Tetanus nearly eliminated after 40 years of vaccination in rural Sengerema district, Tanzania

Objective: To study the incidence of tetanus during the last 50 years in Sengerema, Tanzania.Design: Analysing the annual reports in the only district hospital, focusing on the number of admissions and mortality for tetanus and malaria.Setting: Sengerema Hospital, Sengerema district, Tanzania.Subject: Number of admissions and mortality in Sengerema Hospital due to tetanus. Interventions: In the seventies and eighties a vaccination campaign was started end organised in order to cover the whole district and to provide immunity for tetanus.Main outcome measures: From 1962 to 2012, we analysed the incidence and fatality rate of tetanus.Result: One hundred and fifteen admissions in the sixties, increasing to 183 in the seventies, dropping to 30 in the nineties. For the last ten years 18 patients with tetanus were seen in the only district hospital. Then last year no admissions for tetanus were registered. The number of deaths due to tetanus decreased simultaneously, during the last decade a single fatality case was reported.Conclusion: During the last decades, we have witnessed the disappearing of tetanus in Sengerema Hospital. The incidence of tetanus can be reduced significantly or eliminated by an effective immunisation programme, even in rural Tanzania

80 Years of Aerospace Engineering Education in the Netherlands

This year, 2020, the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands celebrates its 80th birthday. This paper describes the history of the department since its founding in early 1940, just before the start of World War II in the Netherlands, until present day. The paper will highlight how its research and education developed within the socio-economic context of the Netherlands and the developments in aerospace over the past 80 years

Proposal for a EU quality label for aerospace education

The paper presents a possible roadmap for the definition of a European quality label for aerospace related higher education degrees. The proposal is the result of a two-years long Horizon 2020 project that has involved a great portion of the European stakeholders in aerospace: Universities, research centres, industries (both small and large) networks, associations and accreditation agencies. The core concept established is that it is possible to establish a sector-specific, content based, quality system, that can complement the existing national or European accreditation systems, providing added value to the internal and/or external quality assurance processes that are in place in most EU countries. The tools and processes proposed are sufficiently simple to be manageable by Universities in addition to their national accreditation processes or as stand-alone assessment. The main goal of the proposed process is the evaluation of the quality of the aerospace curricula in the European context, whereas the accreditation of the programme can be seen as an optional extension of the process, subject to further national regulations. The process is proposed in view of the awarding of a sector-specific, content based, quality label, to be issued by an appropriate legally recognized and qualified institution. 8 field tests with volunteering universities throughout Europe have been performed. They experienced the method as very practical and to the point.Unión Europea H2020 64021

Relapsing fever, a disappearing cause of fever and maternal death in Sengerema, Tanzania, east Africa

Objective: To study the incidence of tick borne relapsing fever (TBRF) during the last 50 years, once like malaria an endemic disease in Sengerema, Tanzania.Design: By analyzing the annual reports, focusing on the number of admissions, maternal deaths, blood smears of patients with fever for Borrelia.Setting: Sengerema district, Tanzania.Subject: Admissions in Sengerema Hospital due to TBRF.Main Outcome Measures: From 1960 to 2010, we analyzed the incidence of TBRF.Result: Forty annual admissions in the sixties/seventies, 200 in the eighties (range from 37 in 1964 to 455 in 1988), dropping to 30 in the nineties. For the last nine years no Borrelia spirochetes were found in blood smears at the laboratory anymore and no admissions for TBRF were  registered. The number of maternal deaths due to relapsing fever  decreased simultaneously; the last one recorded was in 2002.Conclusion: During the last century, we have witnessed the disappearing of tick borne relapsing fever in Sengerema. Increase of gold mining,  improved local economy, housing and standards of living after the nineties resulted in an almost complete eradication of the incidence of TBRF