Measles complications: the importance of their management in reducing mortality attributed to measles

A clinical study of the effects and management of measles in Zimbabwean children.Measles is among the commonest and most serious disease conditions in childhood accounting for an estimated 1.4 million measles deaths annually.1-2 However, in recent years measles deaths have been declining world wide. This decline has been attributed to many factors including improved care of complicated cases.2 In the city of Gweru, Zimbabwe, mortality attributed to measles has been declining since 1967.3 This paper examines the occurrence of complicated measles in Gweru and the effect of the care of these cases on measles mortality in the period 1967 to 89

Toward farm specific recommendations for the use of mineral fertilizers in sahelian crop-livestock systems

Low soil fertility is recognized as the major constraint to rainfed cereal production in the Sahel. Given that most farmers can not afford enough fertilizer to cover all their fields, it is important to fine-tune the recommendations to maximize the fertilizer economic return at farm level while minimizing economic risks linked to climate fluctuations. This study was designed to help draw site/year/farm specific recommendations regarding hill placed application of mineral fertilizer either combined or not with organic amendments. A three year, multi-factorial experiment was conducted on-farm on three sites from 2003 to 2005 to test the effect of hill-placed application of small doses of DAP fertilizers on three pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) genotypes for a range of organic amendments. Results showed a consistent grain yield increase due to fertilizer application for the no-manure plots on 2 sites, the fertility level of the third site being good enough to mask to effect of mineral fertilizer with the exception of 2004, marked by an early drought. In normal conditions, no synergism was detected between organic and mineral fertilizer. However it became apparent in the case of re-sowing or late sowing with a larger effect of mineral fertilizer on manure plots

Modeling hydraulic properties of sandy soils of Niger using pedotransfer functions

Direct determination of soil hydraulic properties is often costly and laborious hence the use of indirect methods such as pedotransfer functions (PTFs). Despite progress made in PTF development in general, little evaluation of PTFs has been done for the sandy soils of Niger. We tested the ability of three PTFs, (Campbell, van Genuchten, and Vauclin) to determine soil water retention and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity (K) for sandy soils at two villages (Banizoumbou and Bagoua) in Niger. Modeled K was compared to K estimated from neutron probe readings at 1.4 m; and modeled moisture retention was compared to lab measurements derived from the hanging water column method and pressure plate apparatus for the following depth intervals: 0–30, 30–60, and > 60 cm at Banizoumbou; and 0–30, 30–120, and > 120 cm at Bagoua. The Campbell PTF resulted in lower root mean square error (RMSE) (0.05–0.06 m3 m− 3) for soil moisture retention for the three depth intervals at the two sites and performed better than the van Genuchten function (RMSE 0.06–0.07 m3 m− 3) for Bagoua soils which had higher sand content. The van Genuchten PTF consistently overestimated dry regime moisture retention for the three depth intervals especially at Bagoua but performed well for the wet regime. The Campbell and Vauclin PTFs underestimated K (RMSE 0.61–1.01 mm d− 1) at both sites whereas the van Genuchten model was close to field measurements (RMSE 0.26–0.47 mm d− 1). These results show that the Campbell model is a cheaper alternative to direct measurement of moisture retention and the van Genuchten function can be used to estimate K for Niger's sandy soils with modest accurac

Syphilis in Murewa District, Zimbabwe : an old problem that rages on

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of syphilis among pregnant women and women giving birth in health centres in a rural district and to identify problems associate with syphilis control in the same district. DESIGN: Cross sectional descriptive study. SETTING: Murewa District health facilities. SUBJECTS: Women attending health facilities in this district for antenatal care or delivery between February and May 1993. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Syphilis sero-prevalence rate. Factors associated with poor syphilis control. RESULTS: Even though it is recommended that all women attending clinics for antenatal care (ANC) should be screened for syphilis at first visit only 308 (20%) out of 1,556 first visit attenders were screened during the study period. Three hundred and sixty six (33%) out of 1,096 women giving birth in health institutions were screened. The RPR/TPHA sero positivity rate for antenatal women was 9.2% while that for women delivering was 9.8%. A positive RPR was not significantly associated with the women's age, parity, infant's birth weight, sex or pregnancy outcome. Factors associated with poor syphilis control in this district included: lack of motivation and appreciation of the seriousness of syphilis in pregnancy; lack of transport to send specimens and receive results from Murewa District Hospital; poor record keeping; loss to follow up of women being tested or after starting treatment; lack of contact tracing and treatment of contacts and difficulties in implementing the 10 day neonatal regime and follow up of these infants. CONCLUSION: Syphilis remains poorly controlled in Murewa district and may be contributing significantly to high perinatal mortality rates. There is need to strengthen the syphilis control programme through motivation and training of health workers, decentralisation of testing and treatment of the condition and improved contact tracing. A repeat RPR test at delivery may not be cost effective. PIP: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at Murewa District health facilities to determine the prevalence of syphilis among antenatal women and women giving birth and to identify problems associated with syphilis control. The data were collected from the health center nursing staff who took care of the women during antenatal period or delivery at Murewa District health facilities. The results showed that only 308 (20%) out of 1556 first visit attendees were screened during the study period while only 366 (33%) women giving birth were screened out of 1096 subjects. The RPR/TPHA seropositivity rate for antenatal women was 9.2%, while that for women delivering was 9.8%. There was no significant association between positive RPR result and the women's age, parity, the infant's birth weight or sex or pregnancy outcome. Poor syphilis control in Murewa District Health facilities was due to lack of motivation and appreciation of the seriousness of syphilis in pregnancy, lack of transport to send specimens and receive results from Murewa District Hospital, poor record keeping, loss during follow-up of women during testing or after treatment, lack of contact tracing and treatment of contacts and difficulties in implementing the 10 day neonatal regimen and follow up for these infants. Owing to these factors, syphilis remains poorly controlled in Murewa district and may be considered a significant contributing factor to high perinatal mortality rates. Action is needed to strengthen the syphilis control program through motivation and training of health workers, improved contact tracing, and decentralization of testing and treatment

Progress towards polio eradication in Zimbabwe

No Abstract. Central African Journal of Medicine Vol. 45 (12) 1999: pp. 330-33