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The first isolation of Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona from cattle in Botswana.

Serological evidence for the occurrence of L. pomona associated with abortions in cattle was supported by the successful isolation of the organism from the urine of a cow. Leptospirosis should be considered as a possible cause of abortion even in relatively dry regions.

Whole-genome sequencing suggests recent transmission of rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis in Botswana.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), continues to be a global health challenge. Transmission of drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) poses a significant threat to effective TB prevention and care strategies. This study's aim was to investigate transmission patterns of DR-TB strains, identify factors associated with the spread and reconstruct their transmission dynamics over the study period in Botswana. METHODS: We analysed whole-genome sequencing data for 195 rifampicin-resistant Mtb isolates, which were isolated between 2016 and 2023. Potential recent transmission…

Microbial quality of beef tripe (mogodu) sampled from butcheries around Gaborone, Botswana.

Beef tripe is a traditional delicacy in Botswana and many African communities. Despite its popularity and nutritional value, tripe remains highly perishable and prone to microbial contamination due to its origin in the bovine gastrointestinal system and potential exposure during processing. This study assessed the microbial quality of beef tripe samples collected from 18 butcheries in Gaborone, Botswana, including both microbial enumeration and species-level identification. The results revealed a high microbial load across all samples, with aerobic plate counts exceeding 5 log colony forming u…

HIV-Related knowledge, attitudes, and practice among educated young adults in Botswana.

Students at the University of Botswana, an at-risk group, have previously been shown to have high levels of risky sexual behavior despite widespread knowledge that these behaviors might lead to HIV-1 infection. As there have recently been considerable efforts focused on HIV-1 prevention in Botswana through nationwide media education campaigns and the opening of voluntary counselling and testing centers, re-evaluation of HIV-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices among students is needed. A cross-sectional survey was administered to 393 students chosen via a random cluster method. Responde…

Morbidity and health care utilisation among elderly people in Mmankgodi village, Botswana.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the health status among the elderly in a village in Botswana and their pattern of health care utilisation. DESIGN: A descriptive study where all persons 60 years and older were invited to participate, including a medical examination, laboratory testing and a questionnaire aiming at gathering sociodemographic data. SETTING: Mmankgodi village of Botswana. SUBJECTS: 419 persons were identified as elderly in the village, out of which 337 were included. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The general medical examination also included eye status, vision and hearing tests, nutritional s…

Facilitators of Blood Pressure Control Among Treated Patients in Public Clinics in Botswana.

BACKGROUND: High blood pressure (BP) prevalence is increasing in low- and middle-income countries, leading to increased morbidity and mortal … rs of BP control among treated patients in two public primary healthcare (PHC) clinics in Gaborone, Botswana. Participants were purposively selected to ensure the selection of participants with good knowledge of high BP. These were patients with more than 1 year experience of BP treatment, healthcare workers (HCWs) with more than 3 years' experience of tre …

Developing a National eHealth Enterprise Architecture in Botswana: a digital health case study.

Botswana's health sector comprises numerous digital health systems that operate in isolation, thereby constraining interoperability, limiting data exchange, and hindering coordinated patient care. Although national strategies such as the Botswana eHealth Strategy (2020-24) articulate overarching digital health objectives, they offer limited technical direction for harmonizing digital investments and achieving system-wide interoperability. This article presents a national digital health case study detailing the development of the Botswana eHealth Enterprise Architecture, a strategic blueprint i…

Using genomic epidemiology and geographic activity spaces to investigate tuberculosis outbreaks in Botswana.

OBJECTIVES: Our objective was to identify potential ‘hotspots’ of tuberculosis (TB) transmission by integrating pathogen genomic and geospatial data, including activity spaces where transmission may occur (e.g. community locations such as work, school, or social venues) in addition to residential locations. METHODS: We analyzed geographic data collected during 2012–2016 for the Kopanyo Study, a population-based study of TB transmission in Botswana. We included participants with results from whole genome sequencing conducted on archived samples from the original study. We used a spatial log-Gau…

Outcomes of Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedures Performed for Severe Cervical Dysplasia in Botswana.

PURPOSE: In Botswana, a see-and-treat approach to cervical cancer screening is taken. Our objective was to determine the number of loop electrosurgical excision procedures (LEEPs) performed for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 2/3 in Botswana, and follow-up rates and outcomes, among women with positive cervical margins. METHODS: Data (patient age, HIV status, margin status, follow-up, and recurrence) from women who underwent LEEP with histologically confirmed CIN 2/3 between January 2014 and December 2015 were analyzed retrospectively. Histopathologic reports were reviewed at a centra…

Risk factors to mental health challenges among the LGBTI+ community in Gaborone, Botswana.

BACKGROUND: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and other gender diverse groupings symbolised by + (LGBTI+) individuals experience adverse mental health problems, and several factors have been documented to facilitate such problems. However, in Botswana, the factors facilitating LGBTI+ individuals to experience mental health challenges have not been explored with previous studies only highlighting the poor mental health outcomes they experience. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to explore and describe factors that could cause mental health challenges in LGBTI+ individuals in Gab…

Malaria Elimination in Africa: Rethinking Strategies for Plasmodium vivax and Lessons from Botswana.

The global malaria community has picked up the theme of malaria elimination in more than 90% of the world's population in the next decade. R … large biomasses in cryptic sites in the bone marrow and spleen. A typical scenario was observed in Botswana between 2008 and 2018, which palpably projects how P. vivax could endanger malaria elimination efforts where the two parasites co-exist. The need for the global malaria community, national malaria programs (NMPs), funding agencies and relevant stake …

Low-frequency HIV-1 drug resistance mutations in antiretroviral naïve individuals in Botswana.

BACKGROUND: Individuals living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who experience virological failure (VF) after combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) initiation may have had low-frequency drug resistance mutations (DRMs) at cART initiation. There are no data on low-frequency DRMs among cART-naïve HIV-positive individuals in Botswana. METHODS: We evaluated the prevalence of low-frequency DRMs among cART-naïve individuals previously sequenced using Sanger sequencing. The generated pol amplicons were sequenced by next-generation sequencing. RESULTS: We observed low-frequency DRMs (dete…

Recent Molecular Assessment of Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum Asymptomatic Infections in Botswana.

In 2016, we reported the presence of Plasmodium vivax in Botswana through active case detection. A real-time PCR was used during a similar study in 10 districts to assess changes in the P. vivax prevalence. We assessed 1,614 children (2-13 years of age) for hemoglobin (Hb; g/dL) and Plasmodium parasites. The median age of all participants was 5.0 years (25th percentile, 3 years; 75th percentile, 8 years). The median Hb (g/dL) level was 12.1, but 18.3% of the participants had anemia (Hb < 11.0 g/dL); these participants were clustered in the younger than 5 years age group in all districts (P < 0…

Clinical and sociodemographic factors associated with late stage cervical cancer diagnosis in Botswana.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is the leading cause of female cancer mortality in Botswana with the majority of cervical cancer patients presenting with late-stage disease. The identification of factors associated with late-stage disease could reduce the cervical cancer burden. This study aims to identify potential patient level clinical and sociodemographic factors associated with a late-stage diagnosis of cervical cancer in Botswana in order to help inform future interventions at the community and individual levels to decrease cervical cancer morbidity and mortality. RESULTS: There were 984 wo…

Feasibility of oral HIV self-testing in female sex workers in Gaborone, Botswana.

BACKGROUND: Oral HIV self-testing (HIVST) may be useful for increasing testing in persons at elevated risk of acquiring HIV. METHODS: We conducted a pilot study to evaluate the feasibility (defined by uptake) of HIVST among FSW in Gaborone, Botswana. FSW age 18 years and above were recruited through a non-governmental organization serving FSW. FSW with unknown or negative HIV status at screening performed HIVST in the study clinic following brief training. FSW testing HIV-negative were each given two test kits to take home: one kit to perform unassisted HIVST and another to share with others.…

Risk factors for self-reported carpal tunnel syndrome among hairstylists in Gaborone, Botswana.

OBJECTIVES: Hairstylists form an occupational group whose tasks involve repetitive and forced movements of hands and wrists, thus posing a risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). This study assessed the prevalence of and factors associated with CTS symptoms among hairstylists in Gaborone, Botswana. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire distributed among randomly selected hairstylists. The questionnaire gathered information on demographic characteristics, lifestyle, work-related characteristics and psychosocial factors. The…

Исследование распространенности применения антимикробных средств в больницах по всей Ботсване; выводы и последствия.

Цель: Существует настоятельная необходимость в проведении по всей Африке обследований распространенности микробов (ОПП) для документирования показателей использования антимикробных средств с учетом высокого уровня инфекционных заболеваний и роста резистентности. Так обстоит дело в Ботсване наряду с высоким уровнем использования эмпирических средств и расширенной профилактической деятельностью в целях профилактики хирургических инфекций на местах: ППС была проведена среди всех больничных секторов Ботсваны с использованием форм, основанных на глобальных и европейских исследованиях ППС, адаптиров

Совпадение в аннотации оригинала
Objective: There is an urgent need to undertake Point Prevalence Surveys (PPS) across Africa to document antimicrobial utilisation rates given high rates of infectious diseases and growing resistance rates. This is the case in Botswana along with high empiric use and extended prophylaxis to prevent surgical site infections (SSIs) Method: PPS was conducted am…

High Rate of Serotype V Streptococcus agalactiae Carriage in Pregnant Women in Botswana.

Maternal rectovaginal colonization is the major risk factor for early-onset neonatal sepsis due to Group B Streptococcus (GBS), a major cause of early life morbidity and mortality. Transmission generally occurs perinatally from colonized mothers to infants. Vaccines targeting a subset of GBS serotypes are under development, but GBS epidemiology remains poorly understood in many African nations. We performed a cross-sectional study of GBS colonization among pregnant women at two sites in Botswana, a country with minimal prior GBS carriage data. We found a rectovaginal colonization rate of 19%, …

Hearing Impairment Among Children Referred to a Public Audiology Clinic in Gaborone, Botswana.

Objective. To describe and quantify hearing impairment among children referred to the audiology clinic in Princess Marina Hospital, a public referral hospital in Botswana. Methods. In a retrospective case series, we reviewed medical records of children aged 10 years and younger whose hearing was assessed between January 2006 and December 2015 at the audiology clinic of Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone, Botswana. Results. Of 622 children, 50% were male, and median age was 6.7 years (interquartile range = 5.0-8.3). Hearing impairment was diagnosed in 32% of clinic attendees, comprising senso…