Correction: Suh Nchang et al. Knowledge about Asymptomatic Malaria and Acceptability of Using Artemisia afra Tea among Health Care Workers (HCWs) in Yaoundé, Cameroon: A Cross-Sectional Survey. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 6309.

Error in Table [...].

Knowledge about Asymptomatic Malaria and Acceptability of Using Artemisia afra Tea among Health Care Workers (HCWs) in Yaoundé, Cameroon: A Cross-Sectional Survey.

Malaria is the most widespread endemic disease in Cameroon, and asymptomatic Plasmodium (gametocyte) carriers (APCs) constitute more than 95% of infectious human reservoirs in malaria endemic settings. This study assesses the knowledge of asymptomatic malaria (ASM) among health care workers (HCWs) in health facilities (HFs) in the Centre Region of Cameroon and the acceptability of using Artemisia afra tea to treat APCs. A cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted among 100 HCWs, in four randomly selected HFs in the Centre Region, in the period of 1-20 April 2022, using semi-structured self-administered questionnaires. Logistic regression analyses were performed to determine factors associated with knowledge. More than seven in eight (88%) respondents were aware of the existence of ASM, 83% defined ASM correctly, 75% knew how it was diagnosed, 70% prescribe ACTs for APCs, and 51.1% were informed about ASM transmission. The professional category of HCWs was significantly associated with their knowledge of the existence and transmission of ASM, and longevity of service was associated with knowledge of transmission (p < 0.05). Two-thirds (67%) of respondents knew about Artemisia afra tea, 53.7% believed that it was effective in treating ASM, and 79% were willing to prescribe it if authorized. There was a fair level of knowledge of ASM among HCWs in the study settings.

A cross-sectional survey on the use of herbal tea among Cameroonian adults (18-65 years).

BACKGROUND: In respect of the WHO's commendation to incorporate traditional medicine (TM) in health care, the Cameroon government wants to promote the use of the traditional medicine and is resolute on encouraging the treatment of patients with alternative medicine from traditional sources. This study explores the use of herbal tea by Cameroonian adults to prevent or treat diseases and the socio-demographic determinants of tea use among participants. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 307 Cameroonian adults (18-65 years) randomly selected within 4 hospitals and 4 communities in the Centre and Southwest regions of Cameroon between 04/01-20/04/2022, using interviewer administered semi-structured questionnaires. Binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine the association between variables. RESULTS: Over four-fifth (89.3%) of participants had taken herbal teas at least once within the last 2 years prior to the survey, and most participants used the teas for the prevention and treatment of Covid-19 (67.9%), malaria (59.7%) and typhoid fever (35%). Most respondents took the teas warm (75%), and the treatment dosage used by most respondents (51%) was "one glass in the morning and evening for one to two weeks". The teas taken by 70% of users had bad or bitter taste and 52.2% of them were uncomfortable with the bad taste. However, the majority of users completed their treatment dosage (72%), 90.5% of them were willing to use teas for treatment if prescribed in health facilities in future, and 90.1% were in support that herbal teas should be prescribed in hospitals. There was no significant association (p ≥ 0.05) between sociodemographic characteristics of participants and herbal tea use. However, the major motivating factor for acceptability of herbal tea use was treatment effectiveness (52.7%). CONCLUSION: There is high prevalence of herbal tea use among adults Cameroonians in the studied settings in the Centre and Southwest regions of Cameroon, with a positive opinion and willingness to use teas if prescribed in health facilities. Authorities must ensure the effectiveness and safety of traditional medicine served in health facilities, to enhance compliance and adequate use.

Experience of Rwanda on COVID-19 Case Management: From Uncertainties to the Era of Neutralizing Monoclonal Antibodies.

The management of COVID-19 in Rwanda has been dynamic, and the use of COVID-19 therapeutics has gradually been updated based on scientific discoveries. The treatment for COVID-19 remained patient-centered and entirely state-sponsored during the first and second waves. From the time of identification of the index case in March 2020 up to August 2021, three versions of the clinical management guidelines were developed, with the aim of ensuring that the COVID-19 patients treated in Rwanda were receiving care based on the most recent therapeutic discoveries. As the case load increased and imposed imminent heavy burdens on the healthcare system, a smooth transition was made to enable that the asymptomatic and mild COVID-19 cases could continue to be closely observed and managed while they remained in their homes. The care provided to patients requiring facility-based interventions mainly focused on the provision of anti-inflammatory drugs, anticoagulation, broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy, management of hyperglycemia and the provision of therapeutics with a direct antiviral effect such as favipiravir and neutralizing monoclonal antibodies. The time to viral clearance was observed to be shortest among eligible patients treated with neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (bamlanivimab). Moving forward, as we strive to continue detecting COVID-19 cases as early as possible, and promptly initiate supportive interventions, the use of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies constitutes an attractive and cost-effective therapeutic approach. If this approach is used strategically along with other measures in place (i.e., COVID-19 vaccine roll out, etc.), it will enable us to bring this global battle against the COVID-19 pandemic under full control and with a low case fatality rate.

Field testing two existing, standardized respiratory severity scores (LIBSS and ReSViNET) in infants presenting with acute respiratory illness to tertiary hospitals in Rwanda - a validation and inter-rater reliability study.

INTRODUCTION: There is a substantial burden of respiratory disease in infants in the sub-Saharan Africa region. Many health care providers (HCPs) that initially receive infants with respiratory distress may not be adequately skilled to differentiate between mild, moderate and severe respiratory symptoms, which may contribute to poor management and outcome. Therefore, respiratory severity scores have the potential to contributing to address this gap. OBJECTIVES: to field-test the use of two existing standardized bronchiolitis severity scores (LIBSS and ReSViNET) in a population of Rwandan infants (1-12 months) presenting with respiratory illnesses to urban, tertiary, pediatric hospitals and to assess the severity of respiratory distress in these infants and the treatments used. METHODS: A cross-sectional, validation study, was conducted in four tertiary hospitals in Rwanda. Infants presenting with difficulty in breathing were included. The LIBSS and ReSViNET scores were independently employed by nurses and residents to assess the severity of disease in each infant. RESULTS: 100 infants were recruited with a mean age of seven months. Infants presented with pneumonia (n = 51), bronchiolitis (n = 36) and other infectious respiratory illnesses (n = 13). Thirty-three infants had severe disease and survival was 94% using nurse applied LIBSS. Regarding inter-rater reliability, the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) for LIBSS and ReSViNET between nurses and residents was 0.985 (95% CI: 0.98-0.99) and 0.980 (0.97-0.99). The convergent validity (Pearson's correlation) between LIBSS and ReSViNET for nurses and residents was R = 0.836 (p<0.001) and R = 0.815 (p<0.001). The area under the Receiver Operator Curve (aROC) for admission to PICU or HDU was 0.956 (CI: 0.92-0.99, p<0.001) and 0.880 (CI: 0.80-0.96, p<0.001) for nurse completed LIBSS and ReSViNET respectively. CONCLUSION: LIBSS and ReSViNET were designed for infants with bronchiolitis in resource-rich settings. Both LIBSS and ReSViNET demonstrated good reliability and validity results, in this cohort of patients presenting to tertiary level hospitals. This early data demonstrate that these two scores have the potential to be used in conjunction with clinical reasoning to identify infants at increased risk of clinical deterioration and allow timely admission, treatment escalation and therefore support resource allocation in Rwanda.