Asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum infection and poor school performance in primary school children in the Volta Region of Ghana

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate the association between asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum infection and poor intellectual development in primary school children in the Volta Region of Ghana.METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among children from 5 primary schools in 3 districts in the Volta region of Ghana. Questionnaires were administered, and blood samples collected for malaria investigation using Rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and microscopy. School performance was used to assess intellectual development in the children. Arithmetic was the subject of choice for the standardized test. Pearson chi square test was used to evaluate the association between Plasmodium falciparum and poor school performance. Multivariate analysis was used to identify factors independently associated with risk of poor school performance.RESULTS: Out of 550 children, 305(55.45%) tested positive for malaria with RDT and 249(45.27%) positive with microscopy. Children from the Evangelical Presbyterian (EP) primary school in Afegame had the highest prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum infection with both RDT (92, 74.80%) and microscopy (73, 59.35%). Two hundred and fifteen students (39.09%) failed the arithmetic school test. EP primary school in Afegame recorded the highest frequency of poor school performance among the children (53.66%). School performance was significantly associated with RDT malaria diagnosis with failure rate higher among children who were RDT positive (135, 62.79%, p=0.005). Lower mean scores were seen in children with positive RDT result (47.35, [SD 30.85], p=0.021). Plasmodium falciparum infection (RDT) was independently associated with increased risk of poor school performance (AOR, 1.92, p=0.003).CONCLUSION: An urgent scale-up of malaria control program targeting school-going children in this region is needed to mitigate the possible negative impact of Plasmodium falciparum infection on their intellectual development

Prevalence of glaucoma in an eye clinic in Ghana

Background — Glaucoma is an important eye disease that causes blindness with a frequency second only to blindness due to cataracts. Early detection of the condition is critical to preventing irreversible blindness in those affected. Objective — The purpose of this study was therefore to determine the prevalence of glaucoma in an eye clinic in Ghana, West Africa and help raise awareness of the situation on the ground. Methods and Results — The study is a retrospective study of the Out-Patient Department morbidity of glaucoma at the Emmavick Eye Clinic in Sunyani, Ghana spanning a period of 35 months. The study included patients visiting the clinic for the first time. The diagnostics tools used included tonometry, ophthalmoscopy (examination of optic disc) and perimetry. Out of a total of 5828 patients seen over the study period, 460 (7.89%) subjects presented with glaucoma. The prevalence of glaucoma in female Adults was 9.52% whilst that of male adults was 8.77%. The prevalence of glaucoma in children was 1.41%. Conclusion — The result of the present study affirms the fact that glaucoma is more prevalent in the adult population than in the younger population. This situation has a huge toll on the economy of developing countries like Ghana where there is need of much human resource to drive the advance toward high-income status. Mass education and screening is needed to identify affected individuals for early treatment and inform the populace about the insidious nature of glaucoma and its potential to irreversibly impair vision in affected individuals