Publications by authors named "Teresia Kimani"
Background: The Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) was introduced in Kenya in 2016 and implemented at Kiambu Level 5 Hospital (KL5H) three years later in 2019. During a routine MPDSR meeting at KL5H, committee members identified a possible link between the off-label use of 200mcg misoprostol tablets divided eight times to achieve the necessary dose for labour induction (25mcg) and maternal deaths. Following this, an administrative decision was made to switch from misoprostol to dinoprostone for the induction of labour in June of 2019.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Mathematical models are vital tools to understand transmission dynamics and assess the impact of interventions to mitigate COVID-19. However, historically, their use in Africa has been limited. In this scoping review, we assess how mathematical models were used to study COVID-19 vaccination to potentially inform pandemic planning and response in Africa.
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- The WHO aims to eliminate onchocerciasis (river blindness) transmission by 2030, predominantly affecting sub-Saharan Africa, and relies on vector control and mass drug administration of ivermectin for this effort.
- A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to assess studies on onchocerciasis transmission status in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on criteria such as the presence of elimination reports or long-term ivermectin administration.
- The research involved a thorough search of multiple databases and included a classification system to determine the status of foci regarding transmission elimination, while employing mixed-effects meta-regression models to find contributing factors.
Article Synopsis
- Applied epidemiological models are key for understanding and managing disease outbreaks like SARS-CoV-2, but their effectiveness relies on local data, quick communication, and policymakers' willingness to utilize them.
- A systematic review of 74 papers on SARS-CoV-2 modeling in Africa highlighted that most studies came from only a few countries, and very few used local data for calibration.
- The findings underscore the importance of enhancing modeling capacity in Africa, as many studies focused on assessing control interventions and identified the transmission rate as a major source of uncertainty in model predictions.
Understanding the Potential Impact of Different Drug Properties on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Transmission and Disease Burden: A Modelling Analysis.
Clin Infect Dis
August 2022
Background: The public health impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has motivated a rapid search for potential therapeutics, with some key successes. However, the potential impact of different treatments, and consequently research and procurement priorities, have not been clear.
Methods: Using a mathematical model of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission, COVID-19 disease and clinical care, we explore the public-health impact of different potential therapeutics, under a range of scenarios varying healthcare capacity, epidemic trajectories; and drug efficacy in the absence of supportive care.
The study of infectious disease outbreaks is required to train today's epidemiologists. A typical way to introduce and explain key epidemiological concepts is through the analysis of a historical outbreak. There are, however, few training options that explicitly utilise real-time simulated stochastic outbreaks where the participants themselves comprise the dataset they subsequently analyse.
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