In a malaria-endemic area of Africa, rabies was an important cause of fatal central nervous system infection, responsible for 14 (10.5%) of 133 cases. Four patients had unusual clinical manifestations, and rabies was only diagnosed postmortem. Three (11.5%) of 26 fatal cases were originally attributed to cerebral malaria.

Purpose: Rates of childhood disability are estimated to be high in African settings; however, services to provide information and support are limited. This study aims to explore perspectives and experiences of caregivers of children with disabilities (CWD) from acquired brain injury to inform the development of training packages for health-workers (HW) in hospital settings. Methods: The study was conducted in a tertiary hospital using qualitative methods. Fourteen in-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted with parents/carers (PC), and 10 IDIs and 4 focus-group discussions (FGDs) with HW. Data were audio-recorded, transcribed, translated and analysed using thematic approaches. Results: HWs and PCs held varying perspectives on aetiology and prognosis for CWD. HWs raised concerns about impact on families, risks of neglect and abuse. Barriers to care and support included prioritisation of acute illness, lack of HW knowledge and confidence, stigma, poor communication, focus on physical disability, and poor availability of services. Among ideas for improvement, good communication and counselling was seen as a priority but not often achieved. Conclusion: A range of family, health service and wider contextual factors affect care for CWD. Training for HW should emphasise disability rights, access to services, a range of disabilities and specific training on counselling.Implications for RehabilitationTo create good training programmes for workers who manage children with neurodisability, workers’ views on their training needs, as well parents’ views of what feel they need to know most, must be taken into account.The need for training regarding communication skills is a priority for health-workers (HW), who manage children with neurodisability in Malawi and confidence in this area is likely to be vital in providing support for these families.Disability rights and inclusion should be imperative in any training programme for managing children with neurodisability in hospital settings.Even in low-resource settings such as Malawi, it is vital that the links between hospital management and the limited resources in the community are updated and maintained.

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Background. The Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme (MLW) has routinely collected specimens for blood culture from febrile patients, and cerebrospinal fluid from patients with suspected meningitis, presenting to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH), Blantyre, Malawi, since 1998.Methods. We present bloodstream infection (BSI) and meningitis surveillance data from 1998 to 2014. Automated blood culture, manual speciation, serotyping, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing were performed at MLW. Population data for minimum-incidence estimates in urban Blantyre were drawn from published estimates.Results. Between 1998 and 2014, 167 028 blood cultures were taken from adult and pediatric medical patients presenting to QECH; Salmonella Typhi was isolated on 2054 occasions (1.2%) and nontyphoidal Salmonella (NTS) serovars were isolated 10 139 times (6.1%), of which 8017 (79.1%) were Salmonella Typhimurium and 1608 (15.8%) were Salmonella Enteritidis. There were 392 cases of NTS meningitis and 9 cases of Salmonella Typhi meningitis. There have been 3 epidemics of Salmonella BSI in Blantyre; Salmonella Enteritidis from 1999 to 2002, Salmonella Typhimurium from 2002 to 2008, and Salmonella Typhi, which began in 2011 and was ongoing in 2014. Multidrug resistance has emerged in all 3 serovars and is seen in the overwhelming majority of isolates, while resistance to third-generation cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones is currently uncommon but has been identified.Conclusions. Invasive Salmonella disease in Malawi is dynamic and not clearly attributable to a single risk factor, although all 3 epidemics were associated with multidrug resistance. To inform nonvaccine and vaccine interventions, reservoirs of disease and modes of transmission require further investigation.