Urinary Schistosomiasis in Gedarif: An endemic New Focus in Eastern Sudan

Background: Schistosomiasis is endemic in many parts of Sudan. Despite the ongoing control activities, new foci are continuously discovered and documented.Objectives: To document the prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis in Gedarif, Eastern Sudan, and to elaborate on risk factors for infection.Materials and Methods: A community-based survey was conducted; all age groups attending a religious school (khalwa) in Elwadi District – Gedarif were included. Demographic and risk behavior data were obtained through a questionnaire. Fresh urine samples were obtained and examined microscopically in the field.Results: Out of 480 volunteers participated, 260 (54.1%) were females. The mean age was 18.4(+17.1) years. The prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis was 9.4% among the study group. All of those affected were children and young adults (mean 11.82+2.98) years; 10 (22.2%) were in the age group 1 -10 years, and 35 (77.8%) were 11-20 years. The disease is more common among males 33 (73.3%). Most participants 312(65.3%) have no prior knowledge about the cause of the disease, nor the modes of its transmission 411 (85.6%).Conclusion: Urinary schistosomiasis is endemic in Gedarif with the burden among children and young adults. Health education and sanitary management is needed for control.Keywords: Schistosomiasis, Gedarif, Suda

Evaluation of the Academic Performance of Private Admission Medical Students to the Public and Regional Admission Students at A Sudanese Medical School

Background: Performance in Sudan School Certificate Examination (SSCE) has been the sole selection criterion for medical students in Sudan, and only high-achievers were selected for medical schools through public admission. In 1990s selection criteria have been loosened and more students with lower marks were also admitted to medical schools through private admission.Objective: To compare the academic performance of private admission medical students to their public admission classmates at Nile Valley University.Materials and Methods: The records of seven batches of students admitted during the years 2000 through 2006 at Nile Valley University, Atbara, Sudan were included in this study. The academic performance of 345 Sudanese medical graduates were reviewed and compared based on the type ofadmission.Results: Female to male ratio was 4:1. There were statistically significant differences in the academic performance between private and public admission students. While only 78.4% of private admission students progressed without delay, 90% of the public admission students did so. The pass rate in all phases of medical study as well as the Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) was lower among private admission students. This difference is proportionate to the difference in grades obtained at SSCE and number of re-sits.Conclusion: The academic performance of medical students in Sudan is related to the previous academic performance in SSCE. Early academic counseling may improve performance.Keywords: Selection criteria, academic performance, Nile Valley University, Sudan

Facial Expression Recognition Using Uniform Local Binary Pattern with Improved Firefly Feature Selection

Facial expressions are essential communication tools in our daily life. In this paper, the uniform local binary pattern is employed to extract features from the face. However, this feature representation is very high in dimensionality. The high dimensionality would not only affect the recognition accuracy but also can impose computational constraints. Hence, to reduce the dimensionality of the feature vector, the firefly algorithm is used to select the optimal subset that leads to better classification accuracy. However, the standard firefly algorithm suffers from the risk of being trapped in local optima after a certain number of generations. Hence, this limitation has been addressed by proposing an improved version of the firefly where the great deluge algorithm (GDA) has been integrated. The great deluge is a local search algorithm that helps to enhance the exploitation ability of the firefly algorithm, thus preventing being trapped in local optima. The improved firefly algorithm has been employed in a facial expression system. Experimental results using the Japanese female facial expression database show that the proposed approach yielded good classification accuracy compared to state-of-the-art methods. The best classification accuracy obtained by the proposed method is 96.7% with 1230 selected features, whereas, Gabor-SRC method achieved 97.6% with 2560 features

COMMON CAUSES OF CHILD MORTALITY IN ATBARA TEACHING HOSPITAL, SUDAN

Background :  Providing data about the common causes of child death is essential to the development of national and local health policies for prevention and control of disease. Objective :  To determine the common causes of child mortality in Atbara Teaching Hospital, Sudan. Methods : In this retrospective study the records of children 0-15 years of age who died at Atbara Teaching Hospital within a 5 year period (Jan 2005 – Dec 2009) were reviewed for demographic data as well as the cause of death. Results : From a total of 14765 admissions to the pediatric ward in the five year period the total death was 344 (2.3%). Males were 215 (62.5%) and females 129 (37.5%). The under five were the majority ( 92.2%). Neonates constituted 25.8% of the total, older infants 42.9% and more than one year to five years 23.5%. The commonest causes of death were respiratory tract infections (18.2%) followed by malnutrition (16.6%), blood infections (15.4%), gastroenteritis and dehydration (15.4%), malaria (5.9%), scorpion sting (5.9%), heart failure (4.3%), meningitis (3.4%) and anemia (2.5%). At the bottom of the list were: tuberculosis (0.6%) and tetanus (0.3%). Conclusion : Causes of child mortality in Atbara are similar to those reported from other developing countries. Children under-five years of age are at the greatest risk of death from preventable and treatable diseases

A Preliminary Survey of Un-diagnosed Hypertension among Nubians and Coptics in Atbara and Eldamer Cities, Sudan: Does Ethnicity Affect Prevalence?

Introduction: Hypertension is a non-communicable disease of increasing importance in developing countries. Due to its silent nature and serious complications, active screening is essential in case detection. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension and to find out whether there are ethnic variations in prevalence between two Sudanese ethnicities.Methods: This is a cross-sectional community-based study in which 100 subjects from Nuba tribe and 70 Coptics not previously known to have hypertension volunteered to participate. Blood pressure was measured and a questionnaire delineating demographic, clinical and social data was obtained from each participant.Results: Female to male ratio was 2:1. The mean age was 39.5±8 years for Nubians and 40.5±5.5 years for Coptics. High blood pressure was detected in 48% of Nubians and 24.3% of Coptics (p<0.001). The prevalence of stage II hypertension was higher in Nubians compared to Coptics (25% vs. 3.8%; p<0.001). Besides the ethnic variation, other significant differences between the two groups were illiteracy and alcohol consumption, both of which were significantly commoner among Nubians.Conclusion: Undiagnosed high blood pressure is common in our local community, with some variations in prevalence and severity among different ethnic groups.Key words: Coptics; Nubians; River Nile State; Sudan; Undiagnosed hypertensio

The Outcome of 428 Cases of Scorpion Sting Syndrome in Atbara Locality, North Sudan

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and outcome of scorpion sting in Atbara and to give a brief  pathophysiology, clinical aspects, and management options. Methods : This is a retrospective study conducted at Atbara Teaching Hospital, Sudan, to look into the records of 428 scorpion envenomation  cases  in five years period from (2005-2009).  Results: Males constituted 51.2%, children below 15 were 37.2%, the overall death rate was 4.7% (n=20) and all of them were children. Most cases (88.4%) presented during the hot season. Conclusion: Scorpion sting is a life-threatening condition in children in Atbara, a better understanding of the condition and a proper management protocol may save lives

Sero-prevalence of HIV, HBV, HCV in Blood Specimens Received at a Clinical Laboratory in Atbara, Sudan

Background: Clinical laboratory personnel, like all healthcare workers, have a high risk of occupational exposure to blood-borne infections from clinical specimens, more so in developing countries, where unsafe practices are common. The most common and important ones are HIV ,HBV, and HCV infections. Objectives: To determine the sero-prevalence of HIV, HBV and HCV infections in blood samples at a clinical laboratory, and to address the preventive measures. Methods: Blood samples of 385 subjects attended for investigations of noninfectious illnesses were tested for the  seroprevalence of HIV, HBV, and HCV by screening tests and confirmed by ELISA.  Results: Males constituted 63.9%, HIV was confirmed in 0.5%, HBV in 7.8% and HCV in none of the study population. Conclusion: The risk of blood borne viral disease in blood specimens is remarkable even in non-suspected specimens and protective measures against occupational exposure must be taken in order to prevent infection among laboratory  workers

COVID-19 in Sudan: Will the mitigation Efforts win against the Virus?

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has hit hard both the affluent and poor countries. The objective of this article is to highlight the efforts of the Ministry of Health in Sudan in mitigating the pandemic and reflecting on counteracting factors. Methods: We traced the reports and plans of the Federal Ministry of Health and looked at the models projecting the pandemic in Sudan. Results: The fundamental plan of the government of Sudan to cope up with the pandemic included the control of the source of infection, blocking transmission, and preventing the spread. The response mechanism had a multi-sector approach with involvement of government, civil society organizations, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The action plans involved protocols for COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment, surveillance, epidemiological investigation, and management of case contacts. However, several factors continued to jeopardize the mitigation efforts of these plans. At the time of writing this article (at the end of the May 2020), there were about 4,000 confirmed cases, 300 recoveries, and 170 deaths. Although these numbers are below the projected numbers in many proposed models, in the light of the limited testing capacity, case identification and contact tracing, the exact situation might not be ascertained. Conclusion: Sudan has prepared a national plan to prevent and contain COVID19 pandemic. However, tremendous challenges are opposing these efforts. The poor health infrastructure, fragility of the health system, and the economic crisis are the major obstructions

Perceptions and Expectations of Medical Students towards the Quality of Educational Services offered at A Sudanese University: How Far is the Gap?

Background: Students are the primary customers of high education service, and are becoming more aware of their consumer rights and of gaps between their expectations of service delivery and the reality of services.Objective: of this study was to investigate medical students’ perceptions and expectations of educational services quality at X University in Sudan.Methods: One hundred ninety six registered medical students in the academic year 2013- 2014, were enrolled; sample was collected through convenience sample technique. The study was conducted by the use of Modified SERVQUAL questionnaire. SPSS version 20 was used for data analysis.Results: There was a negative mean score for quality gap in all dimensions of service quality. Students perceived tangibles as quality indicators of the service quality at university, and expect universities to have modern-looking equipment, so that staff can provide efficient service to them. There was a strong student concern about teaching staff promises regarding timetables and exam schedules to be fulfilled on time, which indicated the area of most concern amongst the respondents (gap score – 1.94). A clear communication problem regarding service delivery was inferred, as students perception towards solving their problems was very low (gap score -1.91).Conclusion: students’ perceptions of services delivered by X University falls below their expectations; that indicates student’s dissatisfaction. This large gap constitutes a great challenge to the administrators and educational policy makers, who are recommended to consider students feedback as a quality indicator in the quality assurance process.Keywords: medical student, quality education, Sudan

Diagnosis of Viral Diseases in Sudan: Coronaviruses Unveil the Concealed Venues

Establishing the diagnosis of viral diseases often needs sophisticated settings, equipment, expertise, and strict laboratory methods.  In Sudan, as in most developing countries, viral diseases are mostly diagnosed by clinical presentation. As most viral infections are self-limiting and there is no specific treatment for most of them, laboratory diagnosis has not been a focus for improvement, particularly in public sector until the current pandemic of COVID-19. During this pandemic, the vital need for well-equipped clinical virology laboratories is urged. The aim of this work is to highlight the various diagnostic methods and to describe the current situation of clinical virology diagnostics in Sudan