Public Health

Background Many geographical areas of sub-Saharan Africa, especially in rural settings, lack complete and up-to-date demographic data, posing a challenge for implementation and evaluation of public health interventions and carrying out large-scale health research. A demographic survey was completed in Mopeia district, located in the Zambezia province in Mozambique, to inform the Broad One Health Endectocide-based Malaria Intervention in Africa (BOHEMIA) cluster randomized clinical trial, which tested ivermectin mass drug administration to humans and/or livestock as a potential novel strategy to decrease malaria transmission. Methods The demographic survey was a prospective descriptive study, which collected data of all the households in the district that accepted to participate. Households were mapped through geolocation and identified with a unique identification number. Basic demographic data of the household members was collected and each person received a permanent identificatio...

During the last 40 years, the development of medical HIV and AIDS related knowledge has been followed by a coordinated international HIV response, in terms of developing policies and measures for the HIV/AIDS prevention and control based on evidence from public health and clinical studies. The HIV response can be divided into three periods: the period of HIV response establishment (1981-1996); the period of multi-sectoral response (1996-2007) and the period of strengthening biomedical measures for HIV prevention (2007 and beyond). International policies and recommended HIV prevention measures have undergone a series of transformations, from the establishment of the first organized and coordinated national programs, to the design and implementation of innovative biomedical prevention measures, such as voluntary medical circumcision, pre-exposure prophylaxis and the implementation of the "test and treat" measure - the introduction of antiretroviral therapy immediately after ...

Objectives We examined the effect of the mother’s origin and socio-economic characteristics on adverse perinatal outcomes in Switzerland. Methods Births occurring from 2011 to 2017 were identified in the Swiss population register and merged with the Swiss civil register and the Register of the first pillar to obtain information on the migration origin and socio-economic level. Four indicators of adverse perinatal outcomes were defined. Results Logistic regressions show that both the migration origin and the socio-economic level are measured by the parents’ income, influence risk. Compared to the children of mothers born in Switzerland, those of mothers from EU/EFTA countries have a lower risk of infant mortality, low birth weight and extreme prematurity. The highest risk is observed for children born to mothers from the rest of the world. High levels of risk consistently characterize children with low-income parents (first decile). Conclusions Our results justify further investigati...

Background Social prescribing (SP) is part of universal personalised care and available to everyone in the UK National Health Service. However, emerging evidence suggests access disparities in social prescribing. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of accessing and analysing data on social prescribing from primary care records. Our secondary aim was to examine exposure to social prescribing and compare characteristics of patients who decline/accept social prescribing referrals to explore possible health inequalities in access to social prescribing. Methods Patient records (n=3086) were extracted from 11 GP practices across Northwest England for accepted, offered and declined social prescribing referrals. Patient demographics collected included sex, age, ethnicity, mental and physical health diagnoses. Patient characteristics in social prescribing referrals were compared to the overall practice population (practice information from Public Health England). Decline and acce...

Ryan Arvisza Falletehan, J 500 1000 41, 2014. Hubungan Perilaku Merokok dengan Kejadian Tuberkulosis Paru di Balai Besar Kesehatan Paru Masyarakat (BBKPM) Surakarta. Latar Belakang. Tuberkulosis paru (TB paru) merupakan penyakit yang menjadi masalah di tingkat dunia termasuk Indonesia. Mengingat tingginya angka kematian yang disebabkan oleh TB paru. merokok meningkatkan resiko 3,1 kali terinfeksi TB paru. Indonesia mempunyai angka perokok yang tinggi. Tujuan Penelitian. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui hubungan merokok dengan kejadian TB paru di Balai Besar Kesehatan Paru Masyarakat (BBKPM) Surakarta. Metode. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode observasional dengan pendekatan cross sectional. Diambil 35 penderita TB paru dan 35 non TB paru dengan teknik purposive dan consecutive sampling. Uji statistik yang digunakan adalah uji Chisquare. Hasil. Pada penderita TB paru ditemukan lebih banyak adalah perokok (25,7%),sedangkan bukan penderita TB paru lebih banyak ditemukan adalah...

Noncompliance to the iron-folic acid tablets is one of the most important challenging factors in combating anemia. Anemia is a global public health problem affecting nearly 2 billion people in both developing and developed countries with major consequences for human health as well as social and economic development. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the level of compliance to iron-folic acid supplementation during pregnancy and its effects in combating anemia during pregnancy in Eastern Ethiopia. Methodology: This cross-sectional study with systematic random sampling technique is carried out to assess compliance to iron-folic acid in pregnant women who taking iron folic acid supplementation in Dilchora hospital, Dire Dawa town of Eastern Ethiopia during June 2016. Variables including age, religion, occupation, education, marital status, family size, parity, trimester and number of antenatal care visits during pregnancy. A total 217 pregnant women of gestational age of 6 th to...

Some specific features of the fauna of ticks Ixodoidea Banks., their landscape distribution and ecology. Total found 24 species ticks belonging to 9 genera: Ixodes, Haemaphysalis, Boophilus, Dermacentor, Rhipicephalus, Hyalomma, Argas, Ornithodoros, Alveonasus and two families Ixodidae and Argasidae. Determined the habitat distribution of ticks community and seasonal reproductive dynamics in domestic, wild, game animals and birds.

Traditional medicine has provided a number of therapeutic solutions for the control of infectious agents, cancers, and other diseases. After screening a wide variety of Colombian plant extracts, we have identified promising antileishmanial activity in ethanol extracts from Ocotea macrophylla (Lauraceae) and Zanthoxyllum monophyllum (Rutaceae). In this study, we evaluated the in vitro activity of two ethanol extracts, one from Ocotea macrophylla and the other from Zanthoxyllum monophyllum and one alkaloid fraction of ethanol extract of Zanthoxyllum monophyllum, on peritoneal macrophages isolated from golden Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) infected with Leishmania panamensis and Leishmania major promastigotes. All of the extracts studied displayed promising (≥2) selectivity indices (S/I), the most significant of which were for ethanol extract of Zanthoxyllum monophyllum against Leishmania panamensis (S/I=12) and alkaloid fraction of ethanol extract of Zanthoxyllum monophyllum a...

The concentration lead (Pb), Chromium (Cr) and Arsenic (As) in blood serum and urine of male and female donors of different age groups from Gashua were determined. Sample of blood serum and urine of male and female donors of similar age groups were also collected from Damaturu to serve as control. All samples were collected under routine clinical laboratory conditions, pretreated with acids, digested and heavy metals were analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopic techniques (ASS). The results indicate that urinary lead, chromium and arsenic levels of the donors from Gashua were significantly higher than those of the control. The concentrations of the metals in blood and urine samples of the male donors were higher than the levels found in samples from the female donors. The high level of these heavy metals in the blood and urine samples might be connected to exposure to the metals through food, air or water, but these need further investigation. The study suggests an immediate ...

ObjectiveThe paucity of specialised care in the peripheral areas of developing countries necessitates the referral of sick neonates to higher centres. Organised interhospital transport services provided by a skilled and well-equipped team can significantly improve the outcome. The present study evaluated the transport characteristics and predictors of mortality among neonates referred to a tertiary care centre in North India.DesignProspective observational study.SettingsTertiary care teaching hospital in North India.Patients1013 neonates referred from peripheral health units.Main outcome measuresMortality among referred neonates on admission to our centre.ResultsOf the 1013 enrolled neonates, 83% were transferred through national ambulance services, 13.7% through private hospital ambulances and 3.3% through personal vehicles. Major transfer indications were prematurity (35%), requirement for ventilation (32%), birth asphyxia (28%) and hyperbilirubinaemia (19%). Hypothermia (32.5%, 3...

which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background. Patients engage in health information-seeking behaviour to maintain their wellbeing and to manage chronic diseases such as arthritis. Health literacy allows patients to understand available treatments and to critically appraise information they obtain from a wide range of sources. Aims. To explore how arthritis patients ’ health literacy affects engagement in arthritis-focused health information-seeking behaviour and the selection of sources of health information available through their informal social network. Methods. An exploratory, qualitative study consisting of one-on-one semi-structured interviews. Twenty participants with arthritis were recruited from community organizations. The interviews were designed to elicit participants ’ understanding about their arthritis and arthritis medication and to determine how the participants ’ health litera...

Background The need for evidence-based decision-making in the health sector is well understood in the global health community. Yet, gaps persist between the availability of evidence and the use of that evidence. Most research on evidence-based decision-making has been carried out in higher-income countries, and most studies look at policy-making rather than decision-making more broadly. We conducted this study to address these gaps and to identify challenges and facilitators to evidence-based decision-making in Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and Nutrition (MNCH&N) at the municipality, district, and national levels in Mozambique. Methods We used a case study design to capture the experiences of decision-makers and analysts (n = 24) who participated in evidence-based decision-making processes related to health policies and interventions to improve MNCH&N in diverse decision-making contexts (district, municipality, and national levels) in 2014–2017, in Mozambique. We examined six c...

Diarrhea is the second leading cause of death in infants. As one of the disease-based environment, the availability of clean water, sanitation and hygiene is one of the key actors in the incidence of diarrhea. As one of the efforts to improve sanitation and hygiene, health center movement Manggis I community health center develops behaviors of live clean and healthy (PHBS) at the family level. The lowest percentage of households classified by PHBS located in the Gegelang Village which amount is 46%. Among the 10 points PHBS, the cause of diarrhea in infants can be sourced history of exclusive breastfeeding, use of unclean water, the habit of not washing hands with soap and clean water, and does not have healthy latrines. This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study involving seventy-five respondents, i.e. mothers with under five children (12-60 months) in Hamlet Gegelang, Kalanganyar, and Pakel, Gegelang Village. Sampling technique is done by using accidental sampling method. ...