The West African Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak is the largest ever seen, with over 28,000 cases and 11,300 deaths since early 2014. The magnitude of the outbreak has tested fragile governmental health systems and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to their limit. Here we discuss the outbreak in the Western Area of Sierra Leone, the shape of the local response and the impact the response had on caring for children suspected of having contracted EVD. Challenges encountered in providing clinical care to children whilst working in the "Red Zone" where risk of EVD is considered to be highest, wearing full personal protective equipment are detailed. Suggestions and recommendations both for further research and for operational improvement in the future are made, with particular reference as to how a response could be more child-focused.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2016.04.016 | DOI Listing |
Int J Infect Dis
January 2025
Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.
Objectives: Zimbabwe is endemic for lymphatic filariasis (LF) with 39 districts identified for mass drug administration (MDA) in 2014. The objective of this study was to reassess the current population requiring MDA.
Methods: The LF confirmatory mapping method was used to evaluate the prevalence of circulating filarial antigens (CFA) among school-aged children (9-14 years) in previously endemic districts.
J Nutr
January 2025
Institute for Medical Information Processing, Biometry, and Epidemiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany.
Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) poses a significant threat to the well-being of women and girls and is a highly prevalent form of gender-based violence. Evidence regarding the nutritional implications of IPV has focused primarily on intergenerational relationships with child nutrition and growth. There remains a knowledge gap regarding the association with women's own dietary intake.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Med (Lausanne)
January 2025
School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom.
Introduction: When implemented by national and regional regulatory agencies good review practices (GRevPs) support the timely high-quality review of medicines for enhanced patients' availability to safe, quality and efficacious innovative and generic products. It is important that all aspects of GRevPs are continuously evaluated and updated to promote the continuous improvement of regulatory systems at national and regional levels. The aim of this study was to assess and compare the GRevPs of the national medicines regulatory agencies (NMRAs) of Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo, who are active participants of the ECOWASMRH initiative to identify opportunities for improvement.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Affect Disord Rep
January 2025
Institute for Global Health and Development, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK.
Background: Addressing perinatal psychological distress in Sierra Leone faces challenges due to the lack of culturally appropriate assessment tools, despite recent WHO recommendations for screening during the pre- and postpartum periods. While high-income countries use tools like the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale or Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), their cross-cultural validity and efficacy in developing countries are uncertain. The aim of this study was to address this gap by developing a functional assessment tool, culturally appropriate screening tool for perinatal psychological distress, and validate it with the PHQ-9.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Njala University, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
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