Spatial heterogeneity can undermine the effectiveness of country-wide test and treat policy for malaria: a case study from Burkina Faso

Abstract Background Considerable debate has arisen regarding the appropriateness of the test and treat malaria policy broadly recommended by the World Health Organization. While presumptive treatment has important drawbacks, the effectiveness of the test and treat policy can vary considerably across regions, depending on several factors such as baseline malaria prevalence and rapid diagnostic test (RDT) performance. Methods To compare presumptive treatment with test and treat, generalized linear mixed effects models were fitted to data from 6510 children under five years of age from Burkina Faso’s 2010 Demographic and Health Survey. Results The statistical model results revealed substantial regional variation in baseline malaria prevalence (i.e., pre-test prevalence) and RDT performance. As a result, a child with a positive RDT result in one region can have the same malaria infection probability as a demographically similar child with a negative RDT result in another region. These findings indicate that a test and treat policy might be reasonable in some settings, but may be undermined in others due to the high proportion of false negatives. Conclusions High spatial variability can substantially reduce the effectiveness of a national level test and treat malaria policy. In these cases, region-specific guidelines for malaria diagnosis and treatment may need to be formulated. Based on the statistical model results, proof-of-concept, web-based tools were created that can aid in the development of these region-specific guidelines and may improve current malaria-related policy in Burkina Faso

Awareness under Anaesthesia: A review of patients following General Anaesthesia at a Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria

Background: Awareness and recall of surgical events under general anaesthesia is an uncommon adverse effect that may result in psychological distress for the patient. This prospective review of cases was performed to evaluate the incidence of awareness and recall during general anaesthesia in a surgical population at the University College Hospital, Ibadan.Patients and Methods: A prospective audit was conducted over a period of 10 months using open ended questionnaire administered within 24 – 36 hours postoperatively to patients who had surgical procedures under general anaesthesia. The anaesthetic record of each patient that had awareness and recall was reviewed to search for data that might explain the awareness episode.Results: A total of 1,185 patients were visited in the postoperative period. Nine hundred and fifty-five patients (80.6%) had general anaesthesia while 230 patients (19.4%) had other forms of anaesthesia (regional anaesthesia or conscious sedation). Of the 955 patients (479 males and 476 females) that had general anaesthesia, 7 (5 females and 2 males) patients reported occurrence of awareness during the operation with recall of intra-operative events, the incidence of awareness was 0.7%. Identified risk factors in patients who reported awareness include lack of amnesic premedication, light general anaesthesia as a result of sub-optimal doses of hypnotic agents and failure to administer supplemental doses of analgesic intra-operatively.Conclusion: The incidence of awareness with recall in this prospective review was 0.7%, light anaesthesia being the major predisposing factor. Use of amnesic premedicants, monitoring of end tidal volatile agent concentration and intraoperative supplementation of analgesia may reduce the occurrence of awareness under general anaesthesia

Anesthetic and surgical predictors of treatment outcome in re-do craniotomy

Introduction: Craniotomy is a neurosurgical operation done to remove brain tumor, repair vascular lesion, and relieve intracranial pressure. Complications can arise which may necessitate re-do craniotomy. The study is planned to find out the relationship between variables such as age, American Society of Anaesthesiologist (ASA), Glasgow coma score (GCS), frequency of re-do craniotomy, and surgical outcome of re-do craniotomy. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study of all the patients who had re-do craniotomy over a 4-year period. The data that were collected included age, sex, ASA classification, indication for re-do craniotomy, GCS, frequency of re-do craniotomy, postoperative complications, and outcome. Results: Twenty-five patients had indication for re-do craniotomy within the study period. Forty percent were male and 60% were female, and their mean age was 38.56 ± 17.38 years. The indications for re-do craniotomy were removal of residual tumor, evacuation of clot, and cerebrospinal fluid leakage. Seventy-six percent had good outcome, while 24% had poor outcome. Outcome was good for patients who had re-do craniotomy done once, while poor outcome was for patients with second and third craniotomies. Ninety percent of patients with ASA 2 had good outcome, while 9.1% had poor outcome; but 64.3% had good outcome with ASA 3, while 37.7% had poor outcome with a P-value of 0.18. Seventy-five percent had poor outcome in patients with GCS of less than 9, while 25% had good outcome; but 14.3% had poor outcome in patients with GCS above 9, while 85.7% had good outcome with a P-value of 0.031. Conclusions: Increasing frequency of re-do craniotomy and lower GCS were major factors affecting outcome in re-do craniotomy in our center. The outcome of these patients is valuable in the management of other patients with re-do craniotomy in future

Epidemiology of bacteria colonization and ICU-acquired infection in a Nigerian Tertiary hospital

Background: Health care associated infection (HCAI) or Hospital acquired infection is associated with significant morbidity, mortality and cost. The incidence is about 6% and disproportionately higher in critically ill patients who may have been immune-compromised with many invasive procedures already performed. Prevention of HCAI and appropriate management of patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) requires knowledge on the pattern of microbial colonization and infections. The aim of this preliminary study was to provide current data on the pattern of ICU acquired infections in our hospital.Patients and Methods: It was a cross sectional study of patients admitted into the ICU who were expected to stay longer than 48hrs between July 2011 and September 2012. Urine, blood, and tracheal aspirate were collected on days 1, 3 and 5 for microbiological studies. All patients involved in the study had urethral catheter in-situ and received mechanical ventilation in the ICU.Results: Fifty-nine patients were recruited into the study. The mean age of the patients was 30.08 + 19.9yr; while the reasons for admissions were respiratory failure (59.3%), cardiovascular instability, trauma and neurological diseases. About 30% of the samples taken from the study sites on arrival in the ICU had positive culture yields. Organisms cultured included Klebsiella oxytoca, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The urinary tract had the highest number of isolated organisms- 9(60%), followed by equal number of isolated organisms-3(20%) in the blood and respiratory tract. Eleven (73.3%) of the organisms isolated were Gram-negative bacteria, and 4 (26.7%) were Gram-positive cocci. The commonest bacteria isolates were Staphylococcus aureus (4/26.7%) and Klebsiella oxytoca (4/ 26.7%). A total of 15 ICU- acquired infections were detected in 9 of 59 patients.Conclusion: The HCIA infection rate was 15%, and urinary tract infections (UTI) was the commonest hospital acquired infection in our ICU. Klebsiella oxytoca and Staphylococcus aureus were the commonest organisms.Key words: Health care associated infections (HCAI), Hospital acquired infections, Nosocomial infection