Publications by authors named "Samuel Wiafe"

Article Synopsis
  • - Rare diseases impact over 300 million people globally and are becoming a priority in global health discussions, recognized by the UN and WHO initiatives.
  • - Individuals with rare diseases often struggle with accessing essential health services like screening, diagnosis, and treatment, highlighting the importance of awareness and education in primary healthcare.
  • - The International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) is forming a task force to explore ways to enhance the role of primary healthcare providers in overcoming the challenges faced by those with rare diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Clinical genome sequencing (cGS) shows promise in diagnosing rare genetic diseases, especially in underserved populations, with a study examining its effectiveness across high-income and low- and middle-income countries.
  • The iHope program assessed 1,004 individuals and found a 41.4% diagnostic yield, with those from low- and middle-income countries being 1.7 times more likely to receive positive results compared to high-income counterparts.
  • Over 76% of individuals experienced changes in diagnostic evaluation, and around 41% had changes in management strategies, indicating increased access to genomic testing may help reduce healthcare disparities globally.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) is a widely used resource that comprehensively organizes and defines the phenotypic features of human disease, enabling computational inference and supporting genomic and phenotypic analyses through semantic similarity and machine learning algorithms. The HPO has widespread applications in clinical diagnostics and translational research, including genomic diagnostics, gene-disease discovery, and cohort analytics. In recent years, groups around the world have developed translations of the HPO from English to other languages, and the HPO browser has been internationalized, allowing users to view HPO term labels and in many cases synonyms and definitions in ten languages in addition to English.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Patients, families, the healthcare system, and society as a whole are all significantly impacted by rare diseases (RDs). According to various classifications, there are currently up to 9,000 different rare diseases that have been recognized, and new diseases are discovered every month. Although very few people are affected by each uncommon disease individually, millions of people are thought to be impacted globally when all these conditions are considered.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Rare diseases (RD) are a health priority worldwide, overall affecting hundreds of millions of people globally. Early and accurate diagnosis is essential to support clinical care but remains challenging in many countries, especially the low- and medium-income ones. Hence, undiagnosed RD (URD) account for a significant portion of the overall RD burden.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Advances in genomic sequencing and genetic testing are increasingly transforming the diagnosis and treatment of diseases-specifically, rare diseases. However, the application and benefit of such technologies remain inequitable globally. There is a clear and urgent need to provide genomic sequencing to people across the global population, including people living in under-resourced areas and/or underrepresented populations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Pollution due to pesticide residues has been reported in the downstream of the Tano Basin in the rainy season and has been attributed to the anthropogenic activities upstream. However, data on the seasonal variations in pesticide residues in the upstream of Tano Basin are limited. Seasonal variations in 13 organochlorine pesticide residues, 8 organophosphorus pesticide residues, and 5 synthetic pesticide residues in water and sediment samples of River Tano upstream were assessed through extraction and Varian CP-3800 gas chromatography equipped with a CombiPAL Auto sampler set at ionization mode electron impact methods.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Pfeiffer syndrome is a rare genetic condition that includes anomalies of the head, hands, and feet. It was originally described by Rudolf Pfeiffer in 1964. As a result of varied clinical presentations, there is a low threshold for missing the diagnosis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) was established in 2008 to standardize the description and analysis of phenotypic abnormalities in human diseases, and has become a global reference for phenotype data.
  • Recent updates to the HPO include expansions in various medical fields, with improvements such as the seizure subontology aligning with international epilepsy guidelines, demonstrating their clinical validity.
  • Ongoing efforts focus on harmonizing phenotypic definitions across the HPO and other ontologies, enhancing computational tools for cross-species disease research, and translating the HPO into indigenous languages for broader accessibility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The use of macrophytes has been identified as one of the eco-friendly means of remediating soils contaminated with heavy metal(loid)s. This study sought to ascertain the synergistic influences of Hg, As, Cd and Pb on the uptake capacity of Typha capensis in remediating soils contaminated with these pollutants. Uptake of Hg, As, Cd and Pb by this aquatic plant species in metal(loid)-contaminated water and soil was studied in batch culture experiment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF