Background: Septic shock (SS) is a health priority in sub-Saharan Africa. However, there is a dearth of data in this regard. Objective: This study aimed to determine the epidemiology, therapeutic patterns, outcome, and challenges in managing SS in a tertiary intensive care unit (ICU) of sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: The hospital file...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether the amount of randomised clinical research on various medical conditions is related to the burden of disease and health needs of the local populations in sub-Saharan Africa. DESIGN Construction and analysis of comprehensive database of randomised controlled trials in sub-Saharan Africa based on Medline, the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, and several African...

The last fifteen years have witnessed a significant increase in investment in research ethics capacity development throughout the world. We examine nine research ethics training programs that are focused on Sub-Saharan Africa and supported by the US National Institutes of Health. We collected data from grants awards' documents and annual reports supplemented by questionnaires completed by the t...

BACKGROUND Despite vast improvements in transfusion services in sub-Saharan Africa over the last decade, there remain serious concerns on the safety and adequacy of the blood supply across the region. OBJECTIVE This review paper ascertains the role of pathogen reduction technology (PRT) in improving blood safety and supply adequacy in the region. METHOD The state of blood safety in sub-Saha...

Over the past three decades, Sub-Saharan Africa has been viewed as the “forgotten continent”. With her many problems of hunger, epidemics, war, and other related socioeconomic problems, the diffusion of the Internet and related technologies might be the last thing to be associated with Africa. However, we are experiencing the contrary. Sub-Saharan countries are experiencing tremendous growth in...

To understand geographic variation in travel-related illness acquired in distinct African regions, we used the GeoSentinel Surveillance Network database to analyze records for 16,893 ill travelers returning from Africa over a 14-year period. Travelers to northern Africa most commonly reported gastrointestinal illnesses and dog bites. Febrile illnesses were more common in travelers returning fro...

The HIV/AIDS pandemic marks a severe development crisis in Africa, which remains by far the worst affected region in the world. Forty-two million people now live with HIV/AIDS of which 29.4 million (70.0%) are from sub-Saharan Africa. Approximately 5 million new infections occurred in 2002 and 3.5 million (70.0%) of these were also from sub-Saharan Africa. The estimated number of children orpha...

From January to April 2012, 16 cases of W135 invasive meningococcal infection were reported in France. Of these, eight were linked to a recent travel history to Sub-Saharan Africa. These cases were reported in France concomitantly with the meningitis epidemic season in Sub-Saharan Africa. Considering the high number of travellers between France and West-African countries belonging to the so-cal...

Disability research in contemporary sub-Saharan Africa is developing rapidly, and this is something to be celebrated. This article reviews some contemporary developments and suggests that there are five central, and interrelated, challenges for the field. These challenges - experience, expertise, enumeration, evidence, and expectations - go to the heart of thinking about disability research in ...

the editorial “non-physician clinicians in sub-saharan africa and the evolving role of physicians” by eyal et al describes non-physician clinicians’ (npc) need for mentorship and support from physicians. we emphasise the same need of support for front line generalist primary healthcare providers who carry out complex tasks yet may have an inadequate skill mix.