Browsing by Author "El-Duah Philip"

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    Burden of respiratory viral infections among inmates of a Ghanaian prison
    (Research Square, 2019) Sylverken Augustina; El-Duah Philip; Owusu Michael; Owusu-Dabo Ellis; Ofori Linda....et al
    Respiratory viral infections are important causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Information on circulating respiratory viruses among prisoners is lacking, although this is of public health importance and knowledge would assist in putting in place preventive measures to forestall disease outbreaks. The aim of this study therefore was to get the footprint of such diseases that have epidemic potential to be described and quantified for control. Prisoners on remand numbering 203 in a prison in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital, were interviewed using prevalidated questionnaire, nasopharyngeal samples taken and screened by real-time PCR for common respiratory viruses in February, 2018. Of the total number of 203 participants enrolled, majority were males (n = 198, 97.54%). The modal age unsurprisingly was in the active working class of 18 to 35 years (n = 155, 76.36%) with 48 (23.65%) of participants older than 35 years. Inmates reported nasal congestion (n = 83, 40.89%), cough with or without pharyngitis (n =108, 53.20%) and fever (n = 74, 39.48%). Viruses detected in throat samples were Influenza A (n = 1, 0.49%) and Rhinovirus (n = 8, 3.94%). There was no statistically significant association between respiratory virus positivity and age (p = 0.118), gender (p > 0.900), duration of incarceration (p = 0.239) and reported symptoms (p = 0.724). The prison population may have a lower prevalence of respiratory viruses circulating in them. This may be dominated by those with high antigenic diversity.
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    Low risk of SARS-CoV-2 in blood transfusion
    (PLOS ONE, 2021) Owusu Michael; Sylverken Angelina Augustina; El-Duah Philip; Owusu-Dabo Ellis; Amuasi John; Adu Eric...et al
    The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), continues to remain a global challenge. There is emerging evidence of SARS-CoV-2 virus found in the blood of patients from China and some developed countries. However, there is inadequate data reported in Ghana and other parts of Africa, where blood transfusion service heavily relies on voluntary and replacement blood donors. This study aimed to investigate whether plasma of infected individuals could pose significant transfusion transmitted risk of COVID-19 in Ghanaian populations. Methods This cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted at the Kumasi Centre for Collabora tive Research into Tropical Medicine (KCCR), KNUST, Ghana. Study subjects comprised contacts of COVID-19 individuals, those with classical symptoms of COVID-19 and individu als who had recovered based on the new Ghana discharge criteria. Whole blood, sputum or deep coughed saliva samples were collected and transported to KCCR for SARS-CoV-2 testing. Viral nucleic acid was extracted from sputum/ nasopharyngeal samples using Da An Gene column based kit and from plasma using LBP nucleic acid extraction kit. Real-Time PCR was performed specifically targeting the ORF1ab and Nucleocapsid (N) genomic regions of the virus. Results A total of 97 individuals were recruited into the study, with more than half being males (58; 59.7%). The mean age of all subjects was 33 years (SD = 7.7) with minimum being 22 yearS
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    Using drones to transport suspected COVID-19 samples; experiences from the second largest testing centre in Ghana, West Africa
    (PLOS ONE, 2022) Sylverken Angelina Augustina; Owusu Michael; Agbavor Bernadette; Owusu-Dabo Ellis; El-Duah Philip; Aryeetey Sherihane....et al
    The declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11 2020, by the World Health Organi sation prompted the need for a sustained and a rapid international response. In a swift response, the Government of Ghana, in partnership with Zipline company, launched the use of Unmanned Automated Vehicles (UAV) to transport suspected samples from selected dis tricts to two foremost testing centres in the country. Here, we present the experiences of employing this technology and its impact on the transport time to the second largest testing centre, the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR) inKumasi, Ghana. Methods Swab samples collected from suspected COVID-19 patients were transported to the Zipline office by health workers. Information on the samples were sent to laboratory personnel