SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Namibia”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Onyalai at Rundu, Namibia 1981-1988: age, sex, morbidity, mortality and seasonal variation of 612 hospitalized patients.

Of 51,263 admissions to Rundu State Hospital in Namibia between 1981 and 1988, 612 (1.19%) were diagnosed as onyalai. The annual incidence varied between 0.96% and 1.66% of all admissions. The female to male ratio was 3:2. The mean age at presentation was 24.8 years (range 6 months to 80 years) and the mean hospital stay (and duration of clinical bleeding) for the years 1981 to 1982 and 1985 to 1988 was 7.68 d (range 1-38 d). Although the highest number of cases occurred during the months March, April and May a statistically significant monthly variation was not found. The treatment policy of commencing intravenous fluid on admission and a blood transfusion whenever the haemoglobin dropped below 10 g/dl in patients with active bleeding was associated with a mortality rate of 2.78% compared to 9.8% in cases recorded up to 1981.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Serological markers of hepatitis B virus and certain other viruses in the population of eastern Caprivi, Namibia.

Serum samples from 475 male and 420 female subjects from the population of eastern Caprivi, the north-easternmost territory in northern Namibia, were examined for the presence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), antibodies to HBsAg (anti-HBs) and hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc). There appeared to be a rapid acquisition of antibodies to the different markers in childhood, reaching maximum values in the 20-24 year age group. The prevalence rate for all markers was lower in eastern Caprivi than in Kavango, an area 180 km to the west. The reason for these differences is unclear. It is postulated that the hut tampan tick (Ornithodoros moubata), which has previously been shown to be implicated in the transmission of hepatitis B virus in Kavango, is more common in the latter territory than in eastern Caprivi. Huts in eastern Caprivi are usually better constructed than in Kavango, where reeds are commonly used as building material. Tampans lodge between the reeds and are more difficult to eradicate. West Nile virus was the most common of the arboviruses found in our sero-prevalence studies.

Antibodies, Viral↗

PubMed1988

The political economy of health care: colonial Namibia 1915-1961.

The political economy of health care services in colonial Namibia during 1915-1961 closely reflected the extreme racial and class imbalance of power in a conquest state. The colonial power allocated to the indigent nine-tenths, the poorest nine-tenths of the people, an average 43% of the health care budget between 1922 and 1954. The League of Nations mandate proved toothless in pressuring the Mandatory power to rectify this or other inequalities.

Black or African American↗

PubMed1994

Outbreak of paralytic poliomyelitis in Namibia.

The last confirmed case of poliomyelitis in Namibia had been reported in 1988. However, between Nov 8, 1993, and Jan 7, 1994, 27 cases of paralytic poliomyelitis were confirmed in the country. The outbreak was limited to the south health region; at least 80% of infants in this region have received four doses of oral poliovaccine (OPV) by the age of 1 year. Acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) was the predominant clinical presentation during the outbreak. The patients' ages ranged from 13 months to 12 years; 24 were younger than 5 years. Of the 26 patients whose vaccine status was known, 14 had received four doses of OPV, 6 had one or two doses, and 6 no vaccine. Genotypic analysis showed 86% homology of outbreak isolates with a 1982 Namibian isolate and west African isolates. Factors that may have had a role in the outbreak include establishment of a pool of susceptible people, rapid urbanisation, inadequate sanitation, poor water supply, and possible endemicity of poliovirus in neighbouring areas. Epidemics can occur in areas of high vaccine coverage. Our findings emphasise the need to improve AFP surveillance activities and the estimation of vaccine coverage to identify areas of potential susceptibility for outbreaks.

Antibodies, Viral↗

PubMed1996

Analysis of lymphocytes from uranium mineworkers in Namibia for chromosomal damage using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).

Workers in the open pit uranium mine in Namibia appear to suffer from health problems including malignant diseases at a much higher prevalence when compared with the general population. The objective of the present study was to determine whether long-term exposure to low-dose uranium increases the risk of biological radiation damage which could lead to malignant diseases. In order to investigate this risk, we measured the relative frequency of chromosome alterations using Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). A representative cohort of 11 non-smoking miners, were compared to a control group of 9 individuals with no occupational history in mining. We determined a significant increase in chromosome aberrations in the circulating lymphocytes of miners versus the non-smoking controls (p = 0.0000096). Therefore, we concluded that these uranium exposed miners are at an increased risk to acquire genetic damage, which may be associated with an increased risk for malignant transformation.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Using remote sensing to predict outbreaks of Oestrus ovis in Namibia.

The Directorate of Veterinary Services of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development of Namibia issues warnings to farmers in the south of the country about the likelihood of infestation of small-stock by the nasal bot fly, Oestrus ovis. Farmers can then treat their stock at the most appropriate time. The O. ovis puparia develop at shallow depths in the soil and the timing of emergence is directly dependent on climate conditions, specifically the number of degree-days above a particular threshold soil temperature. Based on temperature measurements from only a few stations scattered throughout the country, the veterinary department warnings lack precision in space and time. This paper presents an attempt to support the programme of warnings with accumulated temperature information from Meteosat satellite images, in order to strengthen predictions of the time of emergence in specific places, and to improve the precision and reliability of warnings given to farmers.

Animals↗

PubMed1996

Differential fertility and body build in !Kung San and Kavango females from northern Namibia.

The study examines the impact of body build on differential fertility patterns in 93 !Kung San and 85 Kavango females from northern Namibia. In both groups shorter females had more offspring, but also more dead offspring, than taller females. The interaction between body weight and fertility was different in both groups and may be due to different nursing behaviour. There was a positive relationship between the typical pedomorphy and fertility in the !Kung San, and directional selection processes may be important.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1995

Epidemiology and control of schistosomiasis mansoni in communities living on the Cuando River floodplain of East Caprivi, Namibia.

The Cuando River area of eastern Caprivi, Namibia, is highly endemic for Schistosoma mansoni whereas S. haematobium transmission, due to the scarcity of its intermediate host snail, Bulinus africanus, does not occur. Chemotherapy (6-monthly blanket treatments with praziquantel) combined with focal mollusciciding (monthly application of niclosamide) was used in a project in the area to control the disease. Although as many adults and pre-school children as possible were tested and treated, the project concentrated largely on school-age children. It took 3 years for prevalence to decline from > 80% to 20% because of a lack of proper sanitary facilities and piped water supplies and high rates of absenteeism and re-infection. However, intensity of infection decreased more rapidly, from an arithmetic mean of > 200 to < 5 eggs/g faeces. Hepatomegaly was common among school children when the project started but could be seen in only a small percentage of them after 3 years of control. Neither the bovine schistosome, S. mattheei, nor the lechwe schistosomes, S. margrebowiei and S. leiperi, were observed in the excreta of humans living in the area.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Anthropometric-hormonal correlation patterns in San and Kavango males from Namibia.

Correlations between sex hormone levels and body dimensions--so far investigated only in Caucasian populations--were analysed using data from 114 !Kung San hunter-gatherers and 137 urban and rural Kavango men from Namibia. The androgens testosterone (Tser) and 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in the serum and free testosterone in the saliva (Tsal) as well as oestradiol (E2) in the serum were determined by the radioimmunoassay method. The body dimensions were described by 50 anthropometric features which were additionally subjected to factor analysis yielding seven factors. Most of the individual measurements as well as the resulting factor scores correlated significantly with the sex hormone variables and the hormone ratios Tser/DHT, Tsal/Tser, and Tser/E2 in the !Kung San and the two Kavango samples. For an extended comparison pertinent data from a German sample were included in the analysis. This made it possible to test the stability of metric hormonal correlations in different populations living under various ecological and economical conditions. While the breadth measurements in all samples show relatively consistent correlations to both absolute hormones and hormone ratios, the correlations to the other body measurements and individual factor scores turn out to be less stable. Here, the effect of sex hormones on physical growth, which is experimentally well documented, is obviously differentially covered by genetic and environmental factors specific for the groups in question.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms in Negroid populations from Namibia: new light on the origins of the Dama, Herero and Ambo.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymorphisms were investigated in the Herero, Dama and Ambo Negroid groups from Namibia, using the restriction enzymes HpaI, BamHI, HaeII, MspI, AvaII and HincII. Although the Dama presently speak a Hottentot language, Nama, their mtDNA pool closely resembles that found in the Herero who are western-Bantu speakers, suggesting that these groups may be derived from the same female ancestor. Both the Dama and the Herero have a high frequency of mtDNA type 21-2 (2-1-1-1-2-2), found at frequencies of 32.6% and 50.0%, respectively, compared to 4.5% in the Ambo. In addition, the 'Negroid-like' types 2-2 (3-1-1-1-3-2) and 7-2 (3-1-1-1-1-2), found at frequencies of 13.5% and 54.5%, respectively, in the Ambo, are rarely found in the Dama and Herero. This suggests that the Ambo have different origins from the Herero and Dama; they appear to be more closely related to southeastern Bantu-speakers than to southwestern Bantu-speakers.

Black People↗

PubMed1996

Validation study of a verbal autopsy method for causes of childhood mortality in Namibia.

Verbal autopsy uses a caretaker interview to determine the cause of death. We conducted a study of the major causes of child death in Namibia to determine the validity of this method. A questionnaire, including signs and symptoms of the diagnoses of interest was administered to the caretaker in 135 deaths of children < 5 years old who were identified from hospital records. The 243 diagnoses included malnutrition (77), diarrhoea (73), pneumonia (36), malaria (33), and measles (24). Sensitivity and specificity of various algorithms of reported signs and symptoms were compared to the medical diagnoses. An algorithm for malnutrition (very thin or swelling) had 73 per cent sensitivity and 76 per cent specificity. An algorithm for cerebral malaria (fever, loss of consciousness or convulsion) had 72 per cent sensitivity and 85 per cent specificity, while for all malaria deaths the same algorithm had low sensitivity (45 per cent) and high specificity (87 per cent). For diarrhoea, loose or liquid stools had high sensitivity (89 per cent), but low specificity (61 per cent). Cough with dyspnoea or tachypnoea had 72 per cent sensitivity and 64 per cent specificity. An algorithm for measles (age > or = 120 days, rash) had 71 per cent sensitivity and 85 per cent specificity. The study results suggest verbal autopsy data can be useful to ascertain the leading causes of death in childhood, but may have limitations for health impact evaluation.

Algorithms↗

PubMed1989

Blastomycosis in Namibia--report of a case successfully treated with itraconazole.

The clinical, histological, mycological, radiological and scintigraphic features of a 42-year-old Namibian male with blastomycosis are described. This appears to be the first documented incidence of blastomycosis in Namibia. Leucocyte myeloperoxidase deficiency was evident. Treatment with itraconazole led to dramatic resolution of lesions. A reactive xanthogranulomatous response was present in a healed clavicular lesion.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Surveillance and control of anthrax and rabies in wild herbivores and carnivores in Namibia.

Anthrax has been studied intensively in Etosha National Park, Namibia since 1966; in addition, since 1975, mortality due to rabies and all other causes has been recorded, totalling 6,190 deaths. Standard diagnostic procedures demonstrated that at least 811 deaths (13%) were due to anthrax and 115 deaths (2%) were caused by rabies. Of the total number of deaths due to anthrax, 97% occurred in zebra (Equus burchelli), elephant (Loxodonta africana), wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) and springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) while 96% of rabies deaths occurred in kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros), jackal (Canis mesomelas), bat-eared fox (Otocyon megalotis) and lion (Panthera leo). Anthrax deaths were highest in the rainy season for zebra, wildebeest and springbok, while elephant mortality peaked during dry seasons. No statistical relationship existed between seasonal rainfall and overall incidence of either anthrax or rabies. Control of anthrax is limited to prophylactic inoculation when rare or endangered species are threatened. Incineration of anthrax carcasses and chemical disinfection of drinking water are not feasible at Etosha. Rabies control consists of the destruction of rabid animals and incineration of their carcasses when possible.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

A survey of the intestinal nematodes of Bushmen in Namibia.

Studies in Namibia revealed prevalence rates of 63% for hookworm and 35% for Trichuris in 31 Bushmen, 4-65 years of age, who were encamped in the Kaudom Game Reserve. The study also revealed prevalence rates of 85% for hookworm, 25% for Strongyloides, and 1% for Trichuris in 103 children, 6-17 years of age, attending 5 schools in Bushmanland. The 25% Strongyloides infection rate is one of the highest prevalences recorded in southern Africa. The Trichuris infections in the Kaudom group appeared to be autochthonous, and this population did not harbor Strongyloides. Regular contact with pans in summer and boreholes at any time probably facilitated the acquisition of infections in wet and fecally polluted sites. Thirteen spurious Physaloptera infections were recorded.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1990

Internal parasites of giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis) from Etosha National Park, Namibia.

During three seasonal periods, parasitological samples were collected from six giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis) in the Etosha National Park, Namibia. The helminths recovered included Parabronema skrjabini, Skrjabinema spp., Haemonchus mitchelli and Echinococcus sp. larvae; Cytauxzoon sp. was the only hematozoan found. The low mean abundances of all helminths which ranged from 18 to 531 may be attributed to the low rainfall of this region or because the giraffe is not a preferred host for these species of helminths.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Anthrax in cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) in Namibia.

Bacillus anthracis caused the death of five cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) on a farm in the Gobabis district in Namibia. The mode of infection was believed to be a freshly shot baboon (Papio ursinus) with a cutaneous anthrax lesion.

Animals↗

PubMed1997

Antibodies against equine herpesviruses in free-ranging mountain zebras from Namibia.

Twenty-one blood samples of free-ranging mountain zebras (Equus zebra) from Namibia were tested for equine herpesvirus (EHV-1, -2, -3, -4) specific antibodies by immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and neutralization test (NT). Additionally, type-specific nested polymerase chain reactions (nested PCR) were employed for detection of EHV-1, -2 and -4 DNA. Equine herpesvirus-1 antibodies were detected by IFA in all zebras, while only seven serum samples contained EHV-4 IFA antibodies. Sera with high IFA antibodies also were found to neutralize EHV-1 and -4. Furthermore, 20 zebras were EHV-2 seropositive by IFA, and one zebra had EHV-2 neutralizing antibodies. Equine herpesvirus-3 specific antibodies were not detected. We did not amplify EHV-1, -2 or -4 specific DNA sequences in peripheral blood leukocytes of the same zebras using type-specific nested PCR. EHV infections appear to be widespread in free-ranging zebras, as they are in domestic horses.

Animals↗

PubMed1998

Gastric spiral bacteria and intramuscular sarcocysts in African lions from Namibia.

Six juvenile male, one adult male, and three adult, female African lions (Panthera leo) from Etosha National Park, Republic of Namibia were presented for necropsy. Two of four adults and one of six juveniles had moderate numbers of gastric spiral bacteria. Additionally, four of four adults had sarcocysts. All juveniles had enteric Sarcocystis sp. oocysts, but no sarcocysts. The gastric spiral bacteria were located extracellularly in fundic and pyloric glands, and also apparently intracellularly within parietal cells in the fundic region. The organisms were 4 to 8 microns long, 0.63 micron wide, with a periodicity of 0.60 micron. The bacteria had blunted ends with multiple flagella. No periplasmic fibrils were observed. The histologic and ultrastructural characteristics of the bacteria were considered most consistent with species in the genus Helicobacter or incompletely identified Helicobacter-like organisms. Gastric inflammation did not differ significantly between infected and uninfected individuals. The bacteria may be commensals, or an opportunistic pathogen. The sarcocysts were observed in hindlimb skeletal muscle of four individuals, with one individual also containing a single sarcocyst within glossal musculature. All observed cysts were mature, and were contained within individual myocytes. The cyst wall consisted of a 44 to 66 nm, granular, electron dense parasitophorous membrane with subjacent, 0.8 to 1.3 microns thick, granular and fibrillar ground substance which also extended into the cyst interior as thin septa. The membrane was folded and lined irregularly spaced, 0.8 to 1.3 microns tall villi centrally containing ground substance. The membrane was continuous in the villar projections, but divided into discrete aggregations of the electron dense material between the villi. Bradyzoites within the interior of the cyst were 3 by 12 microns. The sarcocysts were determined to be Sarcocystis felis based on the characteristic ultrastructural appearance of the cyst wall.

Animals↗