Clustering of childhood mortality in the Kintampo Health and Demographic Surveillance System in Ghana

Background: Childhood mortality in Ghana has generally declined in the last four decades. However, estimates tend to conceal substantial variability among regions and districts. The lack of population-based data in Ghana, as in other less developed countries, has hindered the development of effective programmes targeted specifically at clusters where mortality levels are significantly higher. Objective: This paper seeks to test for the existence of statistically significant clusters of childhood mortality within the Kintampo Health and Demographic Surveillance System (KHDSS) between 2005 and 2007. Design: In this study, mortality rates were generated using mortality data extracted from the health and demographic surveillance database of the KHDSS and exported into STATA. The spatial and spatio-temporal scan statistic by Kulldorff was used to identify significant clusters of childhood mortality within the KHDSS. Results: A significant cluster of villages with high under-five mortality in the south-eastern part of the KHDSS in 2006 was identified. This is a remote location where poverty levels are relatively higher, health facilities are more sparse and these are compounded by poor transport services in case of emergencies. Conclusion: This study highlights the potential of the surveillance platform to demonstrate the spatial dimensions of childhood mortality clustering. It is apparent, though, that further studies need to be carried out in order to explore the underlying risk factors for potential mortality clusters that could emerge later

Differentiation of two Botryosphaeriaceae species isolated from declining mango trees in Ghana

Lasiodiplodia theobromae is the only pathogen reported to cause mango tree decline disease in Ghana. In this study, several Botryosphaeriaceae isolates were obtained from mango tree decline disease symptoms and were identified using both phenotypic and genotypic characteristics and inoculation studies. The methods employed differentiated the isolates into two species, Lasiodiplodia theobromae and Neofussicoccum parvum. L. theobromae sporulated freely on media while N. parvum did not. Also, the species specific primer, Lt347-F/Lt347-R identified only L. theobromae while in the phylogenetic studies, L. theobromae and N. parvum clustered in different clades. L. theobromae caused dieback symptoms on inoculated mango seedlings while N. parvum did not. However, both species caused massive rot symptoms on inoculated fruits. L. theobromae was therefore confirmed as the causal agent of the tree decline disease in Ghana while N. parvum was reported for the first time as a potential pathogen of mango fruits in the country

The Aetiology, Incidence and Severity of Mango Tree Decline Disease in Ghana

Mango tree decline was previously an unknown disease in Ghana. In this study, mango trees from all the major agro-ecological zones of Ghana, where mangoes are grown were surveyed for the disease incidence, severity and aetiology of a similar disease affecting the crop. Farm visits were made to some selected farms within the selected agro-ecological zones and both the local and exotic trees were inspected. The percentage of infected trees were calculated while the severity of the disease was rated on a scale of 0-5, where 0 = no symptoms and 5 = death of trees. Samples of the diseased plant parts were collected and the causal agent was isolated on media and identified. The isolated fungus was tested for its pathogenicity using mango seedlings as test crops. The disease, characterised by profuse gumming, bark cracking and die back, was found to be present in all the agro-ecological zones. The disease incidence was higher on the local variety compared to the exotic varieties. Lasiodiplodia theobromae, isolated from the diseased plant parts, was able to cause the disease on inoculated mango seedlings. The nature of the disease symptoms and its causative agent in Ghana, confirms the disease as the mango tree decline disease

Observations on factors affecting attraction and oviposition preferences of the millet head miner Heliocheilus albipunctella to pearl millet panicles

The most suitable growth stage (30, 50 and 100% panicle stage, flowering and dough-filling stage) of pearl millet cultivars 3/4HK, MBH110, ICMV IS 89305 and Chalakh for the oviposition of gravid female head miners (H. albipunctella) was determined in multi- and no-choice tests. Alongside this, the oviposition preference of the pest given the choice of whole plants or methanol extracts of pearl millet panicles, leaves and stems, and sorghum panicles. Oviposition of the head miner was highest during the 30% panicle extension stage of the crop in both multi- and no-choice tests. The number of eggs deposited by the pest was highest in whole plants and filter paper treated with extracts of pearl millet panicles

Profile and outcomes of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 at a tertiary institution hospital in Ghana

Background: In high-income countries, mortality related to hospitalized patients with the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is approximately 4-5%. However, data on COVID-19 admissions from sub-Saharan Africa are scanty.Objective: To describe the clinical profile and determinants of outcomes of patients with confirmed COVID-19 admitted at a hospital in Ghana.Methods: A prospective study involving 25 patients with real time polymerase chain reaction confirmed COVID-19 admitted to the treatment centre of the University Hospital, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana from 1st June to 27th July, 2020. They were managed and followed up for outcomes. Data were analysed descriptively, and predictors of mortality assessed using a multivariate logistic regression modelling.Results: The mean age of the patients was 59.3 ± 20.6 years, and 14 (56%) were males. The main symptoms at presentation were breathlessness (68%) followed by fever (56%). The cases were categorized as mild (6), moderate (6), severe (10) and critical (3). Hypertension was the commonest comorbidity present in 72% of patients. Medications used in patient management included dexamethasone (68%), azithromycin (96%), and hydroxychloroquine (4%). Five of 25 cases died (Case fatality ratio 20%). Increasing age and high systolic blood pressure were associated with mortality.Conclusion: Case fatality in this sample of hospitalized COVID-19 patients was high. Thorough clinical assessment, severity stratification, aggressive management of underlying co-morbidities and standardized protocols incountry might improve outcomes

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata): Genetics, genomics and breeding

Article purchased; Published online: 9 May 2018Cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L.), is an important grain legume grown in the tropics where it constitutes a valuable source of protein in the diets of millions of people. Some abiotic and biotic stresses adversely affect its productivity. A review of the genetics, genomics and breeding of cowpea is presented in this article. Cowpea breeding programmes have studied intensively qualitative and quantitative genetics of the crop to better enhance its improvement. A number of initiatives including Tropical Legumes projects have contributed to the development of cowpea genomic resources. Recent progress in the development of consensus genetic map containing 37,372 SNPs mapped to 3,280 bins will strengthen cowpea trait discovery pipeline. Several informative markers associated with quantitative trait loci (QTL) related to desirable attributes of cowpea were generated. Cowpea genetic improvement activities aim at the development of drought tolerant, phosphorus use efficient, bacterial blight and virus resistant lines through exploiting available genetic resources as well as deployment of modern breeding tools that will enhance genetic gain when grown by sub‐Saharan Africa farmers

Diagnostics for COVID-19: A case for field-deployable, rapid molecular tests for community surveillance

Across the globe, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic is causing distress with governments doing everything in their power to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) to prevent morbidity and mortality. Actions are being implemented to keep health care systems from being overstretched and to curb the outbreak. Any policy responses aimed at slowing down the spread of the virus and mitigating its immediate effects on health care systems require a firm basis of information about the absolute number of currently infected people, growth rates, and locations/hotspots of infections. The only way to obtain this base of information is by conducting numerous tests in a targeted way. Currently, in Ghana, there is a centralized testing approach, that takes 4-5 days for samples to be shipped and tested at central reference laboratories with results communicated to the district, regional and nationalstakeholders. This delay in diagnosis increases the risk of ongoing transmission in communities and vulnerable institutions. We have validated, evaluated and deployed an innovative diagnostic tool on a mobile laboratory platform to accelerate the COVID-19 testing. A preliminary result of 74 samples from COVID-19 suspected cases has a positivity rate of 12% with a turn-around time of fewer than 3 hours from sample taking to reporting of results, significantly reducing the waiting time from days to hours, enabling expedient response by the health system for contact tracing to reduce transmission and additionally improving case management

Evidence of a dynamic association between intergroup contact and intercultural competence

Three studies explored the association between intergroup contact and intercultural competence. Study 1 and Study 2 provided evidence of a cross-sectional association between intergroup contact and intercultural competence in which positive contact was associated with increased intercultural competence and negative contact was associated with reductions in this outcome. In Study 3 longitudinal data allowed us to test the possibility of mutual influence between these variables whereby intercultural competence is not only a consequence of intergroup contact, but is also predictive of the quality of future intergroup contact. Results showed that positive contact was longitudinally associated with improvements in intercultural competence, and that higher intercultural competence was associated with a reduction in future negative contact. Findings speak to the importance of taking a dynamic outlook on contact effects. The beneficial consequences of positive contact may be the same variables capable of transforming future contact encounters and reducing the likelihood of negative interactions

Risk and protective factors for self-harm and suicide in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol.

Introduction Self-harm and suicide are major public health concerns among children and adolescents. Many risk and protective factors for suicide and self-harm have been identified and reported in the literature. However, the capacity of these identified risk and protective factors to guide assessment and management is limited due to their great number. This protocol describes an ongoing systematic review and meta-analysis which aims to examine longitudinal studies of risk factors for self-harm and suicide in children and adolescents, to provide a comparison of the strengths of association of the various risk factors for self-harm and suicide and to shed light on those that require further investigation. Methods and analysis We perform a systematic search of the literature using the databases EMBASE, PsycINFO, Medline, CINAHL and HMIC from inception up to 28 October 2020, and the search will be updated before the systematic review publication. Additionally, we will contact experts in the field, including principal investigators whose peer-reviewed publications are included in our systematic review as well as investigators from our extensive research network, and we will search the reference lists of relevant reviews to retrieve any articles that were not identified in our search. We will extract relevant data and present a narrative synthesis and combine the results in meta-analyses where there are sufficient data. We will assess the risk of bias for each study using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale and present a summary of the quantity and the quality of the evidence for each risk or protective factor. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval will not be sought as this is a systematic review of the literature. Results will be published in mental health journals and presented at conferences focused on suicide prevention