Challenges in Disease and Health Research Vol. 10

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the trend of medication errors caused by high alert drugs before and after updated high alert medication techniques were implemented.

Methods: Data on medication mistakes was gathered from January to April 2017, and medication mistakes caused by high alert drugs were discovered. Analyzed and calculated the rate of high-alert medication mistakes. Develop strategies and re-implement them in the medication management process.  

From May to August 2017, data on high-alert medication mishaps was gathered. The frequency and severity of high-alert drug errors were determined and estimated .

Results: After creating and executing a high alert medication mistake prevention plan, the frequency of high alert medication mistakes was significantly decreased .

Conclusion: The suggested procedures for preventing high-alert medication mistakes have been shown to minimise high-alert medication mistakes. However, the high warning medication error rate should be closely watched, and solutions should be evaluated on a regular basis for their efficacy .

Title: The Use of Bone Growth Stimulators for Osteoarthritis of the Knee.

Background: The purpose of this study was to see if using Ultrasound Bone Growth Stimulators for osteoarthritis of the knee was beneficial. There is evidence that osteoarthritis of the knee is largely a subchondral bone disease with subsequent joint alterations. Because osteoarthritis contains fibrous tissue in the subchondral bone, and bone growth stimulators work by converting fibrous tissue in the callus of fracture nonunion into normal bone, osteoarthritis of the knee might be treated with bone growth stimulators.

Methods and Findings: Ten patients with confirmed osteoarthritis of the knee were included in this pilot study. Each patient’s pain and quality of life were assessed on three independent scales before and after treatment with noninvasive bone growth stimulators.

Eight subjects received ultrasound treatment, one received pulsed electromagnetic fields treatment, and one received mixed magnetic fields treatment.

There was a high level of significance for nine of the eleven statistical tests which were performed on three independent scales for ultrasound. The participants who were treated using pulsed electromagnetic fields and combined magnetic fields experienced greater than 80% improvement for the comprehensive scores on all three measurement scales.

Conclusion: This was the first time bone growth stimulators were used in a clinical setting to treat OA of the knee. Ultrasound, pulsed electromagnetic fields, and coupled magnetic fields have all been proven to be beneficial. The preliminary findings are positive, and future study paths are outlined.

In three schools in the Ovia North East Area of Edo State, Nigeria, the infection of children and young people with parasitic worms was researched. Positive cases were determined using physical and parasitological methods of evaluating faecal material. Of the 2,045 individuals examined, 1072 had one type of helminth parasite (parasitic worm) or other. The identified parasites were Ascaris lumbricoides (N=804), Strongylloides stecoralis (N=211), Taenia sp (N=111), Trichuris trichuria (N=278) and Ancylosloma duodenele (N=487). The total incidence of the infection was 52.4 percent, with the highest prevalence and severity of infections (63.0 percent; 641 parasites) in children aged 9-11 years, followed by those aged 6-8 years (61.1 percent; 526 parasites). The prevalence of helminthic infection was negatively correlated (r= 0.386; P0.1), with males having significantly higher rates (57.7) of infection than the females (47.3%) (P<0.05).

The year 2019 was ending and the New Year was also bringing a novel coronovirus to the world.   COVID-19, the novel Coronavirus, was notified as a PHEIC and later a Pandemic on the 11th of March, 2020. The Disease has symptoms which are similar to the flu (influenza) or the common cold, which are a lot more common than COVID-19. In more severe cases, an infection can present as pneumonia or acute onset breathlessness with a mode of transmission as direct Contact with respiratory droplets. The Indian government was instrumental in taking action swiftly right from the time when this disease was just an epidemic and yet to be declared as a pandemic. GOI started the measures like screening of interbnational travelers, surveillance through IDSP network, Quarantine for 14 days on entry, suspension of entry of any foreign nationals from PRC, establishment of control room and many more to delay the inevitable outcome and buy time for health department to do the mitigation.GOI had responded to the ‘Test, Track and Treat’ strategy proactively. It included augmentation of lab facilities, involvement of private sector, declaring mask & sanitizers as essential commodity, constitution of RRT’s in states, testing at maximum number of sites followed by contact tracing of positives and furthermore active surveillance in a few parts of country. India learned a lesson from other countries and adopted social vaccine as a definite measure until the vaccine was there. Benefits of non- pharmacological interventions was acknowledged and percolated to the masses through various IEC measures. These all measures were taken before the ‘LOCKDOWN’ was being imposed on 24^th of March, 2020. Although lockdown had many anticipated negative consequences but it was the only preventive measure viewed by GOI to curb the surge. The lockdown had no impact on the delivery of essential health services. All Health Facilities, Govt & Private, were instructed to remain functional. All the above-mentioned measures had contributed to serving the prime purpose of early, emphatic containment of SARS-CoV-2 in a country like India, inhabited by 1.3 billion people. Although later there was a surge of cases, but when we infer the same result in comparison to the no of cases would have been there without the lockdown, no action at policymakers would have overwhelmed the health services severely. Hence, the lockdown in India had served the purpose for which it was imposed, thereby had prevented major humanitarian losses on account of COVID-19.

Background: Socio-economic development has led to rapid changes in young people’s lifestyle and sexual behaviour in Lao PDR. HIV/AIDS education provided at school is not sufficient, therefore, developing effective educational methods is necessary. The purpose of this study was to develop an Entertainment-Education Music Video using ‘Lam’, Lao traditional folk song (EEMVL) and evaluate its effectiveness.

Methods: Experimental study was conducted at a factory in southern part of Laos. Factory workers received HIV/AIDS education by watching EEMVL. Fifty-one female factory workers were completed semi structured questionnaires at pre and post intervention, and at a two-week follow-up. The questionnaire was included items about knowledge and awareness of HIV/AIDS, self-efficacy of condom use, intention of condom use, positive and negative attitude to people living with HIV/AIDS.

Results: The results showed increased self-efficacy of condom use (p<0.001), reduced negative attitude towards people living with HIV/AIDS (p=0.003) and improved communication on HIV/AIDS information among factory workers (p<0.001) from pre intervention to two-week follow-up. Intention of condom use was increased from pre to post (p=0.017), however, decreased at the two-week follow-up (p=0.02). This decreased intention was due to the participant’s understanding of the importance of gaining the skills to protect oneself from HIV infection, and realizing that condoms cannot give 100% protection against HIV infection. Moreover, the participants expressed their desire to preserve Lao culture against HIV/AIDS and to fulfil their responsibility as Lao nationals.

Conclusion: These results suggested that the social modelling behaviour demonstrated in the EEMVL led the audience to improve their health literacy on HIV/AIDS prevention and stimulated interpersonal communication among the participants.

The sustainable goal number three (UN 2015) advocates for reduction in in maternal death 70 per 100,000 women. Though there is a drastic reduction in maternal death in Africa, many countries still have high maternal deaths.  Kenya has shown drastic reduction from 488 deaths  per 10000 in 2016 to 350 deaths per 100000.The health status of women is an important indicator of the overall economic health and well-being of a country. Maternal health is closely linked with the survival of newborns. Focused Antenatal care (FANC) is a widely used strategy to improve the health of pregnant women and to encourage skilled care during childbirth. In 2011, the Ministry of Health in Kenya developed a national adaptation plan based on the new model of the World Health Organization (WHO) This cross sectional study design examined the factors influencing the uptake of FANC in Nyatoto sub location in HomaBay County of Kenya Nyatoto village is a remoter rural village in western part of kenya. The study adopted a stratified systemic sampling method and used an interview schedule to collect data. All participants met predetermined eligibility criteria. Data was analyzed using Microsoft excel programme. Findings revealed that 23.6% of participant had a history of pregnancy loss. The commonest cause was Malaria (30.7%). Majority (85.5%) of women preferred hospital delivery while fewer (14.5%) preferred home delivery stating unfriendly attitude of health workers and being unaware of the importance of hospital delivery as their resion.47.3% of women in Nyatoto community had at one time had a home delivery. The study recommended a synergistic approach targeting health care providers, FANC mothers and the community at large in order to improve FANC services. Improved FANC services will ensure that mothers reap maximum benefits from the care. Further, adult education programmes should be funded by both ministry of education, county government and other development partners. Women with low or no education should be encouraged to attend these classes.

Gangliosidosis is defined as the accumulation of Glycosphingolipids (Gangliosides) secondary to impairment in its metabolism due to a deficient enzyme or its activating factors. Sialylated Glycosphingolipids are especially abundant on neuronal outer membrane. Multiple studies have shown that Glycosphingolipids or their catabolites are involved in cell differentiation and morpho-genesis. The residual \(\beta\)-hexosaminidase activities, pre-\(\beta\)-polypeptide chain mRNA, and status of the HEXB gene predominantly determines the fate of the disease. In contrast, most of the primary gene defect is in the HEXB gene. The etiology and pathogenesis of Early infantile gangliosidosis are still not completely known. Since it's an autosomal recessive disease, the incidence of the disease can be decreased by Pre-marital screening of the individuals.

Introduction: Bioresonance is a holistic physical method that can be used diagnostically and therapeutically to treat various diseases. Bioresonance uses the electromagnetic waves it receives from the patient. This biophysical method of treatment alters the energy field of the affected organism, increasing the effectiveness of the autoimmune system, thus improving the patient’s overall health. Bioresonance is neither a panacea nor it is intended to replace conventional medicine.

Methods: A quasi-experimental design was used to examine whether bioresonance had an effect on the symptoms of the patients. Statistical data processing involves a study of various parameters such as age, gender, studies, occupation, intolerance or illness as well as the existence and balancing of allergic charges. The study included 311 patients from doctors and bio-coordinating laboratories in Athens, Thessaloniki, Volos and Xanthi. The sample of the study included both men (120 subjects - 38.58%) and women (191 subjects – 61.42%), aged from 2 to 76 years old. The age group with the largest number of patients included those aged from 31 to 45.

Results: The patients under treatment came forward with symptoms mostly nasal (61.09%), followed by eye, respiratory, cutaneous, and gastrointestinal symptoms. Most of the patients (90%) observe no symptoms at all or show significant improvement of their symptoms after a period of 12 months of bioresonance treatment. These results show that bioresonance intervention had a significant effect on the improvement of symptoms and this improvement is even obvious 12 months after the intervention; p<.01.

Conclusion: We believe that the forthcoming results contribute to a better understanding of the effect of bioresonance on the human body and its affect in preventing and restoring health issues. Bioresonance is a new development in the field of medicine that covers the need for early detection of disorders and organism malfunctions that can potentially develop into ailments.

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia is a group of autosomal recessive disorders. The most frequent one is 21-hydroxylase deficiency. Analyzing CYP21A2 gene mutations was so far not reported in Iraq. This work aims to analyze the spectrum and frequency of CYP21A2 mutations among Iraqi CAH patients. Sixty-two children were recruited from the Pediatric Endocrine Consultation Clinic, Children Welfare Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq, from September 2014 till June 2015. Their ages ranged between one day and 15 years. They presented with salt wasting, simple virilization, or pseudoprecocious puberty. Cytogenetic study was performed for cases with ambiguous genitalia. Molecular analysis of CYP21A2 gene was done using the CAH StripAssay (ViennaLab Diagnostics) for detection of 11 point mutations and >50% of large gene deletions/conversions. Mutations were found in 42 (67.7%) patients; 31 (50%) patients were homozygotes, 9 (14.5%) were heterozygotes, and 2 (3.2%) were compound heterozygotes with 3 mutations, while 20 (32.3%) patients had none of the tested mutations. The most frequently detected mutations were large gene deletions/conversions found in 12 (19.4%) patients, followed by I2Splice and Q318X in 8 (12.9%) patients each, I172N in 5 (8.1%) patients, and V281L in 4 (6.5%) patients. Del 8 bp, P453S, and R483P were each found in one (1.6%) and complex alleles were found in 2 (3.2%). Four point mutations (P30L, Cluster E6, L307 frameshift, and R356W) were not identified in any patient. In conclusion, gene deletions/conversions and 7 point mutations were recorded in varying proportions, the former being the commonest, generally similar to what was reported in regional countries.

The Objective of the research is to bring rural people together control rabies in their communities. One health issues need to be accepted and well implemented in most rural setting of developing nations where health care delivery is still a mirage. This paper examines the challenges and approaches of implementing one health concept at rural communities in Sierra Leone. Rapid and participatory rural appraisal was used to collect information from invitees, Non-Governmental Organizations operating in communities, direct and indirect beneficiaries in and around the project area, including officials from the District Council, councillors, ward representatives, Paramount Chiefs, community leaders, health workers, International and National Non-Governmental Organizations, Traders, Animal Owners and officials from ministry of Health and Agriculture. This study found that implementing One Health in this type of rural community has been difficult due to a variety of factors including a lack of trained available personnel, poor infrastructure, and a weak health system in the animal and human sectors, as well as a lack of organised institutions and financial mismanagement. It also highlighted one-health needs and relevant zoonotic diseases as a starting point for implementing the one-health idea.One of the zoonoses discovered is rabies, which has been highlighted as a factor that needs to be improved in order to accomplish rabies control in rural areas.