Neutropenia as an adverse event following vaccination : results from randomized clinical trials in healthy adults and systematic review

Background : In the context of early vaccine trials aimed at evaluating the safety profile of novel vaccines, abnormal haematological values, such as neutropenia, are often reported. It is therefore important to evaluate how these trials should be planned not to miss potentially important safety signals, but also to understand the implications and the clinical relevance. Methodology : We report and discuss the results from five clinical trials (two with a new Shigella vaccine in the early stage of clinical development and three with licensed vaccines) where the absolute neutrophil counts (ANC) were evaluated before and after vaccination. Additionally, we have performed a systematic review of the literature on cases of neutropenia reported during vaccine trials to discuss our results in a more general context. Principal Findings : Both in our clinical trials and in the literature review, several cases of neutropenia have been reported, in the first two weeks after vaccination. However, neutropenia was generally transient and had a benign clinical outcome, after vaccination with either multiple novel candidates or well-known licensed vaccines. Additionally, the vaccine recipients with neutropenia frequently had lower baseline ANC than non-neutropenic vaccinees. In many instances neutropenia occurred in subjects of African descent, known to have lower ANC compared to western populations. Conclusions : It is important to include ANC and other haematological tests in early vaccine trials to identify potential safety signals. Post-vaccination neutropenia is not uncommon, generally transient and clinically benign, but many vaccine trials do not have a sampling schedule that allows its detection. Given ethnic variability in the level of circulating neutrophils, normal ranges taking into account ethnicity should be used for determination of trial inclusion/exclusion criteria and classification of neutropenia related adverse events

How accountants of Kenyan listed companies perceive and construe the intention to disclose social responsibility information

This study aimed to examine the Corporate Social Disclosure (CSD) practices of listed companies in Kenya, and the perception, constructs and intentions of accountants to disclose social responsibility information. This study was exploratory in nature. Current CSD practices of listed companies in Kenya were expected to be brought out through the use of disclosure indices and determine how accountants perceive and construe CSD, through the use of repertory grid technique. In order to calculate the disclosure index, data were obtained from the annual reports of the respective companies. The indices were then regressed against different company characteristics and corporate governance variables that affect CSD to determine which variables influence disclosures and which do not. In the case of repertory grid, interviews were conducted with accountants from both low disclosure and high disclosure companies. The repertory grid data were analysed in two stages: individual cases analysis and cross-cases analysis. The individual case were analysed using the principal component analysis. For the cross-cases analysis, content analysis was used to categorize constructs based on their expressed meaning. The findings indicate that CSD has increased over the years for all the companies that were studied. The themes disclosed varied according to size, profitability, liquidity, ownership of the company and the industry in which the company operates. It was also found that the reputation of the company is the main motivation for high disclosure companies to disclose social responsibility information. Low disclosure companies are mainly motivated by institutional factors. It is recommended that regulation and standardisation of CSD can make it more useful for decision-making by various stakeholders

Stock Market Reaction to Mergers and Acquisitions Announcements in Emerging Markets. Evidence from Mergers and Acquisitions Firms Listed in Eastern Africa Securities Markets

Stock market reaction to mergers and acquisitions announcements is a topical issue in corporate finance. Consequently, the topic has received attention in equal measure; however, the bulk of these studies are skewed towards the developed financial markets. The foregoing evidence raises a fundamental question; is the empirical evidence exhibited in developed financial markets applicable in the emerging markets? Using data from listed firms in Eastern Africa securities market involved in mergers and acquisitions for the period 1996- 2015, we computed cumulative abnormal returns for different holding period. Parametric t test was used to test the significance of the abnormal returns. Our findings revealed that acquirer firm shareholders earned a significant positive cumulative abnormal return during the entire event window that is [-20, +20].  On the other hand, cumulative average abnormal return findings revealed that acquiring firms earned positive return immediately after the acquisition announcement. However, the positive performance was short lived, four days after M&A announcement returns declined sharply. Keywords: Mergers and acquisition, cumulative abnormal return and Cumulative average abnormal return

The Impact of Core Capital and membership growth on financial performance of Deposit Taking SACCOS.

Savings and Credit cooperatives commonly known as   Saccos’ are financial organizations formed by members with the same common bond to mobilize savings and later grant loans to the willing members. Prior to 2008 regulatory reforms which became operational in 2011, there was no conscious effort to regulate the subsector prudently because the organizations were not thought to pose any significant risk to the country’s financial system. However, the organizations expanded financially and started Front office services activity (FOSA - banking like services) in attempt to increase efficiency in services delivery to the members. In 2008, the government and the Sacco stakeholders formulated and legislated Sacco Societies Act 2008 and subsidiary deposit taking Sacco regulations of 2010. The null hypotheses sought to examine if Core Capital requirements and members retention had any significant impact on the deposit taking   Saccos’ financial incomes. The relevant literature was reviewed to ascertain the knowledge gap left by earlier scholars. The methodology of data collection was mining secondary data from Sasra data base and administration of questionnaires to various CEOs and chief finance manager who were knowledgeable on the subject. The data was the analysed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) which either led to acceptance or rejection of null hypothesis. The study used census Survey design and a linear regression model to establish the influence of core capital and membership retention Sacco’s financial Position. It compared the Betas of various independent and dependent variables before the regulatory reforms and after. The study conclusions on the basis of findings revealed that core capital and membership growth have positive impact on Sacco’s financial performance

The Role of Schistosoma Mansoni Eggs in Protection against Plasmodium Berghei Infected Mice

The co-occurrence of malaria and schistosomiasis is common in tropical regions of the world. Malaria remains a global burden with no vaccine discovered yet. These necessitated the need to look at the immune responses that could be triggered in a coinfection setting. Malaria induces a strong Th1 response while schistosomiasis skews the response to a Th2. This study examined the role of Schistosoma mansoni eggs on malaria disease progression in BALB/c mice infected with Plasmodium berghei. The objectives were to determine the immune correlates to protection. Two groups of mice were used: the experimental and control groups. Experimental were injected with a triple dose of S. mansoni eggs at ten day interval before being challenged with P. berghei while controls were infected with P. berghei only. Five mice from both groups at each time point were euthanized and spleen and serum collected. Mice were euthanized at day 3, 6, 9 and 12 post-challenge with P. berghei. Parasitaemia was monitored daily using Giemsa stained blood smears. Results showed that experimental mice exhibited lower levels of P. berghei parasitaemia (15.52%) as compared to the controls (23.06%). IgG levels were high in the experimental mice compared to controls following stimulation by soluble egg antigen (SEA). Differences in IgG levels between the two study groups were not significant (p>0.05). Levels of IFN- ? and IL-4 were high in the experimental mice than the control group though the difference was not significant (p=0.213). S. mansoni eggs did not induce significant differences in cytokine and IgG levels; nevertheless they contributed to delaying death in the experimental mice by two days by enhancing levels of IgG and IL-4. These findings provide grounds for further studies in non-human primates to better understand the immunomodulatory role of schistosome eggs on malaria progression. Keywords: Schistosoma mansoni, Plasmodium berghe, iSoluble egg Antige

The Impact of Credit Management and Liquidity on financial performance of Deposit Taking SACCOS.

Savings and credit cooperative Societies (SACCOS) have granted loans over the years without concentrating on the quality of loans in their portfolios and hence maintained key assets in their books that would not be accounted for. Similarly they have provided cash to clients without any purposive determination of cash levels. The study therefore sought to ascertain if liquidity and credit management played important roles in determination of revenues of deposit taking SACCOS in Kenya. To ascertain factually if the two variables had any role, the study chose to examine the coefficients of Beta before statutory management which was implemented in 2010 and the coefficients of Betas after 2010. The vigorous processes of research exercise were undertaken with findings, conclusions and recommendations being made on the basis of analytical manipulation of data.The study findings were that liquidity and credit management had great impact on SACCOS financial performance especially if managed prudently and strengthened by the legal framework as a moderating variable. The study recommends that SACCOS should continuously formulate proper loan products and maintain adequate cash balances for profitability and financial stability of the sacco. They should also develop key policies on staff recruitment and retention, liquidity and loan provisioning to enable SACCOS increase financial performance. This study will empower SACCOS with Knowledge on prudential credit and liquidity management that will guarantee sustainability and profitability while using own resources.

An Evaluation of the Perceived Effect of ICT’s on the Performance of Sacco’s in Kenya (Case of Licensed Sacco’s, Nairobi County)

Many scholars have argued that ICT is a major contributor to performance of organizations. The theorist of modernization argued that developing countries lag behind in terms of development due to their failure to adopt modernity that led to development in the developed countries. ICT is a basic infrastructure that can transform the performance of business sectors. Therefore there is need to exploit ICT to strategically position the organizations to benefit from an increasingly information driven global economy. The competitiveness of firms in the context of the current economic challenges requires effective management activities and a strategic importance directed towards a better administration of knowledge and the impact of Information Technology and Communication on organizational structures.The study therefore sought to evaluate the perceived effect of ICT on performance of Sacco’s in Kenya through a census survey of 34 licensed Sacco’s in Nairobi County. The study specifically evaluated the prospects of ICT in Sacco’s in meeting their stated objectives, the level of awareness in Kenya, the levels of innovations, existing infrastructure, integration of the cooperative processes and the perception amongst the stakeholders. The study focused on the perceived ICT factors towards performance such as innovations, infrastructure, awareness and policies. A comparative case study selected from different social economic settings and a Survey Research design were used. Data was collected using questionnaires to provide an insight into the phenomena. Keywords : Sacco’s , Innovations , Information and Communication Technology , Infrastructur

Influence of Liquidity on Financial Performance of Insurance Companies in Kenya

Liquidity is the capacity of a company to satisfy its current financial obligations after they fall due.  A firm may incur extra costs if it fails to honor its short term financial obligations. The aim of the study was to determine the influence of liquidity on the financial performance of insurance companies in Kenya. The research applied a correlational research design. A correlational study design is administrated to debate the connection between variables. The target population for this study was the fifty-three insurance companies in Kenya that were operational in 2018. The investigation found that liquidity had an enormous positive effect on financial performance  (Return on assets and return on equity). The study concludes that the greatest threat to liquidity  may occur in an insurance firm during a catastrophe when a large number of claims are received  directly or there could even be prospects of a significantly large claim which insurance companies  should have optimal liquidity for such situations. The review recommends that Insurance firms should monitor liquidity in their firms and adopt corrective actions in instances of high liquidity risk.&nbsp

The reporting of adverse drug reactions by healthcare providers in Kenya

Background: Spontaneous and consistent reporting is the cornerstone of adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting. Under reporting is an enormous obstacle to effective pharmacovigilance (PV).Objective: To determine factors affecting ADR reporting by healthcare providers in selected hospitals in Kirinyaga County, Kenya.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in four selected hospitals. A pretested self-administered questionnaire was utilised to collect data. Stratified sampling was used to recruit 224 healthcare providers. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 analysed data. The Chi-squared test was used to determine association. Binary logistic regression assessed strength of association. Outcomes were considered significant at p-values of <0.05.Results: Of 224 questionnaires distributed 215 were completed, 159 (74%) healthcare providers had not reported ADRs to the Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) within the last 3 months. In total, 92 (42.8%) healthcare providers knew about reporting guidelines; 194 (90.2%) were not trained in ADR reporting. Those aware of the reporting guidelines and those trained were more likely to report ADRs. Continuing medical education was the preferred source of information about ADRs. The main barriers to ADR reporting include inadequate training, delayed feedback, not knowing where or to whom to report, lack of a PV centre in the county and inadequate  access to ADR forms and guidelines.Conclusion: ADR reporting among healthcare providers could be improved. Age, profession, level of education, knowledge and  training affected ADR reporting. Healthcare provider centred training and promotion of ADR reporting tools are necessary to boost ADR reporting and increase patient safety. Keywords: adverse drug reaction; spontaneous reporting; healthcare provider; pharmacovigilance, Kenya

Effect of Attitude Towards Risk on Individual Portfolio Choice at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Kenya

Attitude towards riskplays a major role of determining a portfolio choice of an investment portfolio composed of a single or multiple assets that an investor chooses within a certain period of time. Although there exist numerous controversial arguments of the factors that determine the level of individual portfolio choice, focus on multidimensional perceptions of investors characteristics have been given little attention. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of investor’s attitude towards risk on individual portfolio choice at the Nairobi securities exchange and  to investigate the moderating effect of investor’s age on the correlation between attitude towards riskand individual portfolio choice on common stocks at the Nairobi securities exchange. The study is anchored on risk aversion theory. A correlational research design was used for collecting data for the variables under study over a period of five years from January, 2013 to December, 2017. The population consisted of individual investors estimated at 2.4 million as at 31st December 2017 based on Central Depository and Settlement Corporation Limited (CDSC). A target population of 997,605 active retail investors who also form the accessible population at Nairobi securities exchange(NSE) were used to draw a sample size of 385 active individual retail investors. Both stratified and convenience sampling was used to select the required number of respondents. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data whereby drop and pick approach was used by the researcher and research assistants. Pilot testing of the instruments was performed to assess its reliability. Further, multiple regression techniques were used to analyze the data obtained that was presented using frequency tables, means, standard deviations and correlation tables. The study findings revealed that attitude towards risk, have a positive and significant effect on the common stocks. As such a unit increase in a predictor variable leads to an increase in investment in common stocks. Further, the results of the study indicated that age moderate the relationship between attitude towards risk and the individual portfolio choice in respect to common stocks. The study will benefit management of investment banks and brokerage firms in policy formulation to assist individual investors in their portfolio choices and also to the academicians to advance the conceptual arguments of the moderating effect of age on the relationship between attitude towards risk and individual portfolio choice. Keywords: Attitude towards risk, Individual portfolio choice, Risk aversion,Investor’s age. DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/13-20-01 Publication date:October 31st 202