Cross-Sectional Variations in Structure and Function of Coral Reef Microbiome With Local Anthropogenic Impacts on the Kenyan Coast of the Indian Ocean

Coral reefs face an increased number of environmental threats from anthropomorphic climate change and pollution from agriculture, industries and sewage. Because environmental changes lead to their compositional and functional shifts, coral reef microbial communities can serve as indicators of ecosystem impacts through development of rapid and inexpensive molecular monitoring tools. Little is known about coral reef microbial communities of the Western Indian Ocean (WIO). We compared taxonomic and functional diversity of microbial communities inhabiting near-coral seawater and sediments from Kenyan reefs exposed to varying impacts of human activities. Over 19,000 species (bacterial, viral and archaeal combined) and 4,500 clusters of orthologous groups of proteins (COGs) were annotated. The coral reefs showed variations in the relative abundances of ecologically significant taxa, especially copiotrophic bacteria and coliphages, corresponding to the magnitude of the neighboring human impacts in the respective sites. Furthermore, the near-coral seawater and sediment metagenomes had an overrepresentation of COGs for functions related to adaptation to diverse environments. Malindi and Mombasa marine parks, the coral reef sites closest to densely populated settlements were significantly enriched with genes for functions suggestive of mitigation of environment perturbations including the capacity to reduce intracellular levels of environmental contaminants and repair of DNA damage. Our study is the first metagenomic assessment of WIO coral reef microbial diversity which provides a much-needed baseline for the region, and points to a potential area for future research toward establishing indicators of environmental perturbations

An Immune Basis for Malaria Protection by the Sickle Cell Trait

BACKGROUND: Malaria resistance by the sickle cell trait (genotype HbAS) has served as the prime example of genetic selection for over half a century. Nevertheless, the mechanism of this resistance remains the subject of considerable debate. While it probably involves innate factors such as the reduced ability of Plasmodium falciparum parasites to grow and multiply in HbAS erythrocytes, recent observations suggest that it might also involve the accelerated acquisition of malaria-specific immunity. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We studied the age-specific protection afforded by HbAS against clinical malaria in children living on the coast of Kenya. We found that protection increased with age from only 20% in the first 2 y of life to a maximum of 56% by the age of 10 y, returning thereafter to 30% in participants greater than 10 y old. CONCLUSIONS: Our observations suggest that malaria protection by HbAS involves the enhancement of not only innate but also of acquired immunity to the parasite. A better understanding of the underlying mechanisms might yield important insights into both these processes

Prevalence and correlates of bacterial vaginosis in different sub-populations of women in Sub-Saharan Africa: a cross-sectional study

Background: Clinical development of vaginally applied products aimed at reducing the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, has highlighted the need for a better characterisation of the vaginal environment. We set out to characterise the vaginal environment in women in different settings in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted in Kenya, Rwanda and South-Africa. Women were recruited into pre-defined study groups including adult, non-pregnant, HIV-negative women; pregnant women; adolescent girls; HIV-negative women engaging in vaginal practices; female sex workers; and HIV-positive women. Consenting women were interviewed and underwent a pelvic exam. Samples of vaginal fluid and a blood sample were taken and tested for bacterial vaginosis (BV), HIV and other reproductive tract infections (RTIs). This paper presents the cross-sectional analyses of BV Nugent scores and RTI prevalence and correlates at the screening and the enrolment visit. Results: At the screening visit 38% of women had BV defined as a Nugent score of 7-10, and 64% had more than one RTI (N. gonorrhoea, C. trachomatis, T. vaginalis, syphilis) and/or Candida. At screening the likelihood of BV was lower in women using progestin-only contraception and higher in women with more than one RTI. At enrolment, BV scores were significantly associated with the presence of prostate specific antigen (PSA) in the vaginal fluid and with being a self-acknowledged sex worker. Further, sex workers were more likely to have incident BV by Nugent score at enrolment. Conclusions: Our study confirmed some of the correlates of BV that have been previously reported but the most salient finding was the association between BV and the presence of PSA in the vaginal fluid which is suggestive of recent unprotected sexual intercourse

MONITORING AND EVALUATION DIMENSIONS IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KENYA: ASSESSMENT OF ITS EFFECT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC PLANS

The government of Kenya recognizes the importance of implementing strategic plans in public schools as the key approach of management of institutions, strategic planning is very crucial in realization of management outlook for the Kenyan vision 2030, relatively little research has investigated the ways public schools implement strategic plans. This study was designed to assess the effect of monitoring and evaluation on implementation of strategic plans in public secondary schools in Kenya. The study was guided by a mixed method Research design. The target population for the study was 9 sub-county education officials, 284 chairpersons of Board of management, 284 principals and 284 senior teachers in Bungoma County. The study sample comprised of 9 sub-county education officials, 85 chairpersons of Board of management, 85 principals and 85 senior teachers. The respondents were selected using purposive and simple random sampling technique and the instruments for data collection were questionnaires, interview schedule and document analysis. Data was analyzed using mean, standard deviation, frequency, Pearson Correlation Coefficient and Multiple Regression to establish relationships and variable traits while themes were derived from narrative data. The findings of this study revealed that monitoring and evaluation dimension has a significant relationship with implementation of strategic plans in public secondary schools. It is recommend that it is very crucial that the public secondary schools conduct monitoring and evaluation on the strategic plans, this will help the educational institutions to gather valuable information that will provide valuable insights in the strategic plans implementation across the education sector.   Article visualizations

Cross-Sectional Variations in Structure and Function of Coral Reef Microbiome With Local Anthropogenic Impacts on the Kenyan Coast of the Indian Ocean

Coral reefs face an increased number of environmental threats from anthropomorphic climate change and pollution from agriculture, industries and sewage. Because environmental changes lead to their compositional and functional shifts, coral reef microbial communities can serve as indicators of ecosystem impacts through development of rapid and inexpensive molecular monitoring tools. Little is known about coral reef microbial communities of the Western Indian Ocean (WIO). We compared taxonomic and functional diversity of microbial communities inhabiting near-coral seawater and sediments from Kenyan reefs exposed to varying impacts of human activities. Over 19,000 species (bacterial, viral and archaeal combined) and 4,500 clusters of orthologous groups of proteins (COGs) were annotated. The coral reefs showed variations in the relative abundances of ecologically significant taxa, especially copiotrophic bacteria and coliphages, corresponding to the magnitude of the neighboring human impacts in the respective sites. Furthermore, the near-coral seawater and sediment metagenomes had an overrepresentation of COGs for functions related to adaptation to diverse environments. Malindi and Mombasa marine parks, the coral reef sites closest to densely populated settlements were significantly enriched with genes for functions suggestive of mitigation of environment perturbations including the capacity to reduce intracellular levels of environmental contaminants and repair of DNA damage. Our study is the first metagenomic assessment of WIO coral reef microbial diversity which provides a much-needed baseline for the region, and points to a potential area for future research toward establishing indicators of environmental perturbations

Evaluation of the ELIMIKA pilot project : improving ART adherence among HIV positive youth using an eHealth intervention in Mombasa, Kenya

Adolescents and young people are arguably the most dynamic and challenging group among populations living with HIV. The adherence to anti-retroviral treatment (ART) is often low among HIV-positive youth, thus creative and context specific interventions are necessary. We aimed at evaluating the usability and effectiveness of the pilot digital peer support platform – ELIMIKA, implemented in Mombasa, Kenya. We applied a pre-post-test design. Data collection consisted of two parts: pre- and post-online knowledge and behavior questionnaires, and a mid-term usability survey. From 90 recruited participants, 81 completed the pre- and post-questionnaires. Overall, the participants were satisfied with the main features of the web platform and stated that they would use it again (95%). However, there was not a significant change in knowledge and behavior, but adherence intentions after 3 months intervention period have improved. This study provides valuable information on feasibility, evaluation and challenges of eHealth intervention in Kenya that supports further research in this area

Type-specific human papillomavirus prevalence, incident cases, persistence, and associated pregnancy outcomes among HIV-infected women in Kenya

Background: Persistent infection with high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV) is the preeminent factor driving the development of cervical cancer. There are large gaps in knowledge about both the role of pregnancy in the natural history of HPV infection and the impact of HPV on pregnancy outcomes. Methods: This single-site prospective cohort substudy, nested within an international multisite randomized controlled trial, assessed prevalence, incident cases, and persistence of type-specific HPV infection, and the association between persistence of high-risk HPV infection with pregnancy outcomes among HIV-infected pregnant women in Kenya, including HIV transmission to infants. Type-specific HPV was assessed using a line probe assay in pregnancy and again at 3 months after delivery. HIV status of children was determined using polymerase chain reaction at 6 weeks. Results: In total, 84.1% (206/245) of women had a high-risk HPV infection at enrollment. Three quarters (157/206) of these infections persisted postpartum. Persistence of HPV16 and/or HPV18 types was observed in more than half (53.4%; 39/73) of women with this infection at enrollment. Almost two-thirds had an incident high-risk HPV infection postpartum, which was not present in pregnancy (62.5%), most commonly HPV52 (19.0%). After adjustments, no association was detected between persistent high-risk HPV and preterm birth. All mothers of the 7 cases of infant HIV infection had persistent high-risk HPV infection (P = 0.044). Conclusions: High levels of high-risk HPV infection and type-specific persistence were documented, heightening the urgency of mass role out of HPV vaccination. The association between HPV persistence and HIV transmission is a novel finding, warranting further study

A peek into Western Indian Ocean microbial richness: a pilot for a coral microbiome study

Abstract Microbial communities are essential components of natural ecosystems. Of the global oceans, the Indian Ocean remains the least studied in terms of its microbial diversity, despite it being a highly dynamic tropical water body. Metagenomics methods have significantly advanced studies in marine microbial ecology in recent years. Preliminary metabarcoding assessments are recommended to mitigate against the associated costs, prior to the metagenomics study, to give an impression of the diversity expected and determine the sequencing effort required. We report here the first metabarcoding survey of bacterial diversity of the western Indian Ocean (WIO) using samples used for optimizing environmental DNA (eDNA) isolation as pilot experiment for a metagenomic study investigating the coral-reef microbiome of the region. Sampling of water and sediment samples was done near-shore sublittoral and within the coral reef. About 3,000 microbial ribotypes were inferred, from which 41 phyla were uncovered. Sediments registered higher alpha diversity than seawater samples. The phylum Proteobacteria was dominant with its members constituting over 60% of the ribosomal sequence variants (RSVs). The other abundant bacteria were members of Bacteroidetes and Cyanobacteria phyla. We identified bacterial species with potential broad biotechnological applications, underscoring the WIO’s richness and the usefulness of eDNA metabarcoding approaches in bioprospecting as well as monitoring and/or surveying marine ecosystems

Sickle cell trait and the risk of Plasmodium falciparum malaria and other childhood diseases

Background: The gene for sickle hemoglobin (Hbs) is a prime example of natural selection. It is generally believed that its current prevalence in many tropical populations reflects selection for the carrier form (sickle cell trait [HbAS]) through a survival advantage against death from malaria. Nevertheless, >50 years after this hypothesis was first proposed, the epidemiological description of the relationships between HbAS, malaria, and other common causes of child mortality remains incomplete. Methods: We studied the incidence of falciparum malaria and other childhood diseases in 2 cohorts of children living on the coast of Kenya. Results: The protective effect of HbAS was remarkably specific for falciparum malaria, having no significant impact on any other disease. HbAS had no effect on the prevalence of symptomless parasitemia but was 50% protective against mild clinical malaria, 75% protective against admission to hospital for malaria, and almost 90% protective against severe or complicated malaria. The effect of HbAS on episodes of clinical malaria was mirrored in its effect on parasite densities during such episodes. Conclusions: The present data are useful in that they confirm the mechanisms by with HbAS confers protection against malaria and shed light on the relationships between HbAS, malaria, and other childhood diseases

Fear, efficacy, and environmental health risk reporting: complex responses to water quality test results in low-income communities

Reducing disease from unsafe drinking-water is a key environmental health objective in rural Sub-Saharan Africa, where water management is largely community-based. The effectiveness of environmental health risk reporting to motivate sustained behaviour change is contested but as efforts to increase rural drinking-water monitoring proceed, it is timely to ask how water quality information feedback can improve water safety management. Using cross-sectional (1457 households) and longitudinal (167 participants) surveys, semi-structured interviews (73 participants), and water quality monitoring (79 sites), we assess water safety perceptions and evaluate an information intervention through which <i>Escherichia coli</i> monitoring results were shared with water managers over a 1.5-year period in rural Kitui County, Kenya. We integrate the extended parallel process model and the precaution adoption process model to frame risk information processing and stages of behaviour change. We highlight that responses to risk communications are determined by the specificity, framing, and repetition of messaging and the self-efficacy of information recipients. Poverty threatscapes and gender norms hinder behaviour change, particularly at the household-level; however, test results can motivate supply-level managers to implement hazard control measures-with effectiveness and sustainability dependent on infrastructure, training, and ongoing resourcing. Our results have implications for rural development efforts and environmental risk reporting in low-income settings