Epidemiology Commons^™

Development And Validation Of A Diagnostic Aid For Convulsive Epilepsy In Sub-Saharan Africa: A Retrospective Case-Control Study, Gabriel Davis Jones, Symon M. Kariuki, Anthony Ngugi, Angelina Kakooza Mwesige, Honorati Masanja, Seth Owusu-Agyei, Ryan Wagner, J Helen Cross, Charles R. Newton, Arjune Sen

Pathology, East Africa

Background Identification of convulsive epilepsy in sub-Saharan Africa relies on access to resources that are often unavailable. Infrastructure and resource requirements can further complicate case verification. Using machine- learning techniques, we have developed and tested a region-specific questionnaire panel and predictive model to identify people who have had a convulsive seizure. These findings have been implemented into a free app for health- care workers in Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Tanzania, and South Africa.

Methods In this retrospective case-control study, we used data from the Studies of the Epidemiology of Epilepsy in Demographic Sites in Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Tanzania, and South Africa. …

Informing Healthcare Operations With Integrated Pathology, Clinical, And Epidemiology Data: Lessons From A Single Institution In Kenya During Covid-19 Waves, Allan Njau, Jemimah Kimeu, Jaimini Gohil, David Nganga

Pathology, East Africa

Pathology, clinical care teams, and public health experts often operate in silos. We hypothesized that large data sets from laboratories when integrated with other healthcare data can provide evidence that can be used to optimize planning for healthcare needs, often driven by health-seeking or delivery behavior. From the hospital information system, we extracted raw data from tests performed from 2019 to 2021, prescription drug usage, and admission patterns from pharmacy and nursing departments during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya (March 2020 to December 2021). Proportions and rates were calculated. Regression models were created, and a t-test for differences between …

Comparison Of Hpv Dna Testing In Cervical Exfoliated Cells And Tissue Biopsies Among Hiv-Positive Women In Kenya, Hugo De Vuyst, Michael Chung, Lacopo Baussano, Nelly R. Mugo, Vanessa Tenet, Folkert J. Van Kemenade, Farzana S. Rana, Samah R. Sakr, Chris J.L.M. Meijer, Peter J.F. Snijders, Silvia Franceschi

Pathology, East Africa

HIV-positive women are infected with human papillomavirus (HPV) (especially with multiple types), and develop cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and cervical cancer more frequently than HIV-negative women. We compared HPV DNA prevalence obtained using a GP5+/6+ PCR assay in cervical exfoliated cells to that in biopsies among 468 HIV-positive women from Nairobi, Kenya. HPV prevalence was higher in cells than biopsies and the difference was greatest in 94 women with a combination normal cytology/normal biopsy (prevalence ratio, PR = 3.7; 95% confidence interval, CI: 2.4-5.7). PR diminished with the increase in lesion severity (PR in 58 women with high-grade squamous intraepithelial …