Browsing by Author "Nkrumah, Bernard"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Hepatitis B and C viral infections among blood donors. A retrospective study from a rural community of Ghana
    (BMC Research Notes, 2011) Nkrumah, Bernard; Owusu, Michael; Averu, Paul; 0000-0001-5066-150X
    Background: Infection by Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) cause serious mortality, morbidity and financial burden and are thus a major global health problem. The study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of Hepatitis B and C infections and co-infections among blood donors in a rural community of Ghana. This was a retrospective study conducted at the Agogo Presbyterian Hospital in the Asanti Akim North District of Ghana to investigate the prevalence of these infections over a three year period among 2773 blood donors. Males constituted a larger proportion of the study population (92.2%). Majority of the study population (43.9%) were within 26-35 age group. The disease prevalence was calculated at a 95% confidence interval. Findings: The prevalence of Hepatitis B viral (HBV) infection was highest in females- 21.4% (95% CI: 11.6-34.4) in 2006 than males in the same year- 13.2% (95% CI: 10.8-15.9). Hepatitis C viral (HCV) infection was highest among males- 11.6% (95% CI: 9.5-13.8) in 2007. HBV and HCV co-infection was higher in males- 2.6% (95% CI: 1.6-3.8) than females- 1.3% (95% CI: 0-7.0) in 2007. The overall prevalence of HBV and HCV was 13.8% (95% CI: 11.4- 16.4) and 9.4% (95% CI: 7.4-11.6) respectively in 2006. The rate of co-infection of HBV and HCV however increased from 1.6% (95% CI: 0.8-2.7) in 2006 to 2.2% (95% CI: 1.3-3.2) in 2008 in males and from 0% (95% CI: 0-6.4) in 2006 to 1.2% (95% CI: 0-6.5) in 2008 in females. Conclusion: The single infections of HBV and HCV reduced but co-infection of these transfusion transmitted infections increased. Measures such as more sensitive techniques for effective diagnosis and sanitary education to enlighten the population must be implemented.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Performance of the Novel Partec Rapid Malaria Test® in the Diagnosis of Malaria in a Rural Endemic Area; a Quicker, Cheaper and Cost Effective Alternative?
    (2010-07-12) Nkrumah, Bernard
    Malaria remains the single largest cause of death in Africa killing one child in every 30 seconds but treatment decisions are often made based on clinical diagnosis since laboratory techniques to confirm the clinical suspicion are labour-intensive and costly. This study evaluated the recently developed Partec Rapid Malaria Test® (PM) for the detection of Plasmodium spp. in human blood from patients in an endemic area and compared the results with thick blood film Giemsa stain (GS), Binax NOW® rapid diagnostic test (BN RDT) and Real time PCR in terms of their performance and operational characteristics using an expanded reference as the gold standard. A total of seven hundred and fifty one (751) participants were involved in this study. Out of this 400(53.2%) were males and 351(46.7%) were females. Their ages ranged from 3 to 16 years with the modal age being 4 years (150/752).Using an expanded reference standard the sensitivities of GS, PM, Real time PCR and BN RDT were 96.7%, 97.3%, 97.3% and 96.5% respectively. The specificities were 100%, 98.5%, 64.6% and 96.7% respectively. The Positive Predictive Values (PPV) for GS, PM, Real time PCR and BN RDT were 100%, 97.7%, 62.8% and 95.6% respectively whilst the Negative Predictive Values (NPV) were 97.8%, 98.2%, 97.5% and 97.3% respectively. There was a strong agreement between three tests methods and the reference standard: k=0.97, 0.96 and 0.93 respectively for GS, PM and BN RDT but not with Real time PCR (k=0.56). Compared to each other, the tests methods had a strong agreement as well: GS vs PM, k= 0.96 and for PM vs BN RDT, k=0.87. Real time PCR had a higher positive detection rate compared to the other methods; 110/488 (22.5%) and 109/488 (22.3%) of the total samples were positive for Real time PCR but not GS and PM respectively. Parasite counts obtained from the PM were relatively lower than that obtained from the GS but the PM had better operational characteristics than the GS. The PM may therefore be used as an alternative method for Giemsa thick film staining but for parasite speciation, the Giemsa thin film remains preferable.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Respiratory viruses in children hospitalized for acute lower respiratory tract infection in Ghana
    (Virology Journal, 2012) Kwofie, Theophilus B.; Anane, Yaw A.; Nkrumah, Bernard; Annan, Augustina; Nguah, Samuel B; Owusu, Michael; 0000-0001-5066-150X
    Background: Acute respiratory tract infections are one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality among young children in developing countries. Information on the viral aetiology of acute respiratory infections in developing countries is very limited. The study was done to identify viruses associated with acute lower respiratory tract infection among children less than 5 years. Method: Nasopharyngeal samples and blood cultures were collected from children less than 5 years who have been hospitalized for acute lower respiratory tract infection. Viruses and bacteria were identified using Reverse Transcriptase Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction and conventional biochemical techniques. Results: Out of 128 patients recruited, 33(25.88%%, 95%CI: 18.5% to 34.2%) were positive for one or more viruses. Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) was detected in 18(14.1%, 95%CI: 8.5% to 21.3%) patients followed by Adenoviruses (AdV) in 13(10.2%, 95%CI: 5.5% to 16.7%), Parainfluenza (PIV type: 1, 2, 3) in 4(3.1%, 95%CI: 0.9% to 7.8%) and influenza B viruses in 1(0.8%, 95%CI: 0.0 to 4.3). Concomitant viral and bacterial co-infection occurred in two patients. There were no detectable significant differences in the clinical signs, symptoms and severity for the various pathogens isolated. A total of 61.1% (22/36) of positive viruses were detected during the rainy season and Respiratory Syncytial Virus was the most predominant. Conclusion: The study has demonstrated an important burden of respiratory viruses as major causes of childhood acute respiratory infection in a tertiary health institution in Ghana. The data addresses a need for more studies on viral associated respiratory tract infection.