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Displaying publications 41 - 46 of 46 in total

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Fatal aspergillosis in imported parrots

Kaplan W, Arnstein P, Ajello L, Chandler F, Watts J, Hicklin M

Mycopathologia, 1975 Jul 30;56(1):25-9.
PMID: 1097931

Spontaneous fatal aspergillosis occurred in several species of parrots imported from Latin America, Australia, Malaya and Ghana for studies on the control of psittacosis. Over a period of 4 years, 655 parrots were imported for use in these studies. All birds that died during these investigations were necropsied, and the internal organs of 45 were found to have macroscopic lesions suggestive of aspergillosis. Of these 45 suspected cases, 32 were confirmed as aspergillosis by both histopathology and culture, and three others by histopathology alone. There was no evidence that the remaining 10 had this disease. Of the 32 culturally confirmed cases, 13 were found to be caused by Aspergillus fumigatus, 16 by A. oryzae, and three by both fungi. In this series, three sets of circumstances appear to have been associated with the development of fatal aspergillosis. Their capture and transport to the United States, the administration of chlortetracycline used in the control of psittacosis, and the administration of cortisone acetate in an attempt to activate existent latent psittacosis infections. The possible causal relationship of these factors are discussed.

Matched MeSH terms: Ghana
Fulltext Male involvement in maternal healthcare through Community- based Health Planning and Services: the views of the men in rural Ghana

Bougangue B, Ling HK

BMC Public Health, 2017 09 06;17(1):693.
PMID: 28874157 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-017-4680-2

BACKGROUND: The need to promote maternal health in Ghana has committed the government to extend maternal healthcare services to the door steps of rural families through the community-based Health Planning and Services. Based on the concerns raised in previous studies that male spouses were indifferent towards maternal healthcare, this study sought the views of men on their involvement in maternal healthcare in their respective communities and at the household levels in the various Community-based Health Planning and Services zones in Awutu-Senya West District in the Central Region of Ghana.
METHODS: A qualitative method was employed. Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with married men, community health officers, community health volunteers and community leaders. The participants were selected using purposive, quota and snowball sampling techniques. The study used thematic analysis for analysing the data.
RESULTS: The study shows varying involvement of men, some were directly involved in feminine gender roles; others used their female relatives and co-wives to perform the women's roles that did not have space for them. They were not necessarily indifferent towards maternal healthcare, rather, they were involved in the spaces provided by the traditional gender division of labour. Amongst other things, the perpetuation and reinforcement of traditional gender norms around pregnancy and childbirth influenced the nature and level of male involvement.
CONCLUSIONS: Sustenance of male involvement especially, husbands and CHVs is required at the household and community levels for positive maternal outcomes. Ghana Health Service, health professionals and policy makers should take traditional gender role expectations into consideration in the planning and implementation of maternal health promotion programmes.

Matched MeSH terms: Ghana
Total coliforms, arsenic and cadmium exposure through drinking water in the Western Region of Ghana: application of multivariate statistical technique to groundwater quality

Affum AO, Osae SD, Nyarko BJ, Afful S, Fianko JR, Akiti TT, et al.

Environ Monit Assess, 2015 Feb;187(2):1.
PMID: 25600401 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-014-4167-x

In recent times, surface water resource in the Western Region of Ghana has been found to be inadequate in supply and polluted by various anthropogenic activities. As a result of these problems, the demand for groundwater by the human populations in the peri-urban communities for domestic, municipal and irrigation purposes has increased without prior knowledge of its water quality. Water samples were collected from 14 public hand-dug wells during the rainy season in 2013 and investigated for total coliforms, Escherichia coli, mercury (Hg), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd) and physicochemical parameters. Multivariate statistical analysis of the dataset and a linear stoichiometric plot of major ions were applied to group the water samples and to identify the main factors and sources of contamination. Hierarchal cluster analysis revealed four clusters from the hydrochemical variables (R-mode) and three clusters in the case of water samples (Q-mode) after z score standardization. Principal component analysis after a varimax rotation of the dataset indicated that the four factors extracted explained 93.3 % of the total variance, which highlighted salinity, toxic elements and hardness pollution as the dominant factors affecting groundwater quality. Cation exchange, mineral dissolution and silicate weathering influenced groundwater quality. The ranking order of major ions was Na(+) > Ca(2+) > K(+) > Mg(2+) and Cl(-) > SO4 (2-) > HCO3 (-). Based on piper plot and the hydrogeology of the study area, sodium chloride (86 %), sodium hydrogen carbonate and sodium carbonate (14 %) water types were identified. Although E. coli were absent in the water samples, 36 % of the wells contained total coliforms (Enterobacter species) which exceeded the WHO guidelines limit of zero colony-forming unit (CFU)/100 mL of drinking water. With the exception of Hg, the concentration of As and Cd in 79 and 43 % of the water samples exceeded the WHO guideline limits of 10 and 3 μg/L for drinking water, respectively. Reported values in some areas in Nigeria, Malaysia and USA indicated that the maximum concentration of Cd was low and As was high in this study. Health risk assessment of Cd, As and Hg based on average daily dose, hazard quotient and cancer risk was determined. In conclusion, multiple natural processes and anthropogenic activities from non-point sources contributed significantly to groundwater salinization, hardness, toxic element and microbiological contamination of the study area. The outcome of this study can be used as a baseline data to prioritize areas for future sustainable development of public wells.

Matched MeSH terms: Ghana
New approaches for estimating the demand for children

Lightbourne R

Popul Bull UN, 1987.
PMID: 12315520
Matched MeSH terms: Ghana
Fulltext Differences in virulence and immune response induced in a murine model by isolates of Mycobacterium ulcerans from different geographic areas

Ortiz RH, Leon DA, Estevez HO, Martin A, Herrera JL, Romo LF, et al.

Clin Exp Immunol, 2009 Aug;157(2):271-81.
PMID: 19604267 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2249.2009.03941.x

Buruli ulcer (BU) is the third most common mycobacterial disease in immunocompetent hosts. BU is caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans, which produces skin ulcers and necrosis at the site of infection. The principal virulence factor of M. ulcerans is a polyketide-derived macrolide named mycolactone, which has cytotoxic and immunosuppressive activities. We determined the severity of inflammation, histopathology and bacillary loads in the subcutaneous footpad tissue of BALB/c mice infected with 11 different M. ulcerans isolates from diverse geographical areas. Strains from Africa (Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast) induced the highest inflammation, necrosis and bacillary loads, whereas the strains collected from Australia, Asia (Japan, Malaysia, New Guinea), Europe (France) and America (Mexico) induced mild inflammation. Subsequently, animals were infected with the strain that exhibited the highest (Benin) or lowest (Mexico) level of virulence in order to analyse the local immune response generated. The Mexican strain, which does not produce mycolactone, induced a predominantly T helper type 1 (Th1) cytokine profile with constant high expression of the anti-microbial peptides beta defensins 3 and 4, in co-existence with low expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-10, IL-4 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta. The highly virulent strain from Benin which produces mycolactone A/B induced the opposite pattern. Thus, different local immune responses were found depending on the infecting M. ulcerans strain.

Matched MeSH terms: Ghana
Fulltext Statin Treatment and Clinical Outcomes of Heart Failure Among Africans: An Inverse Probability Treatment Weighted Analysis

Bonsu KO, Owusu IK, Buabeng KO, Reidpath DD, Kadirvelu A

J Am Heart Assoc, 2017 Apr 01;6(4).
PMID: 28365564 DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.116.004706

BACKGROUND: Randomized control trials of statins have not demonstrated significant benefits in outcomes of heart failure (HF). However, randomized control trials may not always be generalizable. The aim was to determine whether statin and statin type-lipophilic or -hydrophilic improve long-term outcomes in Africans with HF.
METHODS AND RESULTS: This was a retrospective longitudinal study of HF patients aged ≥18 years hospitalized at a tertiary healthcare center between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2013 in Ghana. Patients were eligible if they were discharged from first admission for HF (index admission) and followed up to time of all-cause, cardiovascular, and HF mortality or end of study. Multivariable time-dependent Cox model and inverse-probability-of-treatment weighting of marginal structural model were used to estimate associations between statin treatment and outcomes. Adjusted hazard ratios were also estimated for lipophilic and hydrophilic statin compared with no statin use. The study included 1488 patients (mean age 60.3±14.2 years) with 9306 person-years of observation. Using the time-dependent Cox model, the 5-year adjusted hazard ratios with 95% CI for statin treatment on all-cause, cardiovascular, and HF mortality were 0.68 (0.55-0.83), 0.67 (0.54-0.82), and 0.63 (0.51-0.79), respectively. Use of inverse-probability-of-treatment weighting resulted in estimates of 0.79 (0.65-0.96), 0.77 (0.63-0.96), and 0.77 (0.61-0.95) for statin treatment on all-cause, cardiovascular, and HF mortality, respectively, compared with no statin use.
CONCLUSIONS: Among Africans with HF, statin treatment was associated with significant reduction in mortality.

Matched MeSH terms: Ghana/epidemiology