Tuberculosis in Sudan: systematic review and meta analysis

Every year, 10 million people fall ill with tuberculosis (TB). Despite being a preventable and curable disease, 1.5 million people die from TB each year -making it the world's top infectious disease. TB is the leading cause of death of people with HIV and also a major contributor to antimicrobial resistance. Its presumed that TB was the cause of 1% of the total deaths among inpatients in Sudan in 2017. The current study is aimed to provide pooled prevalence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis among Sudanese as well as to determine any socio-cultural risk factors associated. A systematic review of the literature was conducted and regulated in accordance with the PRISMA Statement. After abstract and full text screening only twenty-six articles met our inclusion criteria and passed the quality assessment procedure. Pulmonary tuberculosis prevalence was assessed in sixteen included studies among participants from Khartoum, Gezira, Kassala, Blue Nile, River Nile, White Nile, Gadarif, Red sea, North Kordofan, Northern State, Sennar and West Darfur States, representing a total sample size of 11,253 participants of suspected individuals such as febrile outpatients, TB patients' contacts and other groups such as HIV/AIDS patients, hemodialysis patients, School adolescents as well as pregnant women. The pooled prevalence was 30.72% [CI: 30.64, 30.81]. Moreover, Khartoum State recorded the highest pooled prevalence as 41.86% [CI: 14.69, 69.02] based on a total sample size of 2,737 participants. Furthermore, male gender and rural residence were found to be significantly associated with TB infection. Further research with larger sample sizes targeting prevalence and risk factors of TB among Sudanese population is needed to be conducted.

Diarrheal diseases prevalence among children of Sudan and socio cultural risks related; systematic review and meta analysis

It is estimated that more than 4% of the causes of inpatient deaths in 2017 were due to diarrheal diseases. The current study is aimed to provide pooled prevalence of microorganisms causing diarrhea among Sudanese as well as determine any socio-cultural risk factors associated. A systematic review of the literature was conducted and regulated in accordance to PRISMA. After abstract and full text screening Twenty-one research articles were recruited to the study. Among witch eighteen research articles determined prevalence of causative microorganisms of Diarrhea; eight research articles determining prevalence of causative microorganisms of Diarrhea were conducted in Khartoum State, five in Gezira State, two in White Nile State, one in Kordofan State while two studies were conducted in several States. Moreover, majority of studies were concerned of prevalence among children while two studies were toward general population as well as mothers of children. The pooled prevalence of viral diarrhea in less than five years old children was 22.90% [15.37, 30.43] among more than 14 thousands' participants, the pooled prevalence of parasitic diarrhea was 31.40% [19.53, 43.27] among participants from different age groups while the pooled prevalence of bacterial diarrhea was 36.20% [14.00, 58.40]. No associated risk factors were able to be synthesized from included studies.

Pneumonia in Sudan: Systematic and Scoping Review of the Literature and Meta-Analysis

In addition to excessive burden of non-communicable diseases, natural and manmade disasters, and internal conflicts, Sudan is predominantly susceptible to communicable diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, and pneumonia, which bring about an extra burden of demand for high-quality healthcare. According to the WHO and the Sudan Health Observatory, pneumonia is one of the leading causes of death in Sudan. This study therefore aimed to illustrate pneumonia literature in Sudan, estimate infection prevalence regardless of the cause among Sudanese children and adults, and demonstrate its related risk factors. A systematic and scoping review of the literature was conducted and regulated in accordance to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). After abstract and full-text screening, only 15 articles met our inclusion criteria and passed the quality assessment procedure. Seven included studies determined prevalence of pneumonia; the overall pooled prevalence was around 30%. Furthermore, 12 research articles investigated risk factors related to pneumonia among Sudanese population. Further research with larger sample sizes targeting risk factors of pneumonia among Sudanese population is needed to be conducted.

Knowledge gaps of STIs in Africa; Systematic review

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) are ambiguous burden of tremendous health, social and economic consequences. The current systematic review was conducted in order to determine awareness and knowledge of Africans toward sexually transmitted infections, not only concerning HIV/AIDS, but also other STIs such as gonorrhea, syphilis, HBV, HCV and HPV. A systematic review of literature was conducted, studies were retrieved and selected after fulfilling the inclusion criteria as well as passing the assessment procedure. Related data was extracted, quantitative analysis was conducted among participants who responded to questions related to HIV, HBV, HCV, HPV or STIs knowledge, sensitivity analysis as well as subgroup analysis were also conducted. Seventy four articles addressing knowledge among 35 African countries were included and 136 questions were analyzed and synthesized. The question “does using condom reduces HIV transmission?” was answered by 1,316,873 Africans in 35 countries, 66.8% [95% Cl; 62.6, 70.9] answered yes. While the question “is sexual contact a possible route of HBV transmission?” was answered by 7,490 participants in 5 countries; 42.5% [95% Cl; 20.4, 64.7] answered yes. The differences observed among populations are highlighting the possibility for improvement by directing light toward specific populations as well as addressing specific awareness knowledge to ensure that the general as well as the related specific preventive knowledge is improved.

A Diagnostic Laboratory-Based Study on Frequency and Distribution of Viral Hepatitis B and C Among Sudanese

Background:

Hepatitis B infection is an alarming public health problem. Almost two billion people of the population alive today, would have been infected at some time in their lives by hepatitis B. Hepatitis C virus is another life threatening condition, and about 425,000 deaths occur each year due to its complications.

The current study was carried out to provide care givers and health planners basic epidemiological data regarding the frequency and distribution of HBV and HCV based on age and sex during a time period of more than 5 years.

Result:

A total of 2109 different patients were found to be infected by HBV during the study period; 1641 (77.81%) were males and 468 (22.19%) were females with the age group of 20-39 years predominating (64%). In addition,16% of patients tested for HBeAg were found reactive.

Conclusion:

There were significant correlations observed between the levels of HBV DNA and ALT, AST and AFP. Regarding HCV, 70 males (54.9%) and 63 females (45.1%) were found to be infected, with preponderance of the age group 41 - 60 years and the genotype 4. Designing knowledge raising campaigns is appreciated as well as repetition of similar studies among larger populations in the following few years will help track a way to improvement.

Plant anticancer agents XXVII: Antileukemic and cytotoxic constituents of Dirca occidentalis (Thymelaeaceae)

Two antileukemic daphnane esters, Pimelea factor P2 (I) and the new compound dircin (II), were isolated from the twigs and flowers of Dirca occidentalis A. Gray (Thymelaeaceae). Three lignans, (-)-medioresinol (III), (+)-syringaresinol (IV), and (-)-lariciresinol (V), as well as the coumarin daphnoretin (VI), were found to be additional cytotoxic constitents of this taxon.

Unaltered basal prolactin secretion during short-term oestriol treatment in post-menopausal women

Six post-menopausal women were submitted, at 1 month interval, to oral oestriol treatment for 14-day periods at daily doses of 2 and 6 mg. Blood samples were collected for LH, FSH and PRL measurements (by RIA) every other day during treatments as well as during a 14-day control period. Through the effect on LH levels was questionable, oestriol resulted in a clear and significant, although moderate, gradual decrease of mean FSH levels. At the doses used, which are effective in thetreatment of menopausal symptoms, but are devoid of any proliferative effect upon the endometrium, oestriol failed to induce any stimulatory effect on basal PRL secretion in these post-menopausal women.