Publications by authors named "Robert Zavuga"
Ebola disease survivors often experience stigma in multiple forms, including felt (perceived) stigma, enacted (action-based) stigma, and institutional stigma. On September 20, 2022, Uganda declared a Sudan Virus Disease (species orthoebolavirus sudanense) outbreak after a patient with confirmed Sudan virus (SUDV) infection was identified in Mubende District. The outbreak led to 142 confirmed and 22 probable cases over the next two months.
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- Uganda faced a Sudan Virus Disease outbreak starting September 2022, spreading to multiple districts and prompting a study on community beliefs that contributed to its spread.
- A qualitative study in February 2023 involved focus groups and interviews, revealing that local beliefs often attributed deaths to witchcraft or poisoning, leading patients to seek traditional healing before formal medical care.
- The analysis indicated that cultural practices, such as hiding patients and unsafe burial customs, facilitated transmission, suggesting that integrating traditional healers and religious leaders into public health strategies could enhance control measures.
Article Synopsis
- In February 2022, over 100 child deaths in Namutumba District were reported due to a mysterious disease, later confirmed to be severe malaria, leading to an investigation into its causes and preventive measures.
- A retrospective study in March 2022 focused on the most affected subcounty, identifying cases of severe malaria-related deaths and matching them with survivors to determine risk factors associated with mortality.
- Findings revealed that a significant percentage of child fatalities were among those under 5 years old, with notable links to incomplete treatment and lack of access to blood transfusions as key contributors to the deaths.
Background: Uganda has had seven Ebola disease outbreaks, between 2000 and 2022. On Sept 20, 2022, the Ministry of Health declared a Sudan virus disease outbreak in Mubende District, Central Uganda. We describe the epidemiological characteristics and transmission dynamics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnderstanding the delay in identifying Sudan Virus Disease: gaps in integrated disease surveillance and response and community-based surveillance to detect viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks in Uganda, September 2022.
BMC Infect Dis
July 2024
Article Synopsis
- Uganda's Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) system aims for early outbreak detection, but the Sudan virus outbreak in 2022 highlighted gaps in community and health facility reporting.* -
- A study evaluated surveillance capacities in public and private health facilities, revealing that 85% of surveyed private facilities failed to report to the national system, and many lacked trained staff.* -
- Identified gaps included weak community surveillance, poor engagement of private facilities, low awareness of Viral Hemorrhagic Fever, and insufficient funding and training for effective reporting.*
Background: On 20 September 2022, Uganda declared its fifth Sudan virus disease (SVD) outbreak, culminating in 142 confirmed and 22 probable cases. The reproductive rate (R) of this outbreak was 1.25.
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- Between March and June 2022, around 34,000 refugees arrived at the Nyakabande Transit Centre in Uganda, leading to a COVID-19 outbreak with over 330 cases reported by mid-June.
- A study identified risk factors for infection, revealing that close contact with symptomatic individuals increased the odds of COVID-19, while wearing face masks significantly reduced risk.
- Recommendations included enforcing mask use and improving shelter space, with successful initiatives from collaborative efforts to promote health and expand resources.
Background: Contact tracing (CT) is critical for ebolavirus outbreak response. Ideally, all new cases after the index case should be previously-known contacts (PKC) before their onset, and spend minimal time ill in the community. We assessed the impact of CT during the 2022 Sudan Virus Disease (SVD) outbreak in Uganda.
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- The study evaluates the completeness and timeliness of outpatient department (OPD) health reports in Uganda using data from January 2020 to December 2021.
- Overall, most regions showed excellent performance with high completeness (99.5% in 2020 and 100% in 2021) and improved timeliness (82.8% in 2020 and 94.9% in 2021), though Kampala and Nakasongola struggled consistently.
- The findings suggest that while reporting is generally strong, there is a need to support areas that face timeliness issues to enhance overall public health surveillance.
Background: Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) causes Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). Kaposi sarcoma in HIV/AIDS patients is referred to as epidemic KS and is the most common HIV-related malignancy worldwide. The lack of a diagnostic assay to detect latent and early-stage disease has increased disease morbidity and mortality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The use of nutritional supplements (NS) places athletes at great risk for inadvertent doping. Due to the paucity of data on supplement use, this study aimed to determine the proportion of Ugandan athletes using nutritional supplements and to investigate the athletes' motivation to use these supplements.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in which an interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 359 professional athletes participating in individual (boxing, cycling, athletics) and team (basketball, rugby, football, netball, and volleyball) sports.
Doping knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Ugandan athletes': a cross-sectional study.
Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy
September 2015
Background: Despite the development of advanced drug testing systems, both deliberate and inadvertent doping in sports is increasing in elite, amateur and school sports. As a result, alternative approaches that seek to influence an athlete's attitudes are needed to address the growing doping concerns that threaten both the health and well being of the athlete as well as the legitimacy of the sport. Therefore, the current study set out to establish the doping attitudes, knowledge and practices of professional Ugandan athletes, gathering information that may guide the design of more efficient doping prevention programs.
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