Brugada-like syndrome presenting with monomorphic ventricular tachycardia and Brugada-type electrocardiogram unmasked by fever in an infant: a case report

Brugada syndrome is an autosomal-dominant arythmogenic genetic disorder associated with mutation in the SCN5A gene. We report a case of 3-month-old Tanzanian male who was admitted at Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania with severe pneumonia, high fever and monomorphic ventricular tachycardia. The patient was treated with intravenous Amiodarone. In addition, oxygen, parenteral antibiotics, antipyretics and intravenous fluids were also given. About 2 hours and 20 minute later the child stabilized. An ECG obtained shortly after termination of ventricular tachycardia showed the typical J-point and coved ST elevation typical of  Brugada type I pattern. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paediatric case with Brugada-type ECG to be reported in Sub-Saharan Africa. This case emphasizes the need to increase awareness among clinicians of clinical and genetic arythmogenic disorders. Multiple ECGs during and after febrile disorders should be performed in children who exhibit extreme tachycardia or signs of cardiac failure

Insect visitation and pollination networks across traditional rangeland management categories in a Northern Tanzanian rangeland

The structure of pollination networks is critical to ecosystem stability and functioning. We investigated pollinator-plant interactions to understand the foraging preference and develop pollination networks in a semi-arid rangeland of different grazing management categories in Tanzania. Along three line transects, each measuring 100 m, in each of the four grazing management categories (private and communal enclosures, wet and dry season grazing areas), we laid out three quadrats measuring 5 m x 5 m (25 m2,) located 30 m apart. We recorded insects visiting flowering plants for two consecutive days in each quadrat every week at each site from April to May, in 2019 and 2020. Aspilia mossambicensis received the most significant proportion of insect visitors (28%), followed by Justicia debile (21%). The mean protein concentration in sampled pollen varied significantly between plant species (χ² = 25.9, P = 0.001), with Solanum incanum containing the highest concentration (299.3 ± 0.68) g/100 g. We did not notice any correlation between honey bee visitation and protein concentration in pollen (r = −0.471, P = 0.239) nor with fatty acids concentration (r = 0.253, P = 0.546). When comparing pollinator-plant network properties including connectance, nestedness, robustness, number of links, modularity, network diversity and linkage density across rangeland management, we found that the private enclosure contained significantly larger networks than the communal enclosure, the dry and the wet season grazing sites. We conclude that particularly private enclosures are vital to promote pollination networks in our studied rangeland system as they include important pollinator forage plants