Browsing Journal articles & published research by Date published
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Climate change and control of diarrhoeal diseases in South Africa: Priorities for action.Weather conditions, especially temperature and precipitation, play a critical role in shaping patterns of diarrhoeal diseases. They determine the frequency of outbreaks, and the spatial and seasonal distribution of cases. Not surprisingly, it is anticipated that the burden of diarrhoeal diseases will escalate with climate change, in tandem with gradual increments in mean temperatures, but also during episodic heatwaves. The degree and nature of this escalation will, however, vary with the mix of pathogens in an area, the quality of sanitation services, food hygiene regulations and their enforcement, and the age structure of the population, among other factors. Understanding these patterns can inform the design of measures to prevent and control heat-related diarrhoea. In this editorial, we sum evidence on the heat sensitivity of enteric infections in South Africa (SA) and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa (19 studies), drawing on articles located in a systematic review (methods detailed in Manyuchi et al. [1]), and consider the implications of these findings for control of diarrhoea in SA in the context of climate change.
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Miscarriage hospitalisations: a national population-based study of incidence and outcomes, 2005-2016.Approximately, 1 out of 4 women will experience an early miscarriage in their reproductive life. Despite the burden of early miscarriage, there is a lack of information regarding trends in incidence rates of hospitalisations and type of management of early miscarriage, but also about the morbidities associated to hospitalisations of early miscarriage. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to explore national trends in incidence rates of hospital admissions for early miscarriage in the Republic of Ireland from January of 2005 to December of 2016, and to estimate morbidity associated with blood transfusion and length of stay over 2 days. This is a retrospective population-based study using the Hospital In-Patient Enquiry (HIPE). The HIPE is a computer-based system designed to collect demographic, clinical and administrative data on discharges and deaths in the Republic of Ireland. However data from the emergency department and outpatient settings are not available. Over this period of time there were approximately 50,000 hospitalisations for early miscarriage. Early miscarriage hospitalisations became 19% less common during 2005–2016 but the risk of blood transfusion doubled. The risk of an extended length of stay also increased over the same time period. Women who underwent medical management did not have as many blood transfusions compare to those who had surgical management. However, women who underwent medical treatment had a higher risk of a prolonged stay at the hospital. More research is needed to explore the patterns of care and morbidities associated to hospitalisation in order to improve protocols of management and the care provided for women who miscarry.
