Parkinson's disease (PD) is said to be less common in Africa than elsewhere in the world, but previous studies have been based on small numbers. Also, the differences may be due to the diagnostic criteria used, case finding methods and different population age structures. Developing countries have few facilities for chronic disease management and non-communicable diseases, although on the incre...

Malaria transmission is strongly associated with location. This association has two main features. First, the disease is focused around specific mosquito breeding sites and can normally be transmitted only within certain distances from them: in Africa these are typically between a few hundred metres and a kilometre and rarely exceed 2-3 kilometres. Second, there is a marked clustering of person...

BACKGROUND Rapid diagnostic tests for malaria (mRDTs) have been scaled-up widely across Africa. The PRIME study evaluated an intervention aiming to improve fever case management using mRDTs at public health centers in Uganda. METHODS A cluster-randomized trial was conducted from 2010-13 in Tororo, a high malaria transmission setting. Twenty public health centers were randomized in a 1:1 ratio...

BACKGROUND Community case management (CCM) involves training, supporting, and supplying community health workers (CHWs) to assess, classify and manage sick children with limited access to care at health facilities, in their communities. This paper aims to provide an overview of the status in 2013 of CCM policy and implementation in sub-Saharan African countries. METHODS We undertook a cross-s...

BACKGROUND Odyssean malaria refers to malaria transmitted by translocated mosquitoes and is a diagnosis of exclusion, as the probability of finding the responsible vector is miniscule. We believe that road traffic from endemic areas in and around South Africa is the source of most of the infected mosquitoes. Because of the unexpected nature of the disease, diagnosis is often delayed and severe ...

BACKGROUND Heath facility-based sentinel site surveillance has been proposed as a means of monitoring trends in malaria morbidity but may also provide an opportunity to improve malaria case management. Here we described the impact of a sentinel site malaria surveillance system on promoting laboratory testing and rational antimalarial drug use. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Sentinel site mala...

Malaria in pregnancy is a major, preventable cause of maternal morbidity and poor birth outcomes. To prevent these adverse outcomes, WHO recommends the use of insecticide treated mosquito nets and effective case management of malaria and anaemia in pregnant women. In areas of moderate to high malaria transmission of sub-Saharan Africa, WHO also recommends intermittent preventive treatment in pr...

Malaria is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality worldwide, particularly in Africa, Southeast Asia and South America. Nonetheless, several cases of malaria have been reported in Western countries involving travelers from endemic areas, though very few involve pregnant women. In this article, we report a case of a young woman born in Sierra Leone who had been living in Italy for ...