Clonal waves of <em>Neisseria</em> colonisation and disease in the African meningitis belt: eight- year longitudinal study in Northern Ghana (Publications)
BACKGROUND: The Kassena-Nankana District of northern Ghana lies in the African "meningitis belt" where epidemics of meningococcal meningitis have been reoccurring every eight to 12 years for the last
Diagnostic accuracy of Kato-Katz and FLOTAC for assessing anthelmintic drug efficacy (Publications)
BACKGROUND: Sensitive diagnostic tools are required for an accurate assessment of prevalence and intensity of helminth infections in areas undergoing regular deworming, and for monitoring anthelmintic
Patterns and risk factors of helminthiasis and anemia in a rural and a peri-urban community in Zanzibar, in the context of helminth control programs (Publications)
BACKGROUND: The control of helminth infections and prevention of anemia in developing countries are of considerable public health importance. The purpose of this study was to determine patterns and ri
Varying efficacy of intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in infants in two similar trials: public health implications (Publications)
BACKGROUND: Intermittent preventive treatment (IPTi) with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) in infants resulted in different estimates of clinical malaria protection in two trials that used the same pro
Exposure to moderate air pollution during late pregnancy and cord blood cytokine secretion in healthy neonates (Publications)
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Ambient air pollution can alter cytokine concentrations as shown in vitro and following short-term exposure to high air pollution levels in vivo. Exposure to pollution during la
Optimization and validation of multi-coloured capillary electrophoresis for genotyping of <em>Plasmodium falciparum</em> merozoite surface proteins... (Publications)
BACKGROUND: Genotyping of Plasmodium falciparum based on PCR amplification of the polymorphic genes encoding the merozoite surface proteins 1 and 2 (msp1 and msp2) is well established in the field of
Dynamics of socioeconomic risk factors for neglected tropical diseases and malaria in an armed conflict (Publications)
BACKGROUND: Armed conflict and war are among the leading causes of disability and premature death, and there is a growing share of civilians killed or injured during armed conflicts. A major part of t