A three-year prospective study of 137 cases of acute leukaemia in Zimbabwe

A clinical study on the prevalence of leukemia in patients observed in Zimbabwean major hospitals.In the period December 1985 to November 1988 inclusive, 137 cases of acute leukaemia were diagnosed in patients of all age groups: 129 cases came under our direct care, and a further eight cases were diagnosed on blood and marrow films sent from elsewhere (four from Mpilo Hospital (Bulawayo) and four from other hospitals)

Dropout rate during prolonged physical stress training in the military may be determined by haematological changes

A public health research paper on sustained physical training in the military leading to high drop-out rates amongst new recruits in the Zimbabwe National Army.Sustained physical training has profound effects on haematological adaptive changes and these may influence physical performance, the dropout rates and casualties in a military setting. Prompted by reports of increases in the number of dropouts during military training, the impact of haematological changes on dropout rates and physical performance was studied in 60 male Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) recruits during 60 days of military training at the Nyanga training camp. The training programme included, among other things, bush exercises in the rugged terrain of the Nyangani range of mountains. Blood for full blood count (FBC) were collected by venepuncture in a forearm vein in a seated position two weeks pre-training (day zero). Subsequent samples were collected at seven, 30 and 60 days. FBC analyses was carried out by Sysmex K800 (Kobe, Japan) and urine samples were analyzed for urobilinogen. The results showed significant decreases in the red blood cells (RBC) and haemoglobin (Hb) (P<0.05) and (P<0.04) on day seven and day 30 respectively when compared to day zero. The persistent increase in haematocrit throughout the 60 days suggested haemoconcentration and a fall in plasma volume (PV). When compared to pre-training, granulocytes were significantly higher on day 60 than on day 30 (P<0.004). Lymphocytes and eosinophils were lower on day seven (P<0.001) when compared to day zero and (P<0.04) and (P<0.013) when compared to day 30 and 60 respectively, suggesting that the subjects had a decreased protection against infection. However, lymphocytes were higher on day 60 than on day seven (P<0.01). This observed recovery in lymphocytes on day 60 when compared to day seven and 30, suggested that acclimatization and adaptation had occurred. Of the 60 subjects, 18 percent were hospitalized [four with pulmonary TB and a hypochromasia blood picture while three had bronchopneumonia and a raised neutrophil count]. The number of dropouts was 16 (27 percent) of the 60 subjects under study. Laboratory observations showed proteinuria, a shift to the left in the myeloid series, nucleated red blood cells, platelet clumps, macrocytosis and red cell fragments. These were associated with casualties, dropouts and poor physical performance. These results suggested that severe haematological changes might be associated with poor performance, high rates of casualties and dropouts. Therefore, monitoring the trends of haematological changes at regular intervals during stress training can minimize casualties and the rates of dropouts

Serum iron and ferritin levels in pregnant Zimbabwean women

Background: In the human body, iron forms part of haemoglobin, myoglobin and enzymes such as cytochromes, catalase, succinic dehydrogenase and peroxidase. Diet is the major source of iron. Iron deficiency anaemia is a common outcome of nutritional iron deficiencies of pregnancy resulting in low birth weight babies and high morbidity and mortality rates. Serum ferritin has been reported to be the most useful and accurate measure of body iron stores particularly in the pregnancy state when the iron deficiency state may not be severe enough to produce microcytosis. There is limited data in Zimbabwe about iron status in pregnancy based on both iron and ferritin measurements.Objective: To determine the iron status by gestational age of Zimbabwean women.Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out by determining serum iron and ferritin concentrations on 96 pregnant women attending the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals Antenatal Clinic during the month of February 2016 after receiving ethical approval.Results: The median serum iron and ferritin concentrations were 18.0 μmol/l and 34.3 ng/ml respectively. Serum iron and ferritin decreased with increasing gestation from 21.5 to13.9 μmol/l and from 47.3 to 20.4 ng/ml respectively from the first to the third trimester. There was a strong relationship between low iron and ferritin concentration and having more than 3 children (p&lt;0.05). Twenty-six percent and 15.7% of pregnant women had decreased serum iron and ferritin respectively.Conclusion: Low serum iron and ferritin at second and third gestation were indicative of potential iron deficiency. Zimbabwean pregnant women are at high risk of developing iron deficiency anaemia

Some non-genetic factors affecting commercial pig production in Zimbabwe

No Abstract

Does Rhesus C antigen provide a protective function against HIV infection?

Background and Objectives: Red blood cell antigens have been reported to be involved in the epidemiology of various diseases. Other studies have suggested that the Rhesus C antigen has a protective effect against HIV infection. However, there is limited information to support these findings. Therefore, this study sought to investigate whether there was an association between Rhesus C antigen and HIV infection.Materials and Method: A clinical and laboratory based analytical cross-sectional study was carried out on 165 HIV positive samples from the Centre of Excellency at the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals and 165 HIV negative samples from National Blood Service Zimbabwe. Rhesus blood grouping for the 5 principal Rhesus antigens (D, C, E, c and e) was done using reagents supplied by Lorne Laboratories.Results: A total of 330 HIV positive and negative samples were used for the study. One hundred and sixty-five (50%) of them were from HIV negative regular blood donors at the National Blood Service Zimbabwe and the other 165 (50%) were from HIV positive patients enrolled at the Centre of Excellency Clinic of the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals. Ninety-four (57%) and 71(43%) of the patients were males and females respectively. Forty-four (27%) and 46 (28%) of the HIV positive patients were in the 31-40- and 41-50-year age ranges respectively. Only 2 (1%) of the patients were over the age of 70 years. The study showed no association between Rhesus C antigen and HIV infection (p&gt;0.05). E and C antigens were the least frequent Rhesus phenotypes in both HIV negative and HIV positive samples. The total number of probable genotypes containing the C gene was also very low at 57(17%). There were 33 (20%) of HIV negative donor samples with Rhesus C antigen, compared to 21 (13%) of HIV positive patient samples.Conclusions: The study was unable to establish the link between the Rhesus C antigens with protection against HIV infection. Since Rhesus C antigen is of low frequency in the Black population, very few patients with this antigen were identified with HIV infection. &nbsp; French title: L'antigène Rhésus C assure-t-il une fonction protectrice contre l'infection par le VIH ? Contexte et objectifs : Il a été rapporté que les antigènes des globules rouges sont impliqués dans l'épidémiologie de diverses maladies. D'autres études ont suggéré que l'antigène Rhésus C a un effet protecteur contre l'infection par le VIH. Cependant, il existe peu d'informations pour étayer ces conclusions. Par conséquent, cette étude a cherché à déterminer s'il y avait une association entre l'antigène Rhésus C et l'infection par le VIH.Matériels et méthode : Une étude transversale analytique clinique et en laboratoire a été réalisée sur 165 échantillons positifs pour le VIH du Centre of Excellency at the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals et 165 échantillons négatifs pour le VIH du National Blood Service Zimbabwe. Le groupage sanguin Rhésus pour les 5 principaux antigènes Rhésus (D, C, E, c et e) a été effectué à l'aide de réactifs fournis par Lorne Laboratories.Résultats : Un total de 330 échantillons positifs et négatifs pour le VIH ont été utilisés pour l'étude. Cent soixante-cinq (50 %) d'entre eux provenaient de donneurs de sang réguliers séronégatifs du National Blood Service du Zimbabwe et les 165 autres (50 %) provenaient de patients séropositifs inscrits à la Centre of Excellency at the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals. Quatre-vingt quatorze (57%) et 71 (43%) des patients étaient respectivement des hommes et des femmes. Quarante-quatre (27 %) et 46 (28 %) des patients séropositifs avaient respective-ment 31-40 ans et 41-50 ans. Seuls 2 (1%) des patients avaient plus de 70 ans. L'étude n'a montré aucune association entre l'antigène Rhésus C et l'infection par le VIH (p&gt;0,05). Les antigènes E et C étaient les phénotypes rhésus les moins fréquents dans les échantillons VIH négatifs et VIH positifs. Le nombre total de génotypes probables contenant le gène C était également très faible à 57 (17 %). Il y avait 33 (20 %) échantil-lons de donneurs VIH négatifs avec l'antigène Rhésus C, contre 21 (13 %) échantillons de patients VIH positifs.Conclusions : L'étude n'a pas pu établir de lien entre les antigènes Rhésus C et la protection contre l'infection par le VIH. L'antigène Rhésus C étant peu fréquent dans la population noire, très peu de patients porteurs de cet antigène ont été identifiés comme infectés par le VIH. &nbsp

Haematological features in children on anti-epileptic drugs at a referral hospital in Zimbabwe: a cross sectional study

Introduction: Epilepsy is a neurological disorder in which brain activity is disrupted leading to seizures or periods of unusual behavior. It can affect any person regardless of age, gender or race, and it is most common in children and the elderly. The number of people with epilepsy varies by region and it affects about fifty million people worldwide with eighty percent of them in developing countries. The quality of life for epileptic children has been greatly improved by use of anti-epileptic drugs. However, use of these drugs is often associated with adverse drug reactions, some of which can be life threatening haematological abnormalities.Objectives: The objective of this was study is to determine haematological feature in children on antiepileptic drug treatment who were attending a major referral hospital in Zimbabwe.Materials and Methods: Aclinical and laboratory based cross sectional study was carried out from the end of December 2018 to end of March 2019 to determine haematological features in children between 1 and 16 years of age, on commonly used antiepileptic drugs. Approval to do the study was granted by the Joint Research Ethical Committee of the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals and the University of Zimbabwe, College of Health Sciences (JREC/284/18).Results: A total of 101 full blood counts of children with epilepsy on treatment were performed during the study period, of whom 54 (53%) were males and 47 (47%) females. Eighty (79%) and 21 (21%) were in the age groups of 1-7 and 8-15years, respectively. The median haematology results were within normal reference ranges for paediatric population, except for lymphocytes and eosinophils. The relative (%) 3 3 lymphocyte count was high, at 48%, while the absolute (10 /ul) lymphocyte count was low at 3.1 x 10 /ul. The 3 relative (%) eosinophil count was normal at 2.4%, while the absolute (10 /uL) eosinophil count was low at 3 0.14 x 10 /uL. Leukopaenia was the most common haematological disorder. All the antiepileptic drugs were associated with two or more haematological disorders, except levetiracetum which was not associated with any abnormal haematology.Conclusions: The median haematologyresults of children on antiepileptic drugs appeared to be normal. The commonly used antiepileptic drugs were associated with two or more haematological disorders, except levetiracetum which had normal haematology. Haematology laboratory results may beuseful in monitoring antiepileptic treatment

Incidence of Haemolytic Disease of the Newborn in Harare, Zimbabwe

Background: Haemolytic Disease of Newborn is responsible for a number of neonatal deaths and complications worldwide. Its incidence in Zimbabwe is not clearly understood. Objective: To find out incidence of Haemolytic Disease of Newborn in Harare and ability to identify antibodies associated with HDN. Methods: A retrospective cross sectional study at the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals and National Blood Service, Zimbabwe (NBSZ). We studied 22493 infants at Parirenyatwa Hospital during the 1995-1997 and 2002-2003 periods. The main outcome measures were ABO and Rh blood group results, Direct Antiglobulin Test and Maternal Antibody Screening and Identification Results were obtained from the NBSZ. Results: One hundred and ninety-one (0,85%) infants had Haemolytic Disease of Newborn. One hundred and sixty-three (85.34 %) of these were due to anti-AB, twenty five (13.09%) were due to anti-D and three (1.57%) due to anti-Kell. Incidence of Haemolytic Disease of Newborn during 1995-1997 and 2002-2003, were 0.93% and 0.64 %, respectively (p = 0.014). ABO Haemolytic Disease of Newborn showed a statistically significant difference during the two periods (p=0.003). Rhesus Haemolytic Disease of Newborn showed no statistically significant difference during same periods (p=0.317). Conclusion: The incidence of Haemolytic Disease of Newborn at Parirenyatwa Hospital is comparable with that found in other countries. It is recommended that K antigen be included in the pretransfusion testing to avoid anti-K related Haemolytic Disease of Newborn.Articl

Use of packed red cells in a major hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe

No Abstract. Central African Journal of Medicine Vol. 45 (3) 1999: pp. 54-5

Environmental and anthropogenic drivers of African leopard Panthera pardus population density

Globally three quarters of large terrestrial mammalian predators are in decline and many populations are data deficient, including those of African leopards across much of their range. Here we assess the drivers of decline African leopard populations in 16 camera trap surveys covering a total area of 15 120 km2, across a gradient of anthropogenic impact, management and geography, in protected areas across the Zimbabwean component of the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area. Population density was calculated using spatially explicit mark-recapture estimators and Generalised Additive Models (GAM) were used to assess factors affecting population density. Density estimates ranged from 0.7 to 12.2 (mean 2.9 ± 2.7) leopards/100km2. Leopard density was higher in wooded sites and rugged terrain but negatively affected by human factors including human appropriation of net primary productivity (HANPP), trophy hunting risk and bush-meat poaching. High lion densities (>6.0 lions/ 100km2) negatively affected leopard density. Annual rainfall over a gradient of ~ 300mm across survey sites was not influential in predicting population density. Previous assessments of the drivers of declining leopard population density (CITES 1988), asserting that leopard densities can be predicted by annual rainfall and are unaffected by human disturbance in unmodified habitat are not supported by our findings. We recommend that the 1988 assessment, used to manage CITES leopard trophy hunting export quotas since the late 1980s, should be reviewed