Publications by authors named "Polite M Nduru"
Background: Child hospitalization for pneumonia remains common, and pneumonia is a major cause of child mortality. Early identification of clinical factors associated with serious outcomes may help target risk-mitigation strategies.
Methods: Pneumonia cases occurring in the Drakenstein Child Health Study, a prospective birth cohort outside Cape Town, South Africa were analysed, and factors associated with serious outcomes of pneumonia were identified.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how maternal psychosocial risk factors, such as depression, alcohol abuse, and intimate partner violence, affect infant lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) in a low- to middle-income country, specifically South Africa.
- Over 1,100 pregnant women were assessed, with infants monitored for LRTI development up to one year old, revealing a significant association between maternal issues and the frequency/severity of LRTI.
- Key findings indicate that specific psychosocial factors, especially postnatal psychological distress and alcohol consumption, are significantly correlated with early infant LRTI, suggesting the importance of screening for these risks in pregnant women to improve infant health outcomes.
colonization is a risk factor for invasive disease. Few studies have used strain genotype data to study acquisition and carriage patterns. We investigated nasopharyngeal carriage in infants in an intensively sampled South African birth cohort.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIndoor air pollution (IAP) or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure may influence nasopharyngeal carriage of bacterial species and development of lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI). The aim of this study was to longitudinally investigate the impact of antenatal or postnatal IAP/ETS exposure on nasopharyngeal bacteria in mothers and infants. A South African cohort study followed mother-infant pairs from birth through the first year.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Indoor air pollution (IAP) and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) are associated with lower respiratory tract illness (LRTI) or wheezing in children. However, the effect of the timing of these exposures, specifically antenatal versus postnatal, and of alternate fuel sources such as the increasingly used volatile organic compounds have not been well studied. We longitudinally investigated the effect of antenatal or postnatal IAP and ETS on LRTI or wheezing prevalence and severity in African infants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Household indoor air pollution (IAP) is a global health problem and a risk factor for childhood respiratory disease; the leading cause of mortality in African children. This study aimed to describe the home environment and measure IAP in the Drakenstein Child Health Study (DCHS), an African birth cohort.
Methods: An antenatal home visit to assess the home environment and measure IAP (particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs)) was done on pregnant women enrolled to the DCHS, in a low-socioeconomic, peri-urban South African community.