Human Norovirus prevalence in Africa:a review of studies from 1990 to 2013

OBJECTIVES: To assess the contribution of Human Norovirus to diarrheal diseases in Africa.   METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of the PubMed and EMBASE databases for published articles of Human Norovirus in Africa between 1990 and 2013. Data were extracted from selected studies and analysed.   RESULTS: A total of 208 eligible studies were identified, of which 55 (from 19 countries) met the inclusion criteria. Many cases were of sporadic gastroenteritis (70.9%) in children (82%), 65.4% of which were seen in an outpatient setting. Over half (59.4%) of affected children were under 5 years of age. The pooled prevalence rate of Human NoV was 11% (95% CI 8-14%) and the meta-analysis indicated significant heterogeneity between the studies. However, the conditional negative binomial regression could not clearly find the factors affecting the Human NoV prevalence rates reported. A close relationship was found between Human Norovirus strains from environmental and clinical samples.   CONCLUSION: Unreported sporadic gastroenteritis cases of Human Norovirus are common in Africa. Most are community-associated infections. Possible environmental transmission routes have been documented. Combined environmental and clinical studies are required for targeted actions to control transmission of Human Norovirus in Africa. Systematic surveillance of Human Norovirus is needed to measure the burden of Norovirus-induced gastroenteritis in Africa and support any requirements for vaccine development. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

The Influence of Business Environment on the Characteristics of Management Accounting Practices

The importance of management accounting systems (MAS) to organisations resides in their role in providing information for planning, controlling, evaluating performance, developing and improving competitive strategies and making decisions. Despite this multifaceted importance, little is known about management accounting practice in the world, particularly in emerging economies. As an attempt to understand practice, the contingency theory approach which is adopted in this study, starts from the premise that practice does not have to be uniform. Universally relevant MAS that fit all circumstances and organisations simply do not exit. Thus, an organisation’s business environment [external and internal factors] is seen as instrumental to the design of an effective MAS. Consequently, as the compatibility between the MAS and the businesses environment increases, a company's performance should also improve

The Influence of Business Environment on the Effectiveness of Management Accounting Practices: Evidence from Libyan Companies

Although management accounting research based on contingency theory has a relatively long tradition, many recent studies have called for additional work in order to increase the understanding of possible contingency factors that explain the adoption of management accounting practices (MAPs). This, in addition to a general lack of knowledge of MAPs, especially in developing countries, is the motivation for this research study. The main focus of this research is to investigate the state of MAPs within Libyan companies and identify and explain the relationships between these MAPs and contingent factors. To capture these relationships in sufficient depth, a theoretical contingency model which includes 14 variables was developed based on an extensive review of the relevant literature and the examination of various possible forms and levels of fit. This model adopts both congruency and contingency approaches of fit and considers mediated relationships between contingent variables, MAPs and organisational performance. Primary data were collected by means of a survey questionnaire from 123 companies and face-to-face interviews with senior managers in 10 of these companies. The results of this study show that the adoption rates of most MAPs in Libyan companies are lower than those found in other countries as reported in the literature (e.g. USA, UK, Australia and India). MAPs in these Libyan companies also seem to serve a narrow range of purposes. In addition, budgeting practices are more popular and take precedence in the respondent companies. The testing of hypothesised direct and mediated relationships using regression analysis indicates that there is no single variable that has a significant effect on all three types of MAP (i.e. cost, budgets and measurement performance). Nine of the 14 contingent variables are statistically links to the type of MAP; seven of these (i.e. build strategy, differentiation strategy, prospector strategy, formalisation, product diversity, size and ownership type) to budgeting and performance measurement practices, and the other two (i.e. formalisation and ownership type) to cost and budgeting practices. Of significance also is the result that MAPs play a mediating role between many contingent variables and organisational performance. While most interviewees acknowledged the importance of contingent variables in relation to MAPs, they mentioned several reasons for not having MAPs that fully encompass the business environment. The reasons include lack of knowledge about MAPs, shortage of financial resources, the company being newly established, lack of top management support, absence of the culture of using MAPs and fear of change. Finally, this study represents a most comprehensive survey and explanation of MAPs in a developing country, namely Libya, which is an emerging economy. It contributes to enriching our understanding of how MAPs can be adopted more effectively and efficiently from a contingency perspective, through identifying the impact of this relationship on organisation effectiveness in developing countries, and to bridging the gap in MAPs literature. However, this study not only contributes to the inspiration and helps to identify whether there are differences in the relationship between contingent factors and MAPs between industrialised and developing countries, but also gives a more in-depth understanding of these relationships for discerning the individual impacts of the various variables of contingent factors on various MAPs (i.e. cost, budgets and measurement performance)

Apparent extinction of non-G2 rotavirus strains from circulation in Recife, Brazil, after the introduction of rotavirus vaccine

The introduction of a G1P[8] rotavirus vaccine in Recife, Brazil, caused a decrease in rotavirus detection from 27% (March-May, 2006) to 5.0% (March-May, 2007), with all strains becoming G2, against which less protection had been predicted

Characterization of novel intergenogroup and intergenotype recombinant noroviruses from central Greece

Noroviruses (NoVs) are a major causative agent of acute gastroenteritis in humans. They are members of the Caliciviridae family and based on the genetic analysis of the RdRp and capsid regions, human NoVs are divided into three genogroups (Gs), GI, GII, and GIV. The three genogroups further segregate into distinct lineages called genotypes. The NoV genus is genetically diverse and recombination of viral RNA is known to depend upon various immunological and intracellular constraints that may allow the emergence of viable recombinants. In this study, three Noroviral strains detected in clinical samples revealed two hitherto unobserved recombination events between GII.9/GII.4 and GII.9/GI.7 genogroups. To our knowledge, these intergenotype and intergenogroup recombination events of GII.9/GII.4 and GII.9/GI.7, in ORF1 and ORF2 genes respectively are reported for the first time and highlight the ongoing evolution of noroviruses. (c) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved