Research Articles (School of Pharmacy)

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Browsing by Subject "Africa"

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    Challenges faced by African healthcare workers during the third wave of the pandemic
    (Wiley, 2022) Nchasi, Goodluck; Okonji, Osaretin Christabel; Jena, Rahul
    Africa experienced the third wave of the coronavirus disease in 2019, which caused an 18% rise in cases in most parts of the continent. As of January 2022, the region had an estimated 10.4 million cumulative cases and more than 233,000 deaths, which add up to the burden on the fragile healthcare system, which continues to face a shortage of staff and resources. In addition, the progression of the pandemic further threatens the supply of healthcare workers in Africa due to the increased risk of infection and death, where more than 10,000 healthcare workers in 40 countries have been infected with the virus. This is amid low vaccination coverage, with only 27% of healthcare workers in Africa being fully vaccinated against the disease.
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    Inequalities in the prevalence of stunting, anemia and exclusive breastfeeding among African children
    (BMC, 2022) Ekholuenetale, Michael; Okonji, Osaretin Christabel; Nzoputam, Chimezie Igwegbe
    Childhood stunting and anemia are on the increase in many resource-constrained settings, without a counter increase in proper feeding practices such as exclusive breastfeeding. The objective of this study was to explore the prevalence of stunting, anemia and exclusive breastfeeding across African countries. Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from 39 African countries was analyzed. Data from under 5 children were analyzed. Forest plot was used to determine inequalities in the prevalence of the outcome variables. The prevalence of stunting was highest in Burundi (56%), Madagascar (50%) and Niger (44%). In addition, Burkina Faso (88%), Mali (82%), Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea (75% each) and Niger (73%) had the highest prevalence of anemia. Furthermore, Burundi (83%), Rwanda (81%) and Zambia (70%) had the highest exclusive breastfeeding. We found statistical significant difference in the prevalence of stunting, anemia and exclusive breastfeeding (p < 0.001). Higher prevalence of stunting and anemia were estimated among the male, rural residents, those having mothers with low education and from poor household wealth.
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    Leopard tortoises in southern Africa have greater genetic diversity in the north than in the south (Testudinidae)
    (Wiley, 2018) Spitzweg, Cäcilia; Hofmeyr, Margaretha D.; Fritz, Uwe; Vamberger, Melita
    In contrast to mammals, little is known about the phylogeographic structuring of widely distributed African reptile species. With the present study, we contribute data for the leopard tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis). It ranges from the Horn of Africa southward to South Africa and westwards to southern Angola. However, its natural occurrence is disputed for some southern regions. To clarify the situation, we used mtDNA sequences and 14 microsatellite loci from 204 individuals mainly from southern Africa. Our results retrieved five mitochondrial clades; one in the south and two in the north-west and north-east of southern Africa, respectively, plus two distributed further north. Using microsatellites, the southern clade matched with a well-defined southern nuclear cluster, whilst the two northern clades from southern Africa corresponded to another nuclear cluster with three subclusters. One subcluster had a western and central distribution, another occurred mostly in the north-east, and the third in a small eastern region (Maputaland), which forms part of a biodiversity hotspot. Genetic diversity was low in the south and high in the north of our study region, particularly in the north-east. Our results refuted that translocations influenced the genetic structure of leopard tortoises substantially. We propose that Pleistocene climatic fluctuations caused leopard tortoises to retract to distinct refugia in southern and northern regions and ascribe the high genetic diversity in the north of southern Africa to genetic structuring caused by the survival in three refuges and subsequent admixture, whereas tortoises in the south seem to have survived in only one continuous coastal refuge
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    Marburg virus disease amid Covid-19 in West Africa: An emerging and re-emerging zoonotic epidemic threat, future implications and way forward
    (2023) Eneh, Stanley Chinedu; Okonji, Osaretin Christabel; Chiburoma, Anyike Goodness
    Amid the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, several African countries including Ghana and Equatorial Guinea have reported several zoonotic outbreaks. The COVID-19 pandemic has added more strain on the already fragile healthcare system, and consequently increasing the impact of both emerging and re-emerging diseases such as the current outbreak of Marburg virus disease (MVD) in Ghana and Equatorial Guinea.1–4 On 28 June 2022, the health authorities in Ghana received reports of two fatal cases of MVD;1 by 29 July 2022, four confirmed case of MVD were reported with three deaths (case fatality ratio of 75%).
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    Monkeypox during Covid-19 era in Africa: Current challenges and recommendations
    (Elsevier, 2022) Okonji, Osaretin Christabel; Okonji, Emeka Francis
    In May 2022, monkeypox virus (MPXV) outbreak was confirmed amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in many parts of the world including Africa. This is the largest outbreak since monkeypox (MPX) was first detected in humans in 1970. The MPX outbreak in Africa is an added burden to the fragile healthcare systems that are already overburdened with several reoccurring epidemics. Although several efforts are in place to effectively contained the outbreak. Several measures such as improved surveillance and diagnostic are necessary to contain the spread of the disease in Africa. This commentary highlights the challenges with the MPX outbreak in Africa and discusses the measures that can be taken to limit the spread of the disease, particularly in high-risk countries.
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    Strategies for malaria vaccination during the Covid-19 pandemic in African countries
    (World Health Organization, 2022) Narain, Kapil; Rackimuthu, Sudhan; Okonji, Osaretin Christabel
    Since October 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the use of RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) malaria vaccine for children in areas of moderate to high transmission of Plasmodium falciparum in Africa.1 The vaccine can reduce the 241 million cases of malaria and 627 000 malaria deaths worldwide;2,3 it is much needed in the WHO African Region, which accounts for 228 million cases of malaria (95% of global cases) and about 96% of global malaria deaths.2 However, an effective vaccine roll-out in Africa can only be achieved when region-specific challenges can be overcome; intraregional inequality, health-care systems strengthening and lessons from community engagement in previous public health crises.