Browsing by Author "Asiedu, Louis"

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    SARS-Cov-2 Incidence Monitoring and Statistical Estimation of the Basic and Time-Varying Reproduction Number at the Early Onset of the Pandemic in 45 Sub-Saharan African Countries.
    (Kabale University, 2024) Oduro, Michael Safo; Arhin‐Donkor, Seth; Asiedu, Louis; Kadengye, Damazo T.; Iddi, Samuel
    The world battled to defeat a novel coronavirus 2019 (SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19), a respiratory illness that is transmitted from person to person through contact with droplets from infected persons. Despite efforts to disseminate preventable messages and adoption of mitigation strategies by governments and the World Health Organization (WHO), transmission spread globally. An accurate assessment of the transmissibility of the coronavirus remained a public health priority for many countries across the world to fight this pandemic, especially at its early onset. In this paper, we estimated the transmission potential of COVID-19 across 45 countries in sub-Saharan Africa using three approaches, namely, R0 based on (i) an exponential growth model (ii) maximum likelihood (ML) estimation, and (iii) a time-varying basic reproduction number at the early onset of the pandemic. Using data from March 14, 2020, to May 10, 2020, sub-Saharan African countries were still grappling with COVID-19 at that point in the pandemic. The region’s basic reproduction number (R0) was 1.89 (95% CI: 1.767 to 2.026) using the growth model and 1.513 (95% CI: 1.491 to 1.535) with the maximum likelihood method, indicating that, on average, infected individuals transmitted the virus to less than two secondary persons. Several countries, including Sudan (R0: 2.03), Ghana (R0: 1.87), and Somalia (R0: 1.85), exhibited high transmission rates. These findings highlighted the need for continued vigilance and the implementation of effective control measures to combat the pandemic in the region. It is anticipated that the findings in this study would not only function as a historical record of reproduction numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic in African countries, but can serve as a blueprint for addressing future pandemics of a similar nature.
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    Utilizing A Multi-Stage Transition Model for Analysing Child Stunting in Two Urban Slum Settlements of Nairobi: A Longitudinal Analysis, 2011-2014.
    (Kabale University, 2024) Oduro, Michael S.; IddiI, Samuel; Asiedu, Louis; Asiki, Gershim; Kadengye, DamazoT.
    Introduction Stunting is common among children in many low and middle-income countries, particularly in rural and urban slum settings. Few studies have described child stunting transitions and the associated factors in urban slum settlements. We describe transitions between stunting states and associated factors among children living in Nairobi slum settlements. Methods This study used data collected between 2010 and 2014 from the Nairobi Urban and Demographic Surveillance System (NUHDSS) and a vaccination study nested within the surveillance system. A subset of 692 children aged 0 to 3 years, with complete anthropometric data, and household socio-demographic data was used for the analysis. Height-for-age Z- scores (HAZ) were used to define stunting: normal (HAZ � 1), marginally stunted (-2 � HAZ< -1), moderately stunted (-3 � HAZ < -2), and severely stunted (HAZ < -3). Transitions from one stunting level to another and in the reverse direction were computed. The associations between explanatory factors and the transitions between four child stunting states were modeled using a continuous-time multi-state model. Results We observed that 48%, 39%, 41%, and 52% of children remained in the normal, marginally stunted, moderately stunted, and severely stunted states, respectively. About 29% transitioned from a normal to a marginally stunted state, 15% to a moderately stunted state, and 8% to a severely stunted state. Also, 8%, 12%, and 29% back transitioned from severely stunted, moderately stunted, and marginally stunted states, to the normal state, respectively. The shared common factors associated with all transitions to a more severe state include male gender, ethnicity (only for mild and severe transition states), child’s age, and household food insecurity. In Korogocho, children whose parents were married and those whose mothers had attained primary or post-primary education were associated with a transition from a mild state into a moderately stunted state. Children who were breastfed exclusively were less likely to transition from a moderate to severe stunting state. Conclusion These findings reveal a high burden of stunting and transitions in urban slums. Context-specific interventions targeting the groups of children identified by the socio-demographic factors are needed. Improving food security and exclusive breastfeeding could potentially reduce stunting in the slums.