevalence of PAD in type 2 DM patients in northern Nigeria is largely unknown.