ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Occurrence of influenza and bacterial infections in cancer patients receiving radiotherapy in Ghana

Abstract Background Influenza co-infection with bacteria is a leading cause of influenza-related deaths and severe respiratory infections, especially among high-risk groups like cancer patients undergoing treatment. However, acute respiratory infection (ARI)-like symptoms developed by uppertorso cancer (UTC) patients receiving radiotherapy are considered as side-effects of the radiation. Hence influenza and bacterial pathogens implicated in ARI are not investigated. Methods This prospective cohort study examined 85 in-patients with upper-torso cancers undergoing radiotherapy at the National Radiotherapy, Oncology and Nuclear Medicine Centre (NRONMC) of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) in Accra, Ghana. Eligible patients who consented were recruited into the study from September 2018 to April 2019. Influenza viruses A and B in addition to the following bacteria species Streptococcus pneumonia, Haemophilus influenzae, Neisseria meningitidis and Staphylococcus aureus were detected from oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal swab specimens collected at three different time points. Presence of respiratory pathogens were investigated by influenza virus isolation in cell culture, bacterial culture, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and next generation sequencing (NGS) assays. Results Of the 85 eligible participants enrolled into the study, 87% were females. Participants were 17 to 77 years old, with a median age of 49 years. Most of the participants (88%) enrolled had at least one pathogen present. The most prevalent pathogen was N. meningitidis (63.4%), followed by H. influenzae (48.8%), Influenza viruses A and B (32.9%), S. pneumoniae (32.9%) and S. aureus (12.2%). Approximately, 65% of these participants developed ARI-like symptoms. Participants with previous episodes of ARI, did not live alone, HNC and total radiation less than 50 Gy were significantly associated with ARI. All treatment forms were also significantly associated with ARI. Conclusion Data generated from the study suggests that ARI-like symptoms observed among UTC patients receiving radiotherapy in Ghana, could be due to influenza and bacterial single and co-infections in addition to risk factors and not solely the side-effects of radiation as perceived. These findings will be prime importance for diagnosis, prevention, treatment and control for cancer patients who present with such episodes during treatment.

Source: UG
Occurrence of influenza and bacterial infections in cancer patients receiving radiotherapy in Ghana

Background Influenza co-infection with bacteria is a leading cause of influenza-related deaths and severe respiratory infections, especially among high-risk groups like cancer patients undergoing treatment. However, acute respiratory infection (ARI)-like symptoms developed by uppertorso cancer (UTC) patients receiving radiotherapy are considered as side-effects of the radiation. Hence influenza and bacterial pathogens implicated in ARI are not investigated. Methods: This prospective cohort study examined 85 in-patients with upper-torso cancers undergoing radiotherapy at the National Radiotherapy, Oncology and Nuclear Medicine Centre (NRONMC) of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) in Accra, Ghana. Eligible patients who consented were recruited into the study from September 2018 to April 2019. Influenza viruses A and B in addition to the following bacteria species Streptococcus pneumonia, Haemophilus influenzae, Neisseria meningitidis and Staphylococcus aureus were detected from oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal swab specimens collected at three different time points. Presence of respiratory pathogens were investigated by influenza virus isolation in cell culture, bacterial culture, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and next generation sequencing (NGS) assays. Results: Of the 85 eligible participants enrolled into the study, 87% were females. Participants were 17 to 77 years old, with a median age of 49 years. Most of the participants (88%) enrolled had at least one pathogen present. The most prevalent pathogen was N. meningitidis (63.4%), followed by H. influenzae (48.8%), Influenza viruses A and B (32.9%), S. pneumoniae (32.9%) and S. aureus (12.2%). Approximately, 65% of these participants developed ARI-like symptoms. Participants with previous episodes of ARI, did not live alone, HNC and total radiation less than 50 Gy were significantly associated with ARI. All treatment forms were also significantly associated with ARI. Conclusion: Data generated from the study suggests that ARI-like symptoms observed among UTC patients receiving radiotherapy in Ghana, could be due to influenza and bacterial single and co-infections in addition to risk factors and not solely the side-effects of radiation as perceived. These findings will be prime importance for diagnosis, prevention, treatment and control for cancer patients who present with such episodes during treatment.

Source: UG
Occurrence of microplastics in gastrointestinal tract of fish from the Gulf of Guinea, Ghana

Over the past decades, there has been a growing concern about microplastics pollution in global aquatic habitats and its potential impact on human health. This study was carried out to determine the presence of microplastics in fish of economic importance in Ghana. Microplastics were found to be abundant in all investigated samples, with 68 % of the fishes contaminated with microplastics and a total of 133 plastic items identified in the fish. The presence of fibers, black coloured particles, and microplastics in the size range of 0.5–1.0 mm was the most abundant in the samples examined. Three polymers specifically, polyethylene, polyvinyl acetate, and polyamide were identified in the study. The presence of microplastics in the fishes investigated may pose severe ecological and health concerns, and hence comprehensive policies targeted at preventing plastic pollution of Ghana's maritime environment is warranted.

Source: UG
Occurrence of microplastics in wild oysters (Crassostrea tulipa) from the Gulf of Guinea and their potential human exposure

The high dependence on plastics in Ghana has resulted in the generation of large quantities of plastic waste which are poorly managed and improperly disposed into the aquatic environments. This study assessed the spatial distribution and abundance of microplastics in mangrove oysters (Crassostrea tulipa): a major fishery resource of commercial importance in Ghana. The results showed that 84.0% of all individuals examined had ingested microplastics. A total of 276 microplastic items were recovered from the 120 individual oysters. Densu (100%) and Volta (93%), two estuaries situated in urban areas, had a greater incidence of microplastics than Whin (77%) and Nakwa (66%), estuaries situated in peri-urban and rural settlements, respectively. The mean microplastic abundance ranged from 1.4 to 3.4 items/individual and 0.34 to 1.7 items/g tissue wet weight. Fiber accounted for 69% of microplastic shapes, followed by fragments (27%) and films (4%). Polymer analysis showed polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS) as the most common types in oysters. The estimated microplastic intake per capita per year was one magnitude higher than the mean for other countries. This high rate of human exposure to microplastics requires an eminent policy formulation to guide the use, management and disposal of plastic waste in Ghana.

Source: UG
Occurrence of Rickettsia spp. and Coxiella burnetii in ixodid ticks in Kassena-Nankana, Ghana

The Department of Parasitology conducts research into parasitic diseases of public health importance with the overall goal of reducing their transmission and the heavy disease burden that they impose on affected populations. The Department maintains focus on parasitic diseases in general. These include major diseases such as malaria, and others listed under the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) control initiative such as, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiasis, trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis.

Source: UG
Occurrence of transmitted HIV-1 drug resistance among Drug-naïve pregnant women in selected HIV-care centres in Ghana

Background: Access to antiretroviral therapy in Ghana has been scaled up across the country over the last decade .This study sought to determine the occurrence of transmitted HIV-1 drug resistance in pregnant HIV-1 positive women yet to initiate antiretroviral therapy at selected HIV Care Centres in Ghana. Methods: Plasma specimens from twenty-six (26) HIV seropositive pregnant women who were less than 28weeks pregnant with their first pregnancy and ART naïve were collected from selected HIV care centres in three (3) regions in Ghana. Genotypic testing was done for the reverse transcriptase gene and the sequences generated were analyzed for HIV-1 drug resistance mutations using the Stanford University HIV Drug Resistance Database. Results: Resistance mutations associated with the reverse transcriptase gene were detected in 4 (15.4%) of the participants. At least one major drug resistance mutation in the reverse transcriptase gene was found in 3 (11.5%) of the women. Conclusion: The detection of transmitted HIV-1 drug resistance in this drug-naïve group in two regional HIV care sites is an indication of the need for renewed action in monitoring the emergence of transmitted HIV-1 drug resistance in Ghana.

Source: UG
Ocular manifestations of sickle cell disease at the Korle-Bu hospital, Accra, Ghana.

PURPOSE: To determine the magnitude and pattern of ocular manifestations in sickle cell disease at Korle-bu Hospital, Accra, Ghana. METHODS:Hospital-based cross-sectional study including all patients with sickle cell disease reporting for routine follow-up at the Sickle Cell Clinic at Korle-bu Hospital, Accra, Ghana. RESULTS: A total of 201 patients with sickle cell disease (67 male and 134 female) were enrolled, comprising 114 subjects with genotype HbSS, aged 6-58 years, mean 19.26 (SD 11.70), and 87 with genotype HbSC, aged 6-65 years, mean 31.4 (SD 16.76). Visual impairment was found in 5.6% of eyes examined. Causes were cataract, proliferative sickle retinopathy (PSR), optic atrophy, phthisis bulbi, and central retinal artery occlusion. Common anterior segment signs of sickle cell disease, which were more common in HbSC patients, were tortuous corkscrew conjunctival vessels, iris atrophy, and cataract. Eyes with iris atrophy or depigmentation were 1.8 times more at risk of PSR than eyes without. Overall, PSR was found in 12.9% of subjects examined (3.5% of HbSS, 25.3% of HbSC; 15.9% of males and 11.2% of females). The prevalence of proliferative sickle retinopathy increased with age and increased systemic severity of sickle cell disease; sex did not have an influence. CONCLUSIONS: There is a high prevalence of ocular morbidity in sickle cell disease patients at Korle-bu Hospital. Prevalence increased with age, systemic severity of sickle cell disease, and HbSC genotype.

Source: UG
Oesophageal varices in patients with liver cirrhosis attending a major tertiary hospital in Ghana

Introduction: oesophageal variceal bleeding is a potentially fatal consequence of portal hypertension in cirrhotic patients. In Ghana, bleeding oesophageal varices (OV) are a significant cause of acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding with comparatively high mortality. This study was to determine the prevalence of OV and its clinical correlate in cirrhotic patients. Methods: this was a cross sectional hospital based study of 149 subjects with liver cirrhosis from 5th November, 2015 to 4th November, 2016. Demographic and other clinical data were collected using standardized questionnaire. Liver function, full blood count, HBsAg and anti-HCV Ab tests were done for all patients. All patients underwent an abdominal ultrasound to assess liver and document ascites. Upper GI endoscopy (UGIE) was done to screen for and grade varices. Results: a total of 149 patients with a mean age of 45 ± 12.28 years were evaluated. Men were 77.85% and 22.15% were women, with male to female ratio of 3.5:1. By Child-Pugh Classification, 12 (8.16%) patients were in class A, 64 (43.54%) in class B and 71 (48.3%) in class C at presentation. On UGIE, 135 (90.60%) had varices and 14 patients (9.40%) had no varices. One hundred and eleven of the varices (82.22%) were large varices and the rest (17.78%) small varices. Conclusion: majority of cirrhotic patients present late with advance disease to this referral centre. Most have large varices on their first screening endoscopy. Prophylactic treatment should be considered for all cirrhotics especially patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis when UGIE cannot be done immediately.

Source: UG
Of Local Places and Local People: Understanding Migration in Peripheral Capitalist Outposts.

This paper explores the ways in which migration and social change intermesh. It focuses on internal migration from Northern to Southern Ghana and through scrutinising changes to livelihoods in Northern Ghana in the long durée, the paper documents how these changes have contributed to women’s ability to migrate southward. Drawing on qualitative data collected in 2015 by pairing adults and youths from 24 households in Northern Ghana, the paper also provides insights into recent forms of change wrought by migration. This material is supplemented by data collected in interviews with migrants in Accra. The paper demonstrates that the relationship between migration and social change is not unidirectional. Deep seated social changes in Northern Ghana have precipitated the large scale migration of young women seen today. Migration, in turn, leads to two forms of change; surface level changes relating to the development of new ways of being and changes to deep seated cultural norms relating to the rise of new ways of thinking. By highlighting the different dynamics engendering social change in Northern communities the paper contests the notion of rural communities being sites of social inertia.

Source: UG
Of Pacts, Trickster Ethos, and Impact: A Reading of Kourouma’s Les soleils des indépendances

The article seeks to use the pact factor to interpret Kourouma’s ground--breaking novel, Les Soleils des indépendances. The sinister figure of the predatory trickster is discernible in the profiles of the crafty man of religion and the wily dictator, both using myths of legitimization to enhance the success of their pacts with others. A pattern of lopsidedness can also be observed in various societal compacts. In the author’s use of language, story-telling techniques and rapport with the reader, however, he arrives at a happy mean between conflicting exigencies.

Source: UG
Of silent maids, skilled gardeners and careful madams: gendered dynamics and strategies of migrant domestic workers in Accra, Ghana

Recent studies indicate that many migrants are engaged mainly in the informal sector in low-paid, short-term, and insecure occupations in cities. Using a qualitative research approach, this paper examines the gendered experiences, livelihood strategies and wellbeing of migrants engaged in domestic work in Accra, Ghana. Employing structure-agency theoretical perspectives, the paper also discusses how migrant domestic workers employ their own agency to counter exploitation. The findings show clear gendered patterns of employment in domestic work, with men having stronger agency to negotiate better conditions of work and remuneration. The paper argues that despite the heterogeneity and diversity of the work conditions and experiences of domestic workers in Accra, the importance of gender as a crucial factor mediating the experiences of both male and female domestic workers and their impacts on their wellbeing must be recognised in policies to address and regulate domestic work in Ghana.

Source: UG
Of silent maids, skilled gardeners and careful madams: Gendered dynamics and strategies of migrant domestic workers in Accra, Ghana.

Recent studies indicate that many migrants are engaged mainly in the informal sector in low-paid, short-term, and insecure occupations in cities. Using a qualitative research approach, this paper examines the gendered experiences, livelihood strategies and wellbeing of migrants engaged in domestic work in Accra, Ghana. Employing structure-agency theoretical perspectives, the paper also discusses how migrant domestic workers employ their own agency to counter exploitation. The findings show clear gendered patterns of employment in domestic work, with men having stronger agency to negotiate better conditions of work and remuneration. The paper argues that despite the heterogeneity and diversity of the work conditions and experiences of domestic workers in Accra, the importance of gender as a crucial factor mediating the experiences of both male and female domestic workers and their impacts on their wellbeing must be recognised in policies to address and regulate domestic work in Ghana.

Source: UG
Of waste facility siting and relational geographies of place: Peri-urban landfills, community resistance and the politics of land control in Ghana

The siting of landfills in peri-urban spaces is seen as both a solution to land scarcity in inner cities and a development opportunity for rural hinterlands. Despite the widespread reliance on landfills for managing urban waste in Ghana, their operation tends to ignite land use conflicts at different scales. However, existing studies on the drivers of these conflicts have mostly failed to situate local resistance within the broader political economy of land control. Drawing on a longstanding landfill conflict in northern Ghana, this contribution shows how under the guise of landfills, the land question in peri-urban spaces is contested. While at face value the landfill struggle appears to be fuelled by the associated poor environmental conditions and health risks of waste from the inner city, our findings reveal the role of diverse incongruities including: (i) the crafty tactics deployed by state institutions in land acquisition for 'public interest', (ii) payment of unrealistic consideration, and (iii) diversion of designated public lands to undeclared uses. Amid these contestations, the notion of territorial belonging by peri-urban communities often runs counter to statutory ordering by the government who hold such hitherto private lands for ‘public interest’. Powerful local actors such as chiefs hide behind community agitations with hopes of controlling land if such contestations materialize. These dynamics have ramifications for the achievement of the New Urban Agenda of Habitat III, which focuses on secondary cities. A sustainable resolution of landfill-related conflicts must therefore begin with addressing the land question in peri-urban spaces.

Source: UG
Off-farm work and food security status of farming households in Ghana

This study assessed the effect of participation in off-farm work on the food security status of farming households in the Northern Region of Ghana. Primary data were solicited from 324 farming households in the Tamale metropolis and Tolon district using semi-structured questionnaires. The treatment effects of both income and food security status were estimated using propensity score matching and double-robust methods. The empirical results suggest that participation in off-farm activities increased household daily calorie consumption. These results have implications for the development of off-farm ventures for the benefit of the farming households.

Source: UG
‘The Oil is Drilled in Takoradi, but the Money is Counted in Accra’: The Paradox of Plenty in the Oil City, Ghana

Recent scholarship on Ghana’s oil industry has focused primarily on its grand contributions to the national economy while its intra-city impact has received less academic attention. Borrowing from Terry Karl’s interpretation of the paradox of plenty, and drawing on empirical evidence from 25 purposefully selected interviewees, the study examines how the oil production off the shores of Sekondi-Takoradi is creating complex processes of accumulation, contradiction, and displacement in a low-income community—New Takoradi. The results point to the accentuation of socio-economic risks in the community following the inflow of oil revenue which is shaping government’s macro-level policies. The paper opines that without attention to place-specific contexts, understanding its socio-economic risks and decadence, and its semblance of strong resilience becomes deceptive. The paper concludes that context and situation are significant for how and to what degree the oil boom matters in the oil city.

Source: UG
Oil Price Volatility And US Dollar Exchange Rate Volatility Of Some Oil-Dependent Economies

This paper examines the relationship and related causality patterns of oil price volatility and exchange rate volatility of a group of oil-dependent economies before and after the 2008–2009 global financial crisis. We employed weekly time-series data of oil price and exchange rates for 2000–2007 (pre-crisis) and 2010–2016 (post-crisis). United States dollar exchange rates are for Ghanaian cedi, Nigerian naira, Russian ruble, Indian rupee, South African rand, and the Euro. To investigate the volatility impacts that exist between oil price and exchange rates during both sub-sample periods, we merged Vector Autoregressive (VAR) with GARCH and EGARCH models in the form of bivariate VAR-GARCH and VAR-EGARCH. We further adopted the Toda-Yamamoto causality test to investigate related causality patterns. Empirical findings revealed both a bilateral and unidirectional relationship between oil price volatility and exchange rates volatility of four out of the six oil-dependent economies considered for the study. These findings were more prevalent in the post-crisis period than the pre-crisis period. We also confirmed both bidirectional and unidirectional causality pattern between oil price volatility and exchange rate volatility of the same four currencies as observed with the VAR results in both sub-sample periods

Source: UG
Oil Production, Dispossession, and Community Development in Africa: A Development Education Perspective

There is growing evidence that the impacts of oil and gas extraction on vulnerability are real and accelerating. Coupled with a host of interrelated livelihood sustainability questions, this has fueled interdisciplinary research on improving livelihoods to vulnerability, as well as to better understand the mechanisms of natural resources exploitation and policy options to limit the socio-cultural and environmental damages to natural resource extraction. Increasingly, development education, community education, and alternative livelihood sources are being leveraged by researchers when analyzing these problems. There is, however, limited discourse regarding the possible synergies that could result from improved engagement between those interested in natural resource extraction on one hand, and community members and researchers on the other hand in tackling resource extraction issues. In this chapter, we employ the accumulation by dispossession discourse espoused by David Harvey that focuses on the prospects for making new contributions to the growing literature on natural resource exploitation and vulnerability. We identify three critical issues that offer significant opportunities for collaborative studies on the nexus between natural resource extraction and development education: (1) the problem of oil exploitation and vulnerability, (2) questions of new alternative livelihood and transition, (3) development/community education and livelihood opportunities approach. Our analysis suggests that issues of development agenda/plan, decentralization of windfall revenues, sector analysis on policies and programs and other development education initiatives underpin these natural resource extraction research needs. This chapter is intended to foster new dialogue between oil exploitation and development education

Source: UG