Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is of public health importance worldwide. Vaccination against the infection, especially in early childhood has significantly reduced the public health impact. This pilot study was undertaken in Cape Coast Metropolitan area to assess the impact of the introduction of HBV vaccination in children. A cross-sectional multi-stage cluster sampling of 501 pupils from 30 public and private primary and junior high schools within the Cape Coast metropolis. A questionnaire covering basic demographic details and immunisation history were administered to the participants after consent and assent had been sought. Hepatitis B serological test for HBsAg, HBcAb, HBsAb, HBeAg and HbeAb was undertaken using Hepatitis B test kit and capillary blood from the participants. The general prevalence of HBcAb, HBsAg and HBsAb was found to be 3.6, 2.6 and 19.8% respectively. The prevalence of HBcAb was 2.6 and 6.1% among pupils delivered after and before the vaccine programme introduction respectively. Introduction of the vaccination programme in Ghana has had a positive impact on the HBV infection in Ghana
BackgroundPrevious research revealed high prevalence of psychological symptoms among sickle cell disease (SCD) patients in the West and Europe. In some Black SCD populations such as Nigeria and Jamaica, anxiety and depression had low prevalence rates compared to Europe. With difficulty locating research data on the prevalence of psychological symptoms in Ghana, this study aimed at exploring psychological symptoms among adults with SCD in a Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana.MethodsTwo hundred and one participants (males 102 and females 99) who were HbSS (n = 131) and HbSC (n = 70), aged 18 years and above were purposively recruited. Using the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) in a cross-sectional survey, the research answered questions about the prevalence of psychological symptoms. It also examined gender and genotype differences in psychological symptoms scores.ResultsResults indicated that adults with SCD had non-distress psychological symptoms scores. Although paranoid ideation as a psychological symptom indicated “a little bit” score, its prevalence was only 1 %. The prevalence of psychological symptoms as indexed by the Positive Symptom Total (PST) was 10 %. Anxiety, hostility, and depression were psychological symptoms with low scores. Furthermore, except psychoticism scores, males did not differ significantly from females in other psychological symptoms. On the contrary, HbSS participants differed significantly, reporting more psychological symptoms than their HbSC counterparts.ConclusionsThe study concluded that there was low prevalence of psychological symptoms among adults with SCD in this Ghanaian study. Although psychological symptoms distress scores were not observed among study participants at this time, females differed significantly by experiencing more psychoticism symptoms than males. HbSS participants also differed significantly by experiencing more depression, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, psychoticism, and additional symptoms such as poor appetite, trouble falling asleep, thoughts of dying, and feeling guilty, than their HbSC counterparts. Implications for further study and clinical practice were discussed.
Introduction: There is increasing interest in identifying neurocognitive markers that convey risk of transitioning from suicidal ideation (SI) to suicidal attempts (SA). Previous research probing attentional functioning, specifically, has been infrequent and results have been mixed. Methods: Our search yielded 12 published studies with 26 effect sizes (N = 995; n = 521 with SI and no recent SA; n = 474 with SA). All comparisons were of tasks that only included neutral stimuli. All participants were adults.Results: The groups did not significantly differ in overall performance. Compared to people with SI only, people with SA history exhibited greater error rates yet more adaptive reaction time (slower in speeded tasks; faster in untimed tasks). People with SA exhibited poorer performance than people with SI in Stroop-like tasks, but the reverse pattern was seen in Trail Making tasks. Results of speeded tasks and bedside tasks (e.g., mental status exams) were mixed. Conclusion: These results suggest attentional and cognitive control appear to be central distinguishing factors that convey risk for transition from SI to SA. Limited available data precludes firm conclusions and much more research across cognitive and attentional domains is needed.
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