ABSTRACT Postnatal care (PNC) is vital for the life of both mother and child as it reduces both marternal and infant morbidities and mortalities. However, in Kenya and Homa Bay County PNC utilization is low (48%) but the cause is not known. This Study determined factors influencing PNC utilization by 377 mothers having children aged 6-8 weeks old. Specifically, the study assessed knowledge, attitude and PNC health seeking behaviour of mothers in Homa Bay Town Sub County. A community based cro...
Abstract This is a study situated within the framework of discourse analysis that focuses on interaction between receptionists and patients at the reception of public health facilities and private hospitals in Kisumu County, Kenya. Hewitt (2006) posit that receptionist attend to patients exclusively through the spoken and written means. This is juxtaposed to doctors and nurses whose work to patients involves verbal, physical and technical examination. Using a tape recorder at one public healt...
ABSTRACT The provision of skilled care during delivery is an indicator to monitor progress in reducing maternal mortality and falls in Goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the proportion of Skilled Birth Attendance is low in developing countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, approximately only half of all live births were delivered with the assistance of skilled birth attendance in 2016. The proportion of births assisted by skilled birth attendance in Kenya is 61%, which is ...
ABSTRACT Malaria vaccine clinical trials in exposed populations have not always been consistent in finding robust associations between the predicted immune responses and protection against disease. The selection of most promising vaccine candidates have been based on direct antibody inhibition assays that have performed dismally. This suggests that such immune correlates employed in assessing their efficacies may not be surrogate markers of protection. Immunity to asexual blood stage malaria ...
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Results from past studies have provided evidence that cervical traction is of benefit in the treatment of neck pain, but there is no consensus among clinicians regarding the amount of traction weight to be employed during treatment that will reduce the side effects (vertigo, nausea, mild headache, blurred vision and migraine) associated with this modality, if not property administered. The study was designed to investigate the cardiovascular responses and sid...
Abstract Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is a common health problem especially in preterm newborns. In Nigeria, prematurity accounts for about 25% of neonatal mortality and RDS have been identified as the major cause of these deaths. The major problem in RDS is immaturity of the lungs with deficiency of surfactant. Surfactant reduces surface tension in the alveoli, thereby preventing collapse of the lungs during expiration. Bubble continuous positive airway pressure (bCPAP) is a low cost...
ABSTRACT Maternal mortality is unacceptably high in Kenya with 8,000 women dying every year from obstetric complications. Kakamega county is ranked fifth among counties with highest maternal death burden in Kenya. Increasing the proportion of skilled delivery is one of the most important interventions in averting maternal deaths. However, 53% of women in Kakamega still deliver at home attended by unskilled assistants contributing to high maternal deaths. The choice of childbirth place is infl...
ABSTRACT Metabolic syndrome (MS) is rapidly increasing in prevalence worldwide and is a top risk factor for noncommunicable diseases which are among the world's biggest killer diseases. In Africa, the prevalence of MS is estimated to be between 17% and 25%. Studies have compared the prevalence of MS but yielded varied rates among the youth and adults in various countries. These variations are suggestive of the fact that MS components could be population dependent. The prevalence of MS and ass...
ABSTRACT Malaria remains prevalent in many parts of Kenya but areas in the highlands of Nandi North sub-county have reported declining incidences of malaria infection and disease burden, and between April 2007 and March 2008 a possible interruption of transmission was reported. Given the low transmission intensity in the current study sites, it is not clear if fever and/or a combination of other symptoms are accurate predictors of malaria diagnosis. Relationship between malaria and anaemia is...
ABSTRACT Emergency obstetric care (EmOC) is a package of medical interventions required to manage the major direct obstetric complications. Provision of EmOC services averts direct maternal mortalities from these complications. Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) still remains high worldwide. Global MMR is estimated to be 251 per 100,000 live births; Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest MMR in the world at 900 per 100,000 live births. Whereas Kenya and Homa Bay County has MMR of 362 and 583 per 100,...
ABSTRACT The diagnosis and control of tuberculosis (TB) has taken various dimensions with interferon Gamma (IFN-γ) Release Assays (IGRA) currently employed for diagnosis of latent TB infection while the conventional method of vaccination is Bacille Calmette Guerrin (BCG). The variable efficacy and safety of BCG has led to a need of new vaccine candidates joining the development pipeline. However, the cellular mechanism of protection of BCG and the new anti-TB vaccines is not exhaustively und...
ABSTRACT The present study explored the anti-inflammatory potential of aqueous leaf extract of Brassica oleraceae in rodents, using standard laboratory models. Brassica oleraceae at doses of 75, 150 and 300 mg/kg were administered orally in carrageenan-induced rat hind paw edema, xylene induced ear edema in mice, and formalin-induced rat hind paw edema (sub-acute 7 days), using indomethacin (10 mg/kg), dexamethasone / mg/kg and acetylsalicylic acid (Aspirin, 100 mg/kg) respectively as standar...
ABSTRACT Pesticides used in agriculture for the control of various pests often leave residues in foodstuffs and these have been shown to pose health hazards, Analysis of pesticide residues in food is one way to determine the level of human exposure to these chemicals and hence their potential human health hazards. Maize (Zea mays L.) and beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) samples purchased from different markets in Lagos State were analyzed for residues of organochlorine, organophosphate and carb...
ABSTRACT Plasmodium falciparum malaria infection remains one of the greatest global public health problems. However, studies have shown that fetal haemoglobin (HbF) protects against malaria in sickle cell disease (SCD) and HbF cooperates with antibodies to provide protection. Associations between HbF and antibodies have been done only on infants and therefore protection could be due to maternal immunity. Children at 5 years old have developed their own immunity and also HbF levels do not sign...