Disease prevalence and grade repetition among adolescents in South Africa: is there any relationship?

Background. A universal goal of public health is to ensure that adolescents have a healthy transition to adulthood. In developing countries, a host of social, economic and political factors inhibit this from happening. The results of these challenges include an increasing disease prevalence among an age group (10 - 19-year-olds) that should be healthy. Objectives. The purpose of this study is to identify the most prevalent diseases and assess the relationship between disease and grade repetition among adolescents in South Africa (SA), and to assess the impact of disease on grade repetition. Methods. Data from the SA General Household Surveys (2009 - 2016) were analysed, and both adolescent (10 - 19 years) sexes from all geographical and racial groups were included. Frequencies, percentages and rates of infectious, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health outcomes were estimated. The relationship between disease and grade repetition was determined using logistic regression. Results. Infectious diseases, NCDs and mental illnesses are increasing in adolescents over time. In urban areas, rates of NCDs are higher than those of infectious diseases, while in rural areas a high burden of infectious disease persists. Among adolescents who repeated a grade, 7.07% had an infectious disease. In addition, infectious disease (odds ratio (OR) 1.17, p<0.05), younger adolescents, 15 - 19-year-olds (OR 1.52, p<0.05) and urban residence (OR 1.12, p<0.05) are associated with increased likelihood of grade repetition. Conclusion. Policies and programmes in SA which address the health of adolescents need to be more aware of the disease prevalence among school pupils in the country. Prolonged disease occurrences are contributing to the slow school progression and eventual matriculation of pupils

Defining and Detecting Malaria epidemics in the Highlands of Western Kenya

"Epidemic detection algorithms are being increasingly recommended for malaria surveillance in sub-Saharan Africa. We present the results of applying three simple epidemic detection techniques to routinely collected longitudinal pediatric malaria admissions data from three health facilities in the highlands of western Kenya in the late 1980s and 1990s. The algorithms tested were chosen because they could be feasibly implemented at the health facility level in sub-Saharan Africa. Assumptions of these techniques about the normal distribution of admissions data and the confidence intervals used to define normal years were also investigated. All techniques identified two ""epidemic"" years in one of the sites. The untransformed Cullen method with standard confidence intervals detected the two ""epidemic"" years in the remaining two sites but also triggered many false alarms. The performance of these methods is discussed and comments are made about their appropriateness for the highlands of western Kenya."

epidemiological transition

The epidemiological transition was thought to be a unidirectional process, beginning when infectious diseases were predominant and ending when noncommunicable diseases dominated the causes of death. It is now evident that this transition is more complex and dynamic where health and disease evolve in diverse ways. It is rather a continuous transformation process with some diseases disappearing and others re-emerging. This paper addresses the mechanisms involved and the indicators that demonstrate the changing patterns of diseases

Most common diseases treated in primary health care facilities in Lebanon

The Lebanese Ministry of Health has requested public health experts to assess the most common health problems seen in Primary Health Care [PHC] facilities. This paper presents the results of this assessment conducted in a convenience sample of PHC centers. The assessment aimed at identifying areas of strength and gaps in the current system. Data were drawn from 23 PHC centers in various regions of Lebanon, in addition to an 8-year review of the experience of the Department of Family Medicine at the American University Hospital. In general, 46% of all visits to PHC centers did not include any kind of diagnosis. Most centers provided data on large categories of diseases without breakdown into specific entities. The most commonly identified health problems were hypertension, diabetes and asthma, in addition to eye and ear diseases, cardiologic conditions, and dermatologic problems. Other health problems included ill-defined signs and symptoms associated most likely with mental distress. Dental caries, skin and hair parasites, and respiratory tract infections topped the health problems among children. A qualitative synopsis of all data is presented. The paper highlights the limitations of the current health information system in Lebanon, and suggests corrective measures. It also presents a number of recommendations regarding the optimal use of PHC centers for health education and promotion and for disease prevention

Indice de morbilidad e incidencia de enfermedades entre los esclavos en la Habana, 1580-1699 / Morbidity indexes and incidence of diseases among slaves in Havana, 1580-1699

El trabajo analiza, partiendo de fuentes primarias, las principales enfermedades registradas en una muestra de 4 446 esclavos existentes en La Habana a fines del siglo XVI y durante el siglo XVII (1580-1699). Se calcularon índices de morbilidad por sexo, grupos etáreos y otras categorías de interés; los mayores índices se encontraron entre los esclavos vinculados a la producción azucarera, los menores entre los africanos recién introducidos en la Isla. Asimismo se intentó identificar las diferentes enfermedades mediante la utilización de los textos médicos de la época

Ecological analysis of meningitis cases admitted to Fakoos fever hospital

This study was carried out on [115] cases of meningitis admitted to Fakoos fever hospital in the year, 1985. the results pointed out to the following conclusions: meningitis occurred more often in young children [42.6%] and males [67.8%] were more affected than females [32.2%], the majority of cases were aseptic meningitis [60%] followed by septic meningitis [34.8%] and tuberculous meningitis [5.2%]. The highest seasonal frequency of meningitis cases were in winter [46.1%] and spring [32.2%]. The disease was more frequent in cases coming from rural areas [82.6%]. The natural history and fatality of the disease were illustrated

Portrait of old people in Cairo hostels: a morbidity prevalence survey and some empirical correlations

This is a report on the physical, mental and social health of the residents of two hostels for the elderly in Cairo I980. Males were hyper represented specially in the age group 75 years and over. Widowhood was the prevailing feature. Only half of the residents were born in Cairo. All males were retired with satisfactory financial and housing conditions prior to admission to hostel. Morbidity as illness per person mounted to 6.84. Depression was significantly higher in females. Dementia was significantly correlated with physical illnesses. Psychiatric illness was significantly correlated with poor contact with the family. Recommendations are given to improve the psychiatric and medical care of these residents