scholarly journals Men and infertility in The Gambia: Limited biomedical knowledge and awareness discourage male involvement and exacerbate gender-based impacts of infertility

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0260084
Author(s):  
Susan Dierickx ◽  
Kelvin Onyango Oruko ◽  
Ed Clarke ◽  
Sainey Ceesay ◽  
Allan Pacey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Sperm Quality ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
The Gambia ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Male Factor Infertility ◽  
Male Factor ◽  
The West ◽  
Coast Region

Introduction Infertility in Sub-Saharan Africa constitutes an important social and public health problem. Yet, there is a paucity of research on the experiences of men living with infertility, especially in West Africa. This study explored men’s aetiological knowledge, views and experiences of infertility in the West Coast region of The Gambia, West Africa. Methodology An explorative qualitative study was conducted among men living in the rural and urban communities of the West Coast region of The Gambia using in-depth interviews. Data collection and analysis were performed concurrently, and thematic data analysis was an iterative process carried out using NVivo 11 Analysis Software. Results Gambian men had generally poor knowledge of infertility, allocating it to God, spiritual powers and bodily (biomedical) factors. While societal norms meant that infertility was generally attributed to women, some men allocated male-factor infertility to poor sperm quality and impotence. Infertility threatened participants’ sense of masculinity and resulted in psychosocial distress, including stigma, feelings of isolation, and low self-esteem. Conclusion Normative gendered frameworks of infertility result in high levels of female responsibilisation in the Gambian context. Yet men diagnosed with infertility experience significant, often unrecognized, psychological and social distress. We therefore call for increased attention to male-factor infertility, and the promotion of male engagement with infertility-care and services, both of which are essential for successfully addressing infertility and it’s psychosocial consequences in The Gambia.

scholarly journals Prevalence of sexually transmitted infections among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in West Coast Region of The Gambia

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 585-592
Author(s):  
Alphonsus Isara ◽  
Aru-Kumba Baldeh
Keyword(s):  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Sexually Transmitted Infections ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Trichomonas Vaginalis ◽  
The Gambia ◽  
Age Group ◽  
The West ◽  
Sexually Transmitted ◽  
Neisseria Gonorrhoea ◽  
Coast Region

Background: Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) are the second most common cause of healthy life years lost by women in the 15 – 44 years age group in Africa. Aim/Objective: To determine the prevalence of STIs among pregnant women attending antenatal care (ANC) clinics in the West Coast Region of The Gambia. Materials and Methods: Blood, urine, and high vaginal swabs samples from 280 pregnant women attending ANC in Brika- ma District Hospital, Brikama, and Bandung Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Bandung were examined. Serum samples were tested for HIV using western blot technique and for syphilis using the Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) test, and rapid plasma regimen. Candida albicans, Group B Streptococcus and Neisseria gonorrhoea were identified using Analytical Profile Index (API). Direct urine microscopy was used to identify C. albicans and Trichomonas vaginalis while Chlamydia trachomatis was identified using Direct Fluorescent Antibody (DFA) test. Results: The overall prevalence of STIs was 53.6%. The pathogenic agents isolated were Candida albicans (31.8%), Strep- tococcus agalactiae (15.0%), Treponema pallidum (6.8%), HIV (5.7%), Trichomonas vaginalis (3.9%), Neisseria gonorrhoea (1.8%) and Chlamydia trachomatis (0.7%). STIs were more prevalent among women in the younger age group of 15 – 24 years (54.7%), unemployed (54.0%), Primipara (62.3%), and in the third trimester of pregnancy (72.7%). Conclusion: A high prevalence of STIs was found among pregnant women attending ANC in the West Coast region of The Gambia. Public health intervention programmes should be strengthened to promote the sexual and reproductive health of pregnant women in The Gambia. Keywords: Sexually transmitted infections; pregnant women; antenatal clinics; The Gambia.

scholarly journals ‘We are always desperate and will try anything to conceive’: The convoluted and dynamic process of health seeking among women with infertility in the West Coast Region of The Gambia

PLoS ONE ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. e0211634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Dierickx ◽  
Julie Balen ◽  
Chia Longman ◽  
Ladan Rahbari ◽  
Ed Clarke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Process ◽  
West Coast ◽  
The Gambia ◽  
Health Seeking ◽  
The West ◽  
Coast Region

A curious case of nematode parasitism in a West African Hadada, Gevonticus hagedash

1945 ◽  
Vol 21 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 99-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phyllis A. Clapham
Keyword(s):  
Small Intestine ◽  
West Africa ◽  
West Coast ◽  
West African ◽  
The West ◽  
The Family ◽  
Nematode Parasitism

In the following article is described an interesting parasitic condition which is difficult to interpret. The small intestine of an Hadada, Geronticus hagedash, was brought back from the West Coast of Africa by Major T. A. Cockburn, M.D., R.A.M.C, who kindly passed it to me for further examination. The bird is a member of the family Plataleidae, living in wooded districts in West Africa in the neighbourhood of water and feeding on invertebrates, mainly annelids and small crustaceans which it finds at the bottom of ponds and streams in the mud.

scholarly journals Post-wash total motile sperm count a useful predictor in the decision to perform IVF/ICSI in patients with non-male factor infertility

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-106
Author(s):  
Sara Mahmood Qureshi ◽  
Salma Kafeel ◽  
Riffat Bibi ◽  
Jawad Mohmand
Keyword(s):  
Sperm Quality ◽  
Sperm Count ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
Male Factor Infertility ◽  
Motile Sperm ◽  
Operating Characteristics ◽  
Male Factor ◽  
Vitro Fertilization ◽  
Total Motile Sperm Count

Introduction: The unrestricted use of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for non-male factor infertility is associated with adverse outcomes. Post-wash total motile sperm count (PW-TMSC) offers prognostic value to assess sperm quality and aid in the decision to perform in vitro fertilization (IVF) or ICSI. Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify the effect of PW-TMSC on fertilization rates in patients undergoing IVF cycles exclusively with non-male factor infertility. It also aimed to identify whether unnecessary ICSI could be avoided in such cases, thus maximizing optimal outcomes. Materials & Methods: We retrospectively analyzed age, semen volume, prewash TMSC, and PW-TMSC in 68 conventional IVF cycles of infertile couples with non-male factor infertility. Clinical characteristics including female age, number of follicles, level of estradiol on trigger day, mature cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) collected, were also included. Results: Incidence of <30% fertilization was significantly higher in the 4-<10 Million group compared with the ≥20 Million post-wash TMSC group (P<0.001). Furthermore, Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis revealed post-wash TMSC as a significant predictor (P<0.05) of total failed fertilization (TFF) and of ≥30% fertilization (P<0.05) with area under curve (AUC) of 0. 79 and 0.77, respectively, with a deemed cutoff of 10.89 Million. Conclusion: Post-wash TMSC is a good predictor of fertilization; it can help in avoiding potentially low or even total fertilization failure (TFF). A cut-off point of 10.89 Million or less should warrant the use of ICSI.

An Historical Assessment and Analysis of Economic Imperialism in West Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Ayokunle Olumuyiwa Omobowale ◽  
Natewinde Sawadogo
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
National Development ◽  
West African ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Skilled Workers ◽  
The West ◽  
West African Coast ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Economic Imperialism

Abstract The West African political economy has been shaped by the policies, decisions and actions of dominant European imperialist countries since about over 500 years. Starting with imperial merchant capitalism along the West African coast in the 16th Century and French gradual acquisition of Senegal as a colony as from 1677, West Africa has remained under the imperialist hold. West Africa remains economically dependent on its former colonial masters despite more than 60 years since the countries started gaining independence. The consequences of economic imperialism on West Africa have included exploitative resource extraction, proxy and resource influenced civil wars, illegal trade in natural resources, mass poverty, and external migration of skilled workers necessary for national development. The world sees and broadcasts poverty, starvation, conflict and Saharan migration in the West African sub-continent, but hardly reports the exploitative imperialistic processes that have produced poverty and misery in West Africa in particular and across sub-Saharan Africa in general.

scholarly journals Improving WSR-88D Radar QPE for Orographic Precipitation Using Profiler Observations

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 1135-1151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youcun Qi ◽  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Brian Kaney ◽  
Carrie Langston ◽  
Kenneth Howard
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Heavy Rain ◽  
Moisture Flux ◽  
Heavy Precipitation ◽  
The United States ◽  
The West ◽  
Radar Beam ◽  
Orographic Enhancement ◽  
Coast Region

Abstract Quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) in the West Coast region of the United States has been a big challenge for Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) because of severe blockages caused by the complex terrain. The majority of the heavy precipitation in the West Coast region is associated with strong moisture flux from the Pacific that interacts with the coastal mountains. Such orographic enhancement of precipitation occurs at low levels and cannot be observed well by WSR-88D because of severe blockages. Specifically, the radar beam either samples too high above the ground or misses the orographic enhancement at lower levels, or the beam broadens with range and cannot adequately resolve vertical variations of the reflectivity structure. The current study developed an algorithm that uses S-band Precipitation Profiler (S-PROF) radar observations in northern California to improve WSR-88D QPEs in the area. The profiler data are used to calculate two sets of reference vertical profiles of reflectivity (RVPRs), one for the coastal mountains and another for the Sierra Nevada. The RVPRs are then used to correct the WSR-88D QPEs in the corresponding areas. The S-PROF–based VPR correction methodology (S-PROF-VPR) has taken into account orographic processes and radar beam broadenings with range. It is tested using three heavy rain events and is found to provide significant improvements over the operational radar QPE.

scholarly journals Aluminium in Groundwater Possible Solution Equilibria

1981 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Eriksson
Keyword(s):  
Present State ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Soil Profile ◽  
Acid Precipitation ◽  
Iron Hydroxides ◽  
The West ◽  
Solution Equilibria ◽  
The Future ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Coast Region

Recent investigations in the west coast region of Sweden has revealed the occurrence of groundwaters with a pH of around 4 and, further, alarmingly high concentrations of soluble aluminium. The reason for the occurrence of acid groundwater is, of course, the acid precipitation falling over this area of Sweden in combination with coarse soils on resistant types of granites and gneisses. The »resistance« against acidification of groundwater offered in the soil profile by aluminium and iron hydroxides must obviously have been partly broken. It seems therefore relevant to examine the solubility conditions of aluminium compounds in soils and rocks. From this we may reconstruct the process which led to the present state and we may also be able to tell what information on soils is needed in order to predict the future acidification of groundwater.

scholarly journals 4. A Preliminary Notice of the Akazga Ordeal of West Africa, and of its Active Principle

1869 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 159-162
Author(s):  
Thomas R. Fraser
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Active Principle ◽  
The West ◽  
North And South ◽  
Adjacent Island

This ordeal poison is referred to in the works of Du Chaillu and Winwood Reade; and several of its toxic properties have been described by MM. Pecholier et Saintpierre. A few specimens were sent to this country in 1864 by the Rev. A. Bushnell of Baraka, and these were very kindly given to the author by Mr Thomson of Glasgow; and a further supply came from the same quarter in 1865. These gentlemen, and Dr Nassau of Bonita, supplied valuable and interesting information regarding its employment.The poison is known in Africa as Akazga, Boundou (or M'Boundou), Ikaja, and Quai; Akazga being probably derived from nkazga, which signifies pain or hurt. It is used as an ordeal for the detection of real and superstitious crimes on the West Coast of Africa, in a large district which extends north and south of the equator, and many miles inland, and also in the adjacent island of Corisco.

scholarly journals High faecal carriage of multi-drug resistant Enterobacteriaceae and other gram negative strains among food handlers in Cosmopolitan Cities of The Gambia

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-189
Author(s):  
Bakary Sanneh ◽  
Ollie Diane Riley ◽  
Haruna S. Jallow ◽  
Abou Kebbeh ◽  
Yaya Camara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
West Coast ◽  
The Gambia ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Drug Resistant ◽  
Food Handlers ◽  
Gram Negative ◽  
Fecal Carriage ◽  
Coast Region

The introductions of advanced antibiotics have triggered complex versions of resistant genes in gram-negative bacteria. In a generation witness limited discovery of antibiotics makes this phenomenon a major public health threat. This study aims to establish the fecal carriage rate of multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae strains among food handlers. Data was extracted from a prospective cross-sectional study – ‘Prevalence and risk factors of fecal carriage of Extended Spectrum β-Lactamase producing Enterobacteriaceae amongst food handlers in Lower Basic Schools in West Coast region of The Gambia. The study enrolled 600 randomly selected food handlers (565 of which had complete data set) from 60 lower basic schools in 7 districts in the West Coast Region of The Gambia. Stool samples were collected from the participants and screened for resistance to cefotaxim. Isolated organisms were further tested for susceptibility to cephalosporins, carbapenems, fluoroquinolones and other families of antimicrobials as per Clinical Standard Laboratory Institute guidelines. The association of risk factors to fecal carriage of resistant Enterobacteriacea was performed using Pearson Chi squared and fishers exact (P<0.05). Results confirmed that the prevalence of Enterobacteriaceae by resistance to cefotaxime was 15.8%. 23 genus and 89 species of resistant strains were isolated. All isolates were 100% resistant to cephalosporins such as ceftriazone, cefotaxime and cefuroxime, except ceftazidime (92%). Resistance to ciprofloxacin (fluoroquinolone) was measured at 50%. Only 1.2% was resistant to imipenem (carbapenem). Most isolates were resistant to ampicillin, nitrofurantoine, erythromycin, tetracycline and cotrimaxole. Majority of the identified Enterobacteriaceae were Enterobacter aerogene (14%), Klebsiella pneumoniea (12%) and Escherichia coli (7%). This study found a high prevalence of fecal carriage multi-drug resistant Enterobacteriaceae among food handlers, mostly women, in The Gambia. The irrational prescription and use of antibiotics is a major risk factor for the proliferation of antibiotic resistance. Well-conducted surveillance is essential to implement effective control measures for the spread of antibiotic resistance urgently receommended.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document