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What do a mathematician, an epidemiologist, a vaccine developer, a protein crystallographer and a whole bevy of immunologists and infectious disease specialists have in common? Answer: they’re just some of the Oxford University researchers coming together to fight the novel Coronavirus outbreak. Science blog by Charvy Narain
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Pandemic preparedness and responsiveness of research review committees: lessons from review of COVID-19 protocols at KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kenya
KWTRP OCGHR
Posted 05/08/2022. During a rapidly unfolding catastrophic pandemic, research is most needed to inform on nature, containment and prevention of the pandemic. Ethics review and regulatory authorities are important gatekeepers for research, and can facilitate scientifically rigorous and ethically sound relevant research. Alex Hinga, Dorcas Kamuya and colleagues examined how research review was undertaken during COVID19 in one of the review systems in Kenya, factors that enabled and/or hindered accelerated review including the political landscape, and make some recommendations for review systems in LMICs.
Implementing a comprehensive newborn monitoring chart: Barriers, enablers, and opportunities
KWTRP OCGHR
Posted 03/08/2022. Naomi Muinga and colleagues report on a process of implementing a co-designed, paper-based newborn monitoring chart in a network of hospitals in Kenya. While the chart was well-received, challenges with full uptake persist and offer opportunities to strengthen the process as well as future implementations.
The European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) Knowledge Hub: developing an open platform for facilitating high-quality clinical research
OCGHR
Posted 22/07/2022. In recognition of emergent data on what the barriers and enablers are to long-term, sustainable capabilities to run studies, The Global Health Network and EDCTP developed the ‘EDCTP Knowledge Hub’: a set of online, open access, cross-cutting tools and resources to support the planning, writing and delivery of high-quality health research studies, available to research staff wherever they are in the world, especially those in low-resource settings. By Samuel Driver and colleagues
A scoping review of antibiotic use practices and drivers of inappropriate antibiotic use in animal farms in WHO Southeast Asia region
OCGHR
Posted 13/07/2022. Many of the antibiotics used in animal farms in Southeast Asia are critically important for humans. The scarcity of standardised antibiotic and livestock quantification methods limits existing literature. Ease of access to poorly regulate antibiotics, inaccessible quality animal healthcare, and insufficient preventive services likely drive inappropriate antibiotic use, by Aronrag Meeyai and colleagues.
Infection with Burkholderia pseudomallei – immune correlates of survival in acute melioidosis
OCGHR
Posted 04/10/2017. Recruiting 183 acute melioidosis patients and 21 control subjects in order to explore immune factors associated with survival status and diabetes, this study identified two class I HLA alleles associated with increased risk of death during melioidosis. Stronger T cell responses to nine immunodominant antigens were observed in those who survived, with responses to one of these – GroEL – observed to be impaired in patients with diabetes.
Cooperation in Countering Artemisinin Resistance in Africa: Learning from COVID-19
OCGHR
Posted 24/05/2022. Drug-resistant malaria is now a critical public health emergency on a global scale. The artemisinin resistance confirmed recently in Rwanda and Uganda is likely just the ‘tip of the spear’, with its spread likely to soon occur widely across endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Philippe Guerin and colleagues make five feasible recommendations, based on learnings from the COVID-19 experience on collecting, sharing and disseminating these critical data efficiently.
Evaluation of an audit and feedback intervention to reduce gentamicin prescription errors in newborn treatment (ReGENT) in neonatal inpatient care in Kenya: a controlled interrupted time series study protocol
KWTRP OCGHR
Posted 17/05/2022. In this study, leveraging a Kenyan Clinical Information Network, Timothy Tuti, Mike English and colleagues set out to evaluate at the clinical team level, if and how a comprehensive healthcare-specific feedback theory used to design and implement pharmacists-championed feedback strategies could help improve medication prescribing accuracy during inpatient neonatal care.
Characterising Kenyan hospitals’ suitability for medical officer internship training: a secondary data analysis of a cross-sectional study
KWTRP OCGHR
Posted 11/05/2022. Yingxi Zhao and colleagues used data from a national health facility assessment to understand the capacity of Kenya internship hospital to provide internship training for medical doctors. They highlight the major gaps in staffing, equipment and service availability in those hospitals and call for more stringent and regular review and re-accreditation of internship hospitals to provide appropriate and well-resourced training.
Exploring healthcare workers’ perceptions on the use of morbidity and mortality audits as an avenue for learning and care improvement in Kenyan hospitals’ newborn units
KWTRP OCGHR
Posted 22/02/2022. In many sub-Saharan African countries, including Kenya, the use of mortality and morbidity audits in maternal and perinatal/neonatal care as an avenue for learning and improving care delivery is sub-optimal due to structural, organizational, and human barriers. In this exploratory qualitative study, Joyline Jepkosgei and colleagues examined process-related factors that generally influence M&M audits including health workers’ interactions and their experiences, institutional cultures, and broader health system contextual influences, which remain inadequately explored.
Evaluating and engaging: using participatory video with Kenyan secondary school students to explore engagement with health research
KWTRP OCGHR
Posted 25/03/2022. Alun Davies and colleagues used Participatory Video (PV) to explore how engagement with researchers influenced Kenyan school students’ perceptions of research and aspirations. PV highlighted the complex context in which engagement is situated where students’ time and attention is competed for against curricular, extracurricular, and social-cultural factors. We emphasise the importance of ensuring that engagement benefits students.
Global challenges in preparedness and response to epidemic infectious diseases
OCGHR
Posted 23/03/2022. In this review, Piero Olliaro and colleague Els Torreele analyse the successes and failures with coronavirus disease 2019 and Ebola virus disease in shaping health systems and research for infectious disease epidemics. They highlight that epidemic preparedness means also tackling a series of ongoing outbreaks and make the case for a coordinated, public health-driven, portfolio approach.
Strengthening the role of community health workers in supporting the recovery of ill, undernourished children post hospital discharge: qualitative insights from key stakeholders in Bangladesh and Kenya
KWTRP OCGHR
Posted 19/01/2022. Rita Njeru, Sassy Molyneux and colleagues examine the role of community health workers in supporting post-discharge recovery in young undernourished children. The authors argue that a targeted and multi-pronged approach initiated before or on discharge is needed, supported by clear guidance and training. The ways in which any new tasks or personnel are incorporated into hospital and broader health system hierarchies and systems need careful planning and tracking.
Engaging local health research communities to enhance long-term capacity building in Brazil
OCGHR
Posted 16/11/2021. In response to the Zika epidemic the Research Preparedness Network (REDe) engaged local health research communities to enhance long-term research capacity building. This publication is based on a call to fund research training workshops in Brazil and captures the process and impact of this approach. REDe also developed an implementation toolkit to foster similar initiatives and ultimately contribute to local ownership in global health.
Global antibiotic consumption and usage in humans, 2000–18: a spatial modelling study
MORU OCGHR
Posted 12/11/2021. Global antibiotic consumption rates increased by 46 percent in the last two decades, according to the first study to provide longitudinal estimates of human consumption in 204 countries from 2000 to 2018. Annie Browne, Christiane Dolecek and colleagues used a novel approach that deployed statistical modelling techniques and incorporated multiple data sources, to help us address a number of public health challenges, from combating drug resistant infections to providing access to basic treatment
The problem with ‘My Five Moments for Hand Hygiene’
OCGHR
Posted 21/09/2021. The WHO's ‘5 moments’ is the dominant paradigm for hand hygiene globally. While ‘5 moments' has many benefits and has had a significant clinical impact, it also has many weaknesses. Jacob McKnight and colleagues explore how this important paradigm can be improved to reflect the latest research in hand hygiene.
Task-sharing to support paediatric and child health service delivery in low- and middle-income countries: current practice and a scoping review of emerging opportunities
KWTRP OCGHR
Posted 27/08/2021. Demographic and epidemiological changes have prompted thinking on the need to broaden the child health agenda to include care for paediatric complex and chronic conditions, however such expansion is threatened by workforce shortages. Yingxi Zhao and colleagues reviewed how task sharing could support expanded paediatrics services provision in LMICs, especially beyond acute infectious diseases and malnutrition that are widely and historically shifted.
Preprints in times of COVID19: the time is ripe for agreeing on terminology and good practices
MORU OCGHR
Posted 06/08/2021. Preprints are increasingly being used to share non-peer-reviewed manuscripts to enable the rapid dissemination of research. In particular, they have become an important source of information for wider audiences keen to follow COVID-19 research developments, including news, social media and policymakers. This practice raises several challenges in publication ethics and integrity. Paul Newton and colleagues set out the need for good practice.
Time to reconsider the role of ribavirin in Lassa fever
OCGHR
Posted 03/08/2021. Ribavirin is the only available Lassa fever treatment. The rationale for using ribavirin is based on one clinical study conducted in the early 1980s. However, reanalysis by Alex Salam and colleagues of previous unpublished data reveals that ribavirin may actually be harmful in some Lassa fever patients. An urgent reevaluation of ribavirin is therefore needed.
An innovative leadership development initiative to support building everyday resilience in health systems
KWTRP OCGHR
Posted 23/07/2021. Effective management and leadership are essential for everyday health system resilience, but health managers are often under-prepared and under-supported in these roles. Particular challenges have been observed in communication skills, emotional competence and supportive oversight. Jacinta Nzinga and colleagues share their learning from implementing a package of leadership development interventions in Kenya
Model for developing context-sensitive responses to vulnerability in research: managing ethical dilemmas faced by frontline research staff in Kenya
OCGHR
Posted 20/07/2021. The ethical dilemmas faced by frontline staff conducting health research among ‘vulnerable’ populations are increasingly recognized. However, there is little documented on how staff might be supported in identifying and handling these dilemmas. Sassy Molyneux and colleagues share an approach and tools they developed in Kenya, centred on group reflections linked to a set of policy responses tailored to the context. They encourage further adaptation and evaluation of the approach