Browsing by Author "Darko, Samuel Nkansah"

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    Comparative Diagnosis of Escherichia Coli-Induced Urinary Tract Infection Using Dipstick, Microbiological Culturing and PCR Methods in School-Going Adolescents
    (2012-11-21) Darko, Samuel Nkansah
    Urinary tract infection (UTI) poses serious future clinical repercussions, such as hypertension, anaemia, kidney failure and death. Therefore, there is the need for the early detection and diagnosis of UTI. Currently, the use of the standard microbiological culture diagnostic method is hindered by the microbial tendency of being viable but non-culturable. On the other hand, direct Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) has proven to be more sensitive in detecting pathogens in various biological samples, although interference by specimen components and the possibility of contamination are some challenges. This work was thus aimed at the design of a simple and reliable PCR protocol for detecting uropathogens and comparing it with dipstick and culture, using Escherichia coli as the indicator uropathogen. This study, a cross-sectional one, involved the collection of urine samples from 272 adolescent students, aged between 13 and 18 years. The PCR protocol targeted a more specific pap C gene for fimbriae formation and the bacteriocin usp gene sequences for amplification. A general prevalence of 30.9% UTI was found. Using a sub-population made up of 195 subjects, for the comparative diagnosis of the three methods, the prevalence were 42.1%, 39.8% and 72.7% for dipstick, microbiological culturing and PCR respectively. PCR had a higher sensitivity of 71% and Receiver Operator Characteristic curve area of 0.7231± 0.0262, p< 0.0001, compared to the microbiological culture method. In addition, the ROC curve area for PCR was significantly higher than dipstick (0.7205± 0.0262, p< 0.0001) indicating PCR’s superiority as a diagnostic tool. On the other hand, there was no statistical difference between the microbiological culturing method and dipstick as diagnostic tools (0.5026± 0.02927, p= 0.9302). The leukocyte esterase parameter in the dipstick method was found to be more useful to the physician in making diagnosis with a positive predictive value of 52% and a negative predictive value of 76%. The usp gene was also found to be more significantly distributed in urine isolates than pap C with P value of 0.0020. This suggests that most of the strains of Escherichia coli implicated in UTI in the sample population employ more of bacteriocin production to compete with other microbes in the urinary tract than the production of adhesion structures. The PCR is therefore, a good complementary tool for diagnosis of UTI.
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    Covid-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Risk Perception in Ghana: Insights from A Study on Tertiary-Level Students and Surrounding Residents in Kumasi
    (Journal of Science and Technology, 2024) Darko, Samuel Nkansah; Boahen, Kennedy Gyau; Okyere, Portia Boakye; Addo, Christopher N. K.; Ameyaw, Afuaa Janet; Adjei, Emmanuel; Hayford, Manuella; Anhwere, Naomi Efua; Kwarteng, Sandra Abankwa
    The introduction of COVID-19 vaccines in sub-Saharan Africa has been met with mixed feelings. In Ghana, several concerns were raised about the potency and side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine. We investigated the acceptance and risk perception of students on the KNUST campus and the residents of the surrounding communities to assess the risk factors that will influence heir willingness or unwillingness to be vaccinated in the government’s quest to get its citizens vaccinated. A well-structured questionnaire was administered online and through face-toface interviews to survey 3332 respondents between the periods of March 15 and May 28, 2021. Chi-square analysis was used to show the association between the sociodemographic characteristics and, the acceptance and risk perception of the COVID-19 vaccine. Logistic regression analysis was used to explain the relationship between the acceptance and risk perception of the COVID-19 vaccine and the various socio-demographic characteristics. Out of 3323 respondents, 1,703 (45.23%) were hesitant whiles 64.39% of 3311 indicated they would accept being vaccinated. In a multivariate analysis, the age range of 31 to 40 years, being male, having secondary level education, and having a previous vaccination post-childhood immunization increased the likelihood of vaccine acceptance. More than half of the students of KNUST and inhabitants around the campus are likely to acceptant the COVID-19 vaccine. However, adequate and timely information is needed to educate prospective vaccine recipients with tertiary level education to better the level of acceptance and address misinformation about vaccines and promote individual and population-level benefits of vaccination