Urbanization is predicted to be a key driver of disease emergence through human exposure to novel, animal-borne pathogens. However, while we suspect that urban landscapes are primed to expose people to novel animal-borne diseases, evidence for the mechanisms by which this occurs is lacking. To address this, we studied how bacterial genes are shared between wild animals, livestock, and humans (n = 1,428) across Nairobi, Kenya-one of the world's most rapidly developing cities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBlood and bone marrow cultures are considered the gold standard for the diagnosis of typhoid, but these methods require infrastructure and skilled staff that are not always available in low- and middle-income countries where typhoid is endemic. The objective of the study is to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of nine commercially available Salmonella Typhi rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) using blood culture as a reference standard in a multicenter study. This was a prospective and retrospective multicenter diagnostic accuracy study conducted in two geographically distant areas where typhoid is endemic (Pakistan and Kenya; NCT04801602).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Antimicrobial resistance is one of the great challenges facing global health security in the modern era. Wildlife, particularly those that use urban environments, are an important but understudied component of epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance. We investigated antimicrobial resistance overlap between sympatric wildlife, humans, livestock, and their shared environment across the developing city of Nairobi, Kenya.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMJ Open
December 2017
Introduction: Child mortality due to infectious diseases remains unacceptably high in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Children who are hospitalised represent an accessible population at particularly high risk of death, both during and following hospitalisation. Hospital discharge may be a critical time point at which targeted use of antibiotics could reduce morbidity and mortality in high-risk children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe causes of antibiotic resistance are complex and include human behaviour at many levels of society; the consequences affect everybody in the world. Similarities with climate change are evident. Many efforts have been made to describe the many different facets of antibiotic resistance and the interventions needed to meet the challenge.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In low income countries, surgical site infections (SSIs) are costly and impose a heavy and potentially preventable burden on both patients and healthcare providers. This study aimed to determine the occurrence of SSI, pathogens associated with SSI, the antibiogram of the causative pathogens and specific risk factors associated with SSI at the hospital.
Methods: Two hundred and sixty-eight respondents admitted for general surgical procedures (other than neurological and cardiothoracic surgeries) at the Aga Khan University Hospital were eligible to take part in the study.
Introduction: Shigatoxigenic Escherichia coli strains are food-borne bacterial pathogens that may cause haemorrhagic colitis (HC) in humans which can lead to life-threatening systemic complication, including haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). This study aimed to characterize and analyze virulence properties of pathogenic E. coli isolates among patients with diarrhoea from a Maasai community in Kenya.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTyphoid fever, caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi), remains a serious global health concern. Since their emergence in the mid-1970s multi-drug resistant (MDR) S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn unusually high number of sporadic cholera outbreaks have occurred in various parts of Kenya since January 2009. Clinical symptoms of cholera play an important role in the diagnosis and management of the disease, especially in resource-poor settings in most developing countries. We describe a case report of a patient who was treated for cholera according to symptoms at presentation to hospital.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Infect Dev Ctries
June 2010
Background: Typhoid fever is a global health problem. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the current annual global burden of typhoid is approximately 22 million new cases, 5% of which are fatal.
Methodology: To assess the trends in antibiotic resistance in 100 Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi strains were isolated from the blood of patients in Nairobi, Kenya, from 2004 to 2006.
Objective: To record the costs of hospital care for HIV-positive and -negative patients in Nairobi, and identify costs paid by patients per admission.
Design: Cost data were collected on inpatients enrolled in a linked clinical study using standardized costing methods.
Setting: Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi's main district hospital.