University of Zambia

About: University of Zambia is a education organization based out in Lusaka, Lusaka, Zambia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 2593 authors who have published 4402 publications receiving 122411 citations. The organization is also known as: UNZA.

Association between early childhood exposure to malaria and children’s pre-school development: evidence from the Zambia early childhood development project

Abstract: Despite major progress made over the past 10 years, malaria remains one of the primary causes of ill health in developing countries in general, and in sub-Saharan Africa in particular. Whilst a large literature has documented the frequency and severity of malaria infections for children under-five years, relatively little evidence is available regarding the impact of early childhood malaria exposure on subsequent child development. The objective of the study was to assess the associations between early childhood exposure to malaria and pre-school development. Child assessment data for 1,410 children in 70 clusters collected through the 2010 Zambian Early Childhood Development Project was linked with malaria parasite prevalence data from the 2006 Zambia Malaria Indicator Survey. Linear and logistic models were used to estimate the effect of early childhood exposure to malaria on anthropometric outcomes as well as on a range of cognitive and behavioural development measures. No statistically significant associations were found between parasite exposure and children’s height and weight. Exposure to the malaria parasite was, however, associated with lower ability to cope with cognitive tasks administered by interviewers (z-score difference −1.11, 95% CI −2.43–0.20), as well as decreased overall socio-emotional development as assessed by parents (z-score difference −1.55, 95% CI −3.13–0.02). No associations were found between malaria exposure and receptive vocabulary or fine-motor skills. The results presented in this paper suggest potentially large developmental consequences of early childhood exposure to malaria. Continued efforts to lower the burden of malaria will not only reduce under-five mortality, but may also have positive returns in terms of the long-term well-being of exposed cohorts.

Molecular detection of Rickettsia felis in dogs, rodents and cat fleas in Zambia.

Abstract: Flea-borne spotted fever is a zoonosis caused by Rickettsia felis, a Gram-negative obligate intracellular bacterium. The disease has a worldwide distribution including western and eastern sub-Saharan Africa where it is associated with febrile illness in humans. However, epidemiology and the public health risks it poses remain neglected especially in developing countries including Zambia. While Ctenocephalides felis (cat fleas) has been suggested to be the main vector, other arthropods including mosquitoes have been implicated in transmission and maintenance of the pathogen; however, their role in the epidemiological cycle remains to be elucidated. Thus, the aim of this study was to detect and characterize R. felis from animal hosts and blood-sucking arthropod vectors in Zambia. Dog blood and rodent tissue samples as well as cat fleas and mosquitoes were collected from various areas in Zambia. DNA was extracted and screened by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting genus Rickettsia and amplicons subjected to sequence analysis. Positive samples were further subjected to R. felis-specific real-time quantitative polymerase chain reactions. Rickettsia felis was detected in 4.7% (7/150) of dog blood samples and in 11.3% (12/106) of rodent tissue samples tested by PCR; this species was also detected in 3.7% (2/53) of cat fleas infesting dogs, co-infected with Rickettsia asembonensis. Furthermore, 37.7% (20/53) of cat flea samples tested positive for R. asembonensis, a member of spotted fever group rickettsiae of unknown pathogenicity. All the mosquitoes tested (n = 190 pools) were negative for Rickettsia spp. These observations suggest that R. felis is circulating among domestic dogs and cat fleas as well as rodents in Zambia, posing a potential public health risk to humans. This is because R. felis, a known human pathogen is present in hosts and vectors sharing habitat with humans.