scholarly journals Febrile Illness Evaluation in a Broad Range of Endemicities (FIEBRE): protocol for a multisite prospective observational study of the causes of fever in Africa and Asia

BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. e035632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Hopkins ◽  
Quique Bassat ◽  
Clare IR Chandler ◽  
John A Crump ◽  
Nicholas A Feasey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Blood Sample ◽  
Venous Blood ◽  
Febrile Illness ◽  
Clinical Diagnostics ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Venous Blood Sample ◽  
Open Access Journals ◽  
Sub Saharan

IntroductionFever commonly leads to healthcare seeking and hospital admission in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. There is only limited guidance for clinicians managing non-malarial fevers, which often results in inappropriate treatment for patients. Furthermore, there is little evidence for estimates of disease burden, or to guide empirical therapy, control measures, resource allocation, prioritisation of clinical diagnostics or antimicrobial stewardship. The Febrile Illness Evaluation in a Broad Range of Endemicities (FIEBRE) study seeks to address these information gaps.Methods and analysisFIEBRE investigates febrile illness in paediatric and adult outpatients and inpatients using standardised clinical, laboratory and social science protocols over a minimum 12-month period at five sites in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeastern and Southern Asia. Patients presenting with fever are enrolled and provide clinical data, pharyngeal swabs and a venous blood sample; selected participants also provide a urine sample. Laboratory assessments target infections that are treatable and/or preventable. Selected point-of-care tests, as well as blood and urine cultures and antimicrobial susceptibility testing, are performed on site. On day 28, patients provide a second venous blood sample for serology and information on clinical outcome. Further diagnostic assays are performed at international reference laboratories. Blood and pharyngeal samples from matched community controls enable calculation of AFs, and surveys of treatment seeking allow estimation of the incidence of common infections. Additional assays detect markers that may differentiate bacterial from non-bacterial causes of illness and/or prognosticate illness severity. Social science research on antimicrobial use will inform future recommendations for fever case management. Residual samples from participants are stored for future use.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval was obtained from all relevant institutional and national committees; written informed consent is obtained from all participants or parents/guardians. Final results will be shared with participating communities, and in open-access journals and other scientific fora. Study documents are available online (https://doi.org/10.17037/PUBS.04652739).

scholarly journals Biological Control of a Phytosanitary Pest (Thaumatotibia leucotreta): A Case Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 1198
Author(s):  
Sean D. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Microbial Control ◽  
Codling Moth ◽  
Environmental Safety ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Thaumatotibia Leucotreta ◽  
Sub Saharan

Thaumatotibia leucotreta, known as the false codling moth, is a pest of citrus and other crops in sub-Saharan Africa. As it is endemic to this region and as South Africa exports most of its citrus around the world, T. leucotreta has phytosanitary status for most markets. This means that there is zero tolerance for any infestation with live larvae in the market. Consequently, control measures prior to exporting must be exemplary. Certain markets require a standalone postharvest disinfestation treatment for T. leucotreta. However, the European Union accepts a systems approach, consisting of three measures and numerous components within these measures. Although effective preharvest control measures are important under all circumstances, they are most critical where a standalone postharvest disinfestation treatment is not applied, such as within a systems approach. Conventional wisdom may lead a belief that effective chemical control tools are imperative to achieve this end. However, we demonstrate that it is possible to effectively control T. leucotreta to a level acceptable for a phytosanitary market, using only biological control tools. This includes parasitoids, predators, microbial control, semiochemicals, and sterile insects. Simultaneously, on-farm and environmental safety is improved and compliance with the increasing stringency of chemical residue requirements imposed by markets is achieved.

scholarly journals Prediction of disease severity in young children presenting with acute febrile illness in resource-limited settings: a protocol for a prospective observational study

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. e045826
Author(s):  
Arjun Chandna ◽  
Endashaw M Aderie ◽  
Riris Ahmad ◽  
Eggi Arguni ◽  
Elizabeth A Ashley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Observational Study ◽  
Prediction Model ◽  
Prospective Observational Study ◽  
Model Building ◽  
Venous Blood ◽  
Febrile Illness ◽  
Nasopharyngeal Swab ◽  
Acute Febrile Illness ◽  
Clinical Prediction ◽  
Open Access Journals

IntroductionIn rural and difficult-to-access settings, early and accurate recognition of febrile children at risk of progressing to serious illness could contribute to improved patient outcomes and better resource allocation. This study aims to develop a prognostic clinical prediction tool to assist community healthcare providers identify febrile children who might benefit from referral or admission for facility-based medical care.Methods and analysisThis prospective observational study will recruit at least 4900 paediatric inpatients and outpatients under the age of 5 years presenting with an acute febrile illness to seven hospitals in six countries across Asia. A venous blood sample and nasopharyngeal swab is collected from each participant and detailed clinical data recorded at presentation, and each day for the first 48 hours of admission for inpatients. Multianalyte assays are performed at reference laboratories to measure a panel of host biomarkers, as well as targeted aetiological investigations for common bacterial and viral pathogens. Clinical outcome is ascertained on day 2 and day 28.Presenting syndromes, clinical outcomes and aetiology of acute febrile illness will be described and compared across sites. Following the latest guidance in prediction model building, a prognostic clinical prediction model, combining simple clinical features and measurements of host biomarkers, will be derived and geographically externally validated. The performance of the model will be evaluated in specific presenting clinical syndromes and fever aetiologies.Ethics and disseminationThe study has received approval from all relevant international, national and institutional ethics committees. Written informed consent is provided by the caretaker of all participants. Results will be shared with local and national stakeholders, and disseminated via peer-reviewed open-access journals and scientific meetings.Trial registration numberNCT04285021.

scholarly journals An afebrile heartwater-like syndrome in goats

2013 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhoda Leask ◽  
Kenneth P. Pettey ◽  
Gareth F. Bath
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Febrile Reaction ◽  
Presumptive Diagnosis ◽  
Appropriate Treatment ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
And Control

Heartwater is a serious limiting factor for sheep and goat production in the major endemic area of sub-Saharan Africa and therefore most knowledge, research and control methods originate from this region. Whilst the usual or common clinical presentations can be used to make a presumptive diagnosis of heartwater with a good measure of confidence, this is not always the case, and animals suffering from heartwater may be misdiagnosed because their cases do not conform to the expected syndrome, signs and lesions. One aberrant form found occasionally in the Channel Island breeds of cattle and some goats is an afebrile heartwaterlike syndrome. The most constant and characteristic features of this heartwater-like syndrome comprise normal temperature, clinical signs associated with generalised oedema, and nervous signs, especially hypersensitivity. The presumption that the disease under investigation is the afebrile heartwater-like syndrome entails a tentative diagnosis based on history and clinical signs and the response to presumed appropriate treatment (metadiagnosis). The afebrile heartwater-like syndrome presents similarly to peracute heartwater but without the febrile reaction. Peracute cases of heartwater have a high mortality rate, enabling confirmation of the disease on post-mortem examination. Recognition of the afebrile heartwater-like syndrome is important to prevent deaths and identify the need for appropriate control measures.

scholarly journals Comparative Area Studies and the Study of the Global South

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-287
Author(s):  
Rudra Sil ◽  
Ariel I. Ahram
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Science Inquiry ◽  
Global South ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Theory Building ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽  
Area Studies ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Range Theory ◽  
Sub Saharan

Comparative Area Studies (CAS) offers a template to bring the Global South back into the foreground of social science inquiry. CAS urges researchers to grapple directly with empirical variations derived from across the seemingly different global regions. CAS offers three comparative modes: intra-regional, cross-regional, and trans-regional. A number of scholars have used CAS’s comparative rubrics, even without knowing about the wider CAS agenda and program. CAS unsettles assumptions about discrete, fixed “regional” or civilizational blocks as well as about nomothetic theory-building aimed at universal or general laws. At the same time, CAS engages in the idea of medium-range theory-building, focusing empirical rigor and induction in order to create concepts and analyses that are portable yet contextualized. These macro-historical theories must be attentive to spatial and temporal variation in the social world. Claims of universalism are suspect. For the study of the Global South, in particular, CAS provides a path for aggregating and leveraging the wide range of observations and interpretations area specialists have to offer on regions as diverse as South Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa. CAS thus changes the division of labor within social science to allow greater input for scholarship derived from and originating in the developing world.

scholarly journals Contrasting Response Mechanisms of Maize Lines to Striga hermonthica

Agriculture ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 485
Author(s):  
Nnanna N. Unachukwu ◽  
Abebe Menkir ◽  
Adekemi Stanley ◽  
Ebenezer O. Farombi ◽  
Melaku Gedil
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
Resistance Mechanisms ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Striga Hermonthica ◽  
Maize Line ◽  
Parasitic Weed ◽  
Resistant Lines ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Better Than

Strigahermonthica (Del.) Benth is a parasitic weed that devastates cereals in Sub-Saharan Africa. Several control measures have been proposed for the parasite, of these, host plant resistance is considered the most cost-effective for poor farmers. Some tolerant/resistant lines have been developed and these lines display tolerance/resistance mechanisms to the parasite. A series of studies was done to investigate some of the mechanisms through which a resistant (TZISTR1108) and a susceptible (5057) maize line responds to S. hermonthica infestation, as well as the effects of parasitism on these lines. In this study, TZISTR1108 stimulated the germination and attachment of fewer S. hermonthica plants than 5057, both in the laboratory and on the field. In TZISTR1108, the growth of the S. hermonthica plants, that successfully attached, was slowed. When compared to the un-infested plants, the infested resistant plants showed fewer effects of parasitism than the infested susceptible plants. The infested TZISTR1108 plants were more vigorous, taller and resembled their un-infected counterparts. There were substantial reductions in the stomatal conductance and nitrogen content of the 5057 upon infestation. The resistant inbred line showed multiple mechanisms of resistance to S. hermonthica infestation. It thrives better than the susceptible line by reducing the attachment of S. hermonthica and it delays the parasite’s development.

Coloniality in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jurgen Poesche
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Natural Science ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
Minority Status ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
The Status ◽  
Sub Saharan

The objective of this article is to contribute to the development of a common narrative on coloniality in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas. Since scholars tend to focus on either Sub-Saharan Africa or the Americas, a gap between these important regions has emerged in the literature on coloniality. This article seeks to bridge this gap by providing a comparative perspective on coloniality, and this hopefully will enhance Indigenous African nations’ and Indigenous American nations’ understanding of what needs to be done to overcome coloniality. The article explores three key theses. First, in spite of the differences in the extant societal power structures in the postcolonial African states and the former settler colonial states in the Americas, this article argues that the continued dynamics of coloniality are similar in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas. The minority status of Indigenous American nations throughout the Americas renders addressing coloniality more challenging than in Sub-Saharan Africa where Indigenous African nations are in the majority although they generally do not have effective sovereignty. Second, the extant societal power structures associated with both coloniality and occidental modernity have weaponized occidental jurisprudence, natural science and social science to defend and proliferate the status quo assisted by state sovereignty. Addressing coloniality effectively therefore requires a renaissance of Indigenous African and Indigenous American cosmovisions unaffected by modernity. Third, addressing coloniality in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas requires the recognition of the comprehensive and supreme sovereignty of the Indigenous African nations in all of Sub-Saharan Africa, and Indigenous American nations in all of the Americas.

scholarly journals Social Reintegration and Rehabilitation of Obstetric Fistula Patients Before and After Repair in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-14
Author(s):  
Atuhaire Shallon ◽  
Oladosu A. Ojengbede ◽  
John Francis Mugisha ◽  
Akin-Tunde A. Odukogbe
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Obstetric Fistula ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Vaginal Fistula ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Social Reintegration ◽  
Open Access Journals ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Sub Saharan

Aims: Social reintegration and rehabilitation of obstetric fistula patients before and after repair enhance their overall status, which may be unattainable even with a successful repair. Nonetheless, there is little traceable documentation about it even with supportive programs and projects, the thrust of this study. Methods: This is a systematic review involving a search of relevant literature from PubMed, Google scholar, PsychINFO, African Journals Online, Australian Journals Online, and open access journals of international organizations such as WHO, UNFPA, USAID, Engender Health, Fistula Foundation and Fistula Care Plus published between 1978 to date. Of the 46 articles identified, 25 were suitable for achievement of this study’s purpose. Results:Sub-Saharan African countries have recognized the overall burden of obstetric fistula and have devised strategies for its holistic management. Most countries have National Obstetric Fistula Strategic Frameworks which emphasize multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary approaches other than medical paradigms. Social reintegration and rehabilitation have been done through the identification of individual patient’s need/s. Projects and programs aiming to combat obstetric fistula and restore patients’ self-worth and dignity are: Lamaneh Suisse, and Delta Survie in Mali, Dimol in Niger,  Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Burundi, FORWARD in Nigeria and Sierra Leone, Handicap International in Benin Republic, Women For Africa in Ghana and Liberia, TERREWODE and CoRSU both in Uganda, Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia in Ethiopia, and others which cut across the region. Conclusions: Effective social reintegration and rehabilitation strategies are still inadequate in Sub-Saharan Africa due to lack of political commitment and inadequate outreach programs. Keywords: obstetric fistula, recto-vaginal fistula, rehabilitation, social reintegration, vesico-vaginal fistula.

scholarly journals Challenges and Economic Implications in the Control of Foot and Mouth Disease in Sub-Saharan Africa: Lessons from the Zambian Experience

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Sinkala ◽  
M. Simuunza ◽  
D. U. Pfeiffer ◽  
H. M. Munang’andu ◽  
M. Mulumba ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Impact ◽  
Foot And Mouth Disease ◽  
Movement Control ◽  
Personal Communication ◽  
Mouth Disease ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Economic Implications ◽  
Foot And Mouth ◽  
Sub Saharan

Foot and mouth disease is one of the world’s most important livestock diseases for trade. FMD infections are complex in nature and there are many epidemiological factors needing clarification. Key questions relate to the control challenges and economic impact of the disease for resource-poor FMD endemic countries like Zambia. A review of the control challenges and economic impact of FMD outbreaks in Zambia was made. Information was collected from peer-reviewed journals articles, conference proceedings, unpublished scientific reports, and personal communication with scientists and personal field experiences. The challenges of controlling FMD using mainly vaccination and movement control are discussed. Impacts include losses in income of over US$ 1.6 billion from exports of beef and sable antelopes and an annual cost of over US$ 2.7 million on preventive measures. Further impacts included unquantified losses in production and low investment in agriculture resulting in slow economic growth. FMD persistence may be a result of inadequate epidemiological understanding of the disease and ineffectiveness of the control measures that are being applied. The identified gaps may be considered in the annual appraisal of the FMD national control strategy in order to advance on the progressive control pathway.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document