Data challenges for international health emergencies: lessons learned from ten international COVID-19 driver projects.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of international data sharing and access to improve health outcomes for all. The International COVID-19 Data Alliance (ICODA) programme enabled 12 exemplar or driver projects to use existing health-related data to address major research questions relating to the pandemic, and developed data science approaches that helped each research team to overcome challenges, accelerate the data research cycle, and produce rapid insights and outputs. These approaches also sought to address inequity in data access and use, test approaches to ethical health data use, and make summary datasets and outputs accessible to a wider group of researchers.

Using electronic medical records to understand the impact of SARS-CoV-2 lockdown measures on maternal and neonatal outcomes in Kampala, Uganda.

Kawempe National Referral Hospital (KNRH) is a tertiary facility with over 21,000 pregnant or postpartum women admitted annually. The hospital, located in Kampala, Uganda, uses an Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system to capture patient data. Used since 2017, this readily available electronic health record (EHR) has the benefit of informing real-time clinical care, especially during pandemics such as COVID-19.

Calvarial hyperpigmentation.

Background: Osseous hyperpigmentation of the calvarium is an extremely rare finding with only few reported cases in literature.

Case Description: The case is of a 59-year-old Caucasian male who presented with an acute history of generalized tonic clonic seizures and progressive weakness of the right upper limb. He had a background history of a malignant melanoma which had been resected from his left external acoustic meatus 4 weeks prior.

Single surgeon case series of myelomeningocele repairs in a developing world setting: Challenges and lessons.

Purpose: Neural Tube Defects are the second most common group of birth malformations following congenital heart anomalies, with myelomeningoceles being the most severe manifestation (MMC). They require expedited surgical repair, preferably within 72 ​h of birth. In low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) where resources are limited, timing to MMC repair is not optimal and leads to undesirable outcomes.

SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among blood donors in Uganda: 2019-2022.

Background: The true burden of COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries remains poorly characterized, especially in Africa. Even prior to the availability of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, countries in Africa had lower numbers of reported COVID-19 related hospitalizations and deaths than other regions globally.

Methods: Ugandan blood donors were evaluated between October 2019 and April 2022 for IgG antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N), spike (S), and five variants of the S protein using multiplexed electrochemiluminescence immunoassays (MesoScale Diagnostics, Rockville, MD).

Impact of MiraNet® long-lasting insecticidal net against Anopheles arabiensis wild population of Northern Tanzania.

Despite high levels of pyrethroid resistance reported in malaria vectors, long-lasting insecticidal nets (LNs) still play a key role in controlling malaria transmission. This study tested the efficacy of MiraNet®, a pyrethroid-based LN against a wild population of Anopheles arabiensis in northern Tanzania. DuraNet® was used as a positive control in this evaluation.

Supraorbital eyebrow approach: A single-center experience.

Background: Keyhole neurosurgery is the notion of safely removing brain and skull base lesions through smaller and more precise openings that lessen collateral damage to the surrounding scalp, brain, blood vessels, and nerves. The traditional frontal and pterional approaches require large craniotomies and this predisposes patients to significant and avoidable morbidity. With the growing expectation for minimally invasive surgery, we present our experience with the supraorbital keyhole craniotomy for surgical lesions in the anterior cranial fossa and parasellar regions.

Twenty years of Prevention of Mother to Child HIV Transmission: research to implementation at a national referral hospital in Uganda.

Background: Over 90% of new paediatric HIV infections are acquired through mother to child transmission. Prevention of mother to child HIV transmission (PMTCT) research in sub-Saharan Africa informed WHO guidelines which enabled implementation of PMTCT programs globally.

Objectives: To describe Makerere University-Johns Hopkins University (MU-JHU) perinatal HIV prevention research and implementation of the Mulago National Referral Hospital (MNRH) PMTCT program.

Keyhole Approaches Applied to Clipping of Acutely Ruptured Intracerebral Aneurysms-A Technical Note and Case Series.

Background: Evolution of keyhole techniques in aneurysm surgery allows for definitive surgical management of aneurysmal pathology with little disruption of normal surrounding tissue. While experienced vascular neurosurgeons are increasingly applying keyhole techniques to unruptured aneurysms, experience with ruptured aneurysms is limited.

Objective: We sought to explore technical nuances and present operative outcomes for our series of 40 consecutive patients presenting with ruptured intracerebral aneurysms treated with surgical clipping via a keyhole approach.

Flexible endoscope-assisted suture release and barrel stave osteotomy for the correction of sagittal synostosis.

Objective: Early suturectomy with a rigid endoscope followed by orthotic cranial helmet therapy is an accepted treatment option for single-suture craniosynostosis. To the authors' knowledge, flexible endoscope-assisted suture release (FEASR) has not been previously described. Presented herein is their experience with FEASR for the treatment of isolated sagittal craniosynostosis.

The Mirasol Evaluation of Reduction in Infections Trial (MERIT): study protocol for a randomized controlled clinical trial.

Background: Transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) are a global health challenge. One new approach to reduce TTIs is the use of pathogen reduction technology (PRT). In vitro, Mirasol PRT reduces the infectious load in whole blood (WB) by at least 99%.

What will it take to achieve the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women living with HIV?

This article outlines progress in realizing the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls living with HIV over the last 30 years from the perspective of women living with HIV. It argues that the HIV response needs to go beyond the bio-medical aspects of HIV to achieve our sexual and reproductive health and rights, and considers relevant Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), World Health Organization, United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Global Fund and other guidelines, what engagement there has been with women living with HIV and whether guidelines/strategies have been adopted. It has been written by women living with HIV from around the world and a few key supporters.

Ruptured presentation of superficial temporal artery pseudoaneurysm treated with anastomotic repair: Case report.

Superficial temporal artery (STA) pseudoaneurysm is a very rare occurrence that usually presents as a pulsatile mass along the STA distribution following trauma or an iatrogenic cause. We report a case of STA pseudoaneurysm that developed in a 32 year old male following blunt trauma. Unfortunately, the pseudoaneurysm was missed and led to multiple hospital presentations that culminated in an acute bleeding episode.

Indirect effects of COVID-19 on maternal, neonatal, child, sexual and reproductive health services in Kampala, Uganda.

Background: COVID-19 impacted global maternal, neonatal and child health outcomes. We hypothesised that the early, strict lockdown that restricted individuals' movements in Uganda limited access to services.

Methods: An observational study, using routinely collected data from Electronic Medical Records, was carried out, in Kawempe district, Kampala.

Model-based small area estimation methods and precise district-level HIV prevalence estimates in Uganda.

Background: Model-based small area estimation methods can help generate parameter estimates at the district level, where planned population survey sample sizes are not large enough to support direct estimates of HIV prevalence with adequate precision. We computed district-level HIV prevalence estimates and their 95% confidence intervals for districts in Uganda.

Methods: Our analysis used direct survey and model-based estimation methods, including Fay-Herriot (area-level) and Battese-Harter-Fuller (unit-level) small area models.

Clinical laboratory hematology reference values among infants aged 1month to 17 months in Kombewa Sub-County, Kisumu: A cross sectional study of rural population in Western Kenya.

There is an urgent need for reliable region-specific hematological reference values for clinical monitoring. Laboratory reference ranges are important for assessing study participant eligibility, toxicity grading and management of adverse events in clinical trials and clinical diagnosis. Most clinical laboratories in Kenya rely on hematological reference values provided by instrument manufacturers and/or textbooks, which are based on population from Europe or North America.

Potential of anaerobic co-digestion in improving the environmental quality of agro-textile wastewater sludge.

Sludge from textile effluent treatment plants (ETP) remains a challenge for many industries due to inefficient and limited waste management strategies. This study explores the potential of using anaerobic digestion (AD) to improve the environmental quality of textile ETP sludge. The AD of ETP sludge is affected by the low C/N ratio (3.

Combining national survey with facility-based HIV testing data to obtain more accurate estimate of HIV prevalence in districts in Uganda.

Background: National or regional population-based HIV prevalence surveys have small sample sizes at district or sub-district levels; this leads to wide confidence intervals when estimating HIV prevalence at district level for programme monitoring and decision making. Health facility programme data, collected during service delivery is widely available, but since people self-select for HIV testing, HIV prevalence estimates based on it, is subject to selection bias. We present a statistical annealing technique, Hybrid Prevalence Estimation (HPE), that combines a small population-based survey sample with a facility-based sample to generate district level HIV prevalence estimates with associated confidence intervals.

Primary empty sella syndrome associated with visual deterioration salvaged by chiasmapexy: Report of a case and discussion of the literature.

Background: Empty sella syndrome (ESS) is a condition in which there is loss of volume of the pituitary gland, which is the normal constituent of the sella turcica. There may be visual and endocrine deficits associated with this condition, and radiologically, there may be downward prolapse of the optic chiasm. It occurs in a primary ESS, poorly understood form, as well as a secondary ESS form that follows medical or surgical treatment of a pituitary macroadenoma, or else spontaneous hemorrhage into such a tumor.

Difference in HIV prevalence by testing venue: results from population level survey in Uganda.

Growing demand for use of Health Facility (HF) HIV testing data, in addition to other testing data to obtain district level HIV prevalence requires understanding the comparability of these various sources. We analysed the 2011 Uganda AIDS indicator survey data to assess: the proportion of people tested for HIV across Uganda by venue of testing; HIV prevalence ratio for those tested in a HF compared to those tested in community setting; [Katz, D., Baptista, J.

Effect of a Mentor Mother Programme on retention of mother-baby pairs in HIV care: A secondary analysis of programme data in Uganda.

Background: Community healthcare workers (CHWs) play an important role in promoting HIV-care retention. Notwithstanding inconsistencies in the outcomes of CHW programmes, these programmes are known to have a positive effect on retention of mother-baby pairs in HIV-care in sub-Saharan Africa.

Aim: The aim of this analysis was to assess the effect of mothers2mothers (m2m) Ugandan Mentor Mother (MM) programme on the retention of mother-baby pairs in HIV-care.