Makerere University

About: Makerere University is a education organization based out in Kampala, Uganda. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The organization has 7220 authors who have published 12405 publications receiving 366520 citations. The organization is also known as: Makerere University Kampala & MUK.

Cognitive Impairment After Cerebral Malaria in Children: A Prospective Study

Abstract: OBJECTIVE. This study was conducted to assess prospectively the frequency of cognitive deficits in children with cerebral malaria. METHODS. Cognitive testing in the areas of working memory, attention, and learning was performed for Ugandan children 5 to 12 years of age with cerebral malaria (n = 44), children with uncomplicated malaria (n = 54), and healthy community children (n = 89) at admission and 3 and 6 months later. RESULTS. Six months after discharge, 21.4% of children with cerebral malaria had cognitive deficits, compared with 5.8% of community children. Deficits were seen in the areas of working memory (11.9% vs 2.3%) and attention (16.7% vs 2.3%). Children with cerebral malaria had a 3.7-fold increased risk of a cognitive deficit, compared with community children, after adjustment for age, gender, nutritional status, school level, and home environment. Among children with cerebral malaria, those with a cognitive deficit had more seizures before admission (mean: 4.1 vs 2.2) and a longer duration of coma (43.6 vs 30.5 hours), compared with those without a deficit. Children with uncomplicated malaria did not have an increased frequency of cognitive deficits. CONCLUSIONS. Cerebral malaria may be a major cause of cognitive impairment in children in sub-Saharan Africa. Cognitive deficits in children with cerebral malaria are more likely for those who have multiple seizures before effective treatment for cerebral malaria.

Identification of Staphylococcus aureus : DNase and Mannitol salt agar improve the efficiency of the tube coagulase test

Abstract: Background: The ideal identification of Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates requires a battery of tests and this is costly in resource limited settings. In many developing countries, the tube coagulase test is usually confirmatory for S. aureus and is routinely done using either human or sheep plasma. This study evaluated Mannitol salt agar and the deoxyribonuclease (DNase) test for improving the efficiency of the tube coagulase test in resource limited settings. The efficiency of human and sheep plasma with tube coagulase tests was also evaluated. Methods: One hundred and eighty Gram positive, Catalase positive cocci occurring in pairs, short chains or clusters were subjected to growth on Mannitol salt agar, deoxyribonuclease and tube coagulase tests. Of these, isolates that were positive for at least two of the three tests (n = 60) were used to evaluate the performance of the tube coagulase test for identification of S. aureus, using PCR-amplification of the nuc gene as a gold standard. Results: Human plasma was more sensitive than sheep plasma for the tube coagulase test (sensitivity of 91% vs. 81% respectively), but both plasmas had very low specificity (11% and 7% respectively). The sensitivity and specificity of the tube coagulase test (human plasma) was markedly improved when Mannitol salt agar and DNase were introduced as a tri-combination test for routine identification of Staphylococcus aureus (100% specificity and 75% sensitivity). The specificity and sensitivity of Mannitol salt agar/DNase/tube coagulase (sheep plasma) combination was 100% and 67%, respectively. Conclusion: The efficiency of the tube coagulase test can be markedly improved by sequel testing of the isolates with Mannitol salt agar, DNase and Tube coagulase. There is no single phenotypic test (including tube coagulase) that can guarantee reliable results in the identification of Staphylococcus aureus.

The urban south and the predicament of global sustainability

Abstract: Urbanization is a global phenomenon with strong sustainability implications across multiple scales. We argue that much of the associated challenges, and opportunities, are found in the global south. We show that urban issues in the global south are distinctly and statistically different from those in the global north, but our current urban knowledge is predominantly shaped by research on and from the global north. Cities in the global south have strong imperatives, and unique but often overlooked capacity, to innovate and experiment for sustainability. We call for a renewed research focus on urbanization in the south, and suggest targeted efforts to correct structural biases in the knowledge production system. Most of the sustainability challenges and opportunities associated with urbanization are found in the global south. This Perspective shows the extent to which urban issues differ between the developed and developing worlds and identifies steps to re-focus the urban research system globally in view of allowing a more prominent role of urban scholarship from the global south.

Understanding gender dimensions of agriculture and climate change in smallholder farming communities

Abstract: In Uganda, Ghana and Bangladesh, participatory tools were used for a socio-economic and gender analysis of three topics: climate-smart agriculture (CSA), climate analogue approaches, and climate and weather forecasting. Policy and programme-relevant results were obtained. Smallholders are changing agricultural practices due to observations of climatic and environmental change. Women appear to be less adaptive because of financial or resource constraints, because of male domination in receiving information and extension services and because available adaptation strategies tend to create higher labour loads for women. The climate analogue approach (identifying places resembling your future climate so as to identify potential adaptations) is a promising tool for increasing farmer-to-farmer learning, where a high degree of climatic variability means that analogue villages that have successfully adopted new CSA practices exist nearby. Institutional issues related to forecast production limit their credibility ...