Project description:IntroductionHandwashing is fundamentally an inexpensive means of reducing the spread of communicable diseases. In developing countries, many people die due to infectious diseases that could be prevented by proper hand hygiene. The recent coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is a threat to people who are living in resource-limited countries including sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Effective hand hygiene requires sufficient water from reliable sources, preferably accessible on premises, and access to handwashing facility (water and or soap) that enable hygiene behaviors. Therefore, this study aims to determine the prevalence of limited handwashing facility and its associated factors in sub-Saharan Africa.MethodsData from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) were used, which have been conducted in 29 sub-Saharan African countries since January 1, 2010. A two-stage stratified random cluster sampling strategy was used to collect the data. This study comprised a total of 237,983 weighted samples. The mixed effect logistic regression model with a cluster-level random intercept was fitted. Meta-analysis and sub-group analysis were performed to establish the pooled prevalence.ResultsThe pooled prevalence of limited handwashing facility was found to be 66.16% (95% CI; 59.67%-72.65%). Based on the final model, household head with age group between 35 and 60 [AOR = 0.89, 95% CI; 0.86-0.91], households with mobile type of hand washing facility [AOR = 1.73, 95% CI; 1.70-1.77], unimproved sanitation facility [AOR = 1.58, 95% CI; 1.55-1.62], water access more than 30 min round trip [AOR = 1.16, 95% CI; 1.13-1.19], urban residential area [AOR = 2.08, 95% CI; 2.04-2.13], low media exposure [AOR = 1.47, 95% CI; 1.31-1.66], low educational level [AOR = 1.30, 95% CI; 1.14-1.48], low income level [AOR = 2.41, 95% CI; 2.33-2.49] as well as lower middle-income level [AOR = 2.10, 95% CI; 2.14-2.17] and households who had more than three children [AOR = 1.25, 95% CI; 1.20-1.31] were associated with having limited handwashing facility.Conclusion and recommendationThe pooled coverage of limited handwashing facility was high in sub-Saharan Africa. Raising awareness of the community and promoting access to handwashing materials particularly in poorer and rural areas will reduce its coverage.

Project description:Sub-Saharan Africa represents 69% of the total number of individuals living with HIV infection worldwide and 72% of AIDS deaths globally. Pulmonary infection is a common and frequently fatal complication, though little is known regarding the lower airway microbiome composition of this population. Our objectives were to characterize the lower airway microbiome of Ugandan HIV-infected patients with pneumonia, to determine relationships with demographic, clinical, immunological, and microbiological variables and to compare the composition and predicted metagenome of these communities to a comparable cohort of patients in the US (San Francisco). Bronchoalveolar lavage samples from a cohort of 60 Ugandan HIV-infected patients with acute pneumonia were collected. Amplified 16S ribosomal RNA was profiled and aforementioned relationships examined. Ugandan airway microbiome composition and predicted metagenomic function were compared to US HIV-infected pneumonia patients. Among the most common bacterial pulmonary pathogens, Pseudomonas aeruginosa was most prevalent in the Ugandan cohort. Patients with a richer and more diverse airway microbiome exhibited lower bacterial burden, enrichment of members of the Lachnospiraceae and sulfur-reducing bacteria and reduced expression of TNF-alpha and matrix metalloproteinase-9. Compared to San Franciscan patients, Ugandan airway microbiome were significantly richer, and compositionally distinct with predicted metagenomes that encoded a multitude of distinct pathogenic pathways e.g secretion systems. Ugandan pneumonia-associated airway microbiome is compositionally and functionally distinct from those detected in comparable patients in developed countries, a feature which may contribute to adverse outcomes in this population. Please note that the data from the comparable cohort of patients in the USUS data was published as supplemental material of PMID: 22760045 but not submitted to GEO The 'patient_info.txt' contains 12 clinical, 7 immunological and 3 microbiological variables for each patient.

Project description:Sub-Saharan Africa represents 69% of the total number of individuals living with HIV infection worldwide and 72% of AIDS deaths globally. Pulmonary infection is a common and frequently fatal complication, though little is known regarding the lower airway microbiome composition of this population. Our objectives were to characterize the lower airway microbiome of Ugandan HIV-infected patients with pneumonia, to determine relationships with demographic, clinical, immunological, and microbiological variables and to compare the composition and predicted metagenome of these communities to a comparable cohort of patients in the US (San Francisco). Bronchoalveolar lavage samples from a cohort of 60 Ugandan HIV-infected patients with acute pneumonia were collected. Amplified 16S ribosomal RNA was profiled and aforementioned relationships examined. Ugandan airway microbiome composition and predicted metagenomic function were compared to US HIV-infected pneumonia patients. Among the most common bacterial pulmonary pathogens, Pseudomonas aeruginosa was most prevalent in the Ugandan cohort. Patients with a richer and more diverse airway microbiome exhibited lower bacterial burden, enrichment of members of the Lachnospiraceae and sulfur-reducing bacteria and reduced expression of TNF-alpha and matrix metalloproteinase-9. Compared to San Franciscan patients, Ugandan airway microbiome were significantly richer, and compositionally distinct with predicted metagenomes that encoded a multitude of distinct pathogenic pathways e.g secretion systems. Ugandan pneumonia-associated airway microbiome is compositionally and functionally distinct from those detected in comparable patients in developed countries, a feature which may contribute to adverse outcomes in this population. Please note that the data from the comparable cohort of patients in the USUS data was published as supplemental material of PMID: 22760045 but not submitted to GEO The 'patient_info.txt' contains 12 clinical, 7 immunological and 3 microbiological variables for each patient. The G2 PhyloChip microarray platform (commercially available from Second Genome, Inc.) was used to profile bacteria in lower airway samples from 60 subjects

Project description:BackgroundOver 155 million children under five suffer from stunting, and it is responsible for over one million deaths and 54.9 million Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYS) of under-five children worldwide. These predominantly occurred in low-and middle-income countries like sub-Saharan Africa. Stunted children begin their lives at a marked disadvantage. Some of these are; poor cognition and educational performance, low adult wages, lost productivity and, when accompanied by excessive weight gain later in childhood, an increased risk of nutrition-related chronic diseases in adult life and the devastating effects of stunting can last a lifetime and even affect the next generation. Despite this, its magnitude rises in the past 25 years in sub-Saharan Africa. Studies that capture the pooled prevalence and associated factors of stunting among children aged 6-59 months in sub-Saharan Africa are limited. Therefore, this study was carried out on the basis of the Bayesian approach to determine the pooled prevalence and predictors of stunting among children aged 6-59 months in Sub-Saharan Africa.ObjectiveTo assess the pooled prevalence of stunting and associated factors among children aged 6-59 months in Sub-Saharan Africa.MethodsFor this study a total of 173,483 weighted samples from the demography and health survey data set of 35 sub-Saharan African countries from 2008 to 2020 were used. After checking Variation between cluster by computing Intraclass Correlation Coefficient, binary logistic regression model was conducted based on hierarchical Bayesian statistical approach to account the hierarchical nature of demography and health survey data and to get reliable estimates by using additional information from the prior distribution. Adjusted odds ratio with 95% credible interval of the best fitted model was used to ascertain the predictors.ResultsThe pooled prevalence of stunting in Sub-Saharan Africa was about 35% (95%CI: 34.87, 35.31). Of the sub-regions, the highest prevalence of stunting was in East Africa, 37% (95%, CI: 36.96, 37.63) followed by Central Africa, 35% (95%CI: (34.93, 35.94). Being male (AOR = 1.27, 95% CrI 1.25, 1.30), small birth size (AOR = 1.29, CrI 1.25, 1.32), home delivery (AOR = 1.17, CrI 1.14, 1.20), and no education of mothers (AOR = 3.07, CrI 2.79, 3.39) were some of the significant predictors of stunting of children.Conclusion and recommendationThe prevalence of stunting of children in sub-Saharan Africa is among the highest in the world. Predictors such as being male, being small at birth, a child delivered at home, and, low level of maternal education were some of the predictors of childhood stunting. Stakeholders and non-governmental organizations should consider those contributing factors of stunting when they plan and design nutritional improvement programs.

Project description:BackgroundAlthough religious affiliation has been identified as a potential barrier to immunization in some African countries, there are no systematic multi-country analyses, including within-country variability, on this issue. We investigated whether immunization varied according to religious affiliation and sex of the child in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries.MethodsWe used data from 15 nationally representative surveys from 2010 to 2016. The major religious groups were described by country in terms of wealth, residence, and education. Proportions of fully immunized and unvaccinated children were stratified by country, maternal religion, and sex of the child. Poisson regression with robust variance was used to assess whether the outcomes varied according to religion, with and without adjustment for the above cited sociodemographic confounders. Interactions between child sex and religion were investigated.ResultsFifteen countries had >10% of families affiliated with Christianity and >10% affiliated with Islam, and four also had >10% practicing folk religions. In general, Christians were wealthier, more educated and more urban. Nine countries had significantly lower full immunization coverage among Muslims than Christians (pooled prevalence ratio = 0.81; 95%CI: 0.79-0.83), of which seven remained significant after adjustment for confounders (pooled ratio = 0.90; 0.87-0.92). Four countries had higher coverage among Muslims, of which two remained significant after adjustment. Regarding unvaccinated children, six countries showed higher proportions among Muslims, all of which remained significant after adjustment [crude pooled ratio = 1.83 (1.59-2.07); adjusted = 1.31 (1.14-1.48)]. Children from families practicing folk religions did not show any consistent patterns in immunization. Child sex was not consistently associated with vaccination.ConclusionMuslim religion was associated with lower vaccine coverage in several SSA countries, both for boys and girls. The involvement of religious leaders is essential for increasing immunization coverage and supporting the leave no one behind agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Dataset Information

Are adolescent orphans more likely to be HIV-positive? A pooled data analyses across 19 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Publications

Are adolescent orphans more likely to be HIV-positive? A pooled data analyses across 19 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

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