S Cousens

..This paper reports the first results for two onchocerciasis foci in Kaduna, Nigeria...

..However, the parasitological effectiveness of ACT when dispensed by community medicine distributors (CMDs) within the context of home management of malaria (HMM) and used unsupervised by caregivers at home has not been evaluated...

..The feasibility and acceptability of incorporating ACT in HMM needs to be evaluated...

..A phase Ib dose-escalating study was conducted to assess the vaccine's safety and immunogenicity in children aged 12 to 24 months in Korogwe, Tanzania (ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT00469651)...

..Our objective was to estimate the effect of various childbirth care packages on neonatal mortality due to intrapartum-related events ("birth asphyxia") in term babies for use in the Lives Saved Tool (LiST)...

..Annually over 520,000 newborns die from neonatal sepsis, and 60,000 more from tetanus. Estimates of the effect of clean birth and postnatal care practices are required for evidence-based program planning...

..Globally syphilis is an important yet preventable cause of stillbirth, neonatal mortality and morbidity...

..We have estimated the effect of providing oral, or injectable antibiotics at home or in first-level facilities, and of in-patient hospital care on neonatal mortality from pneumonia and sepsis for use in the Lives Saved Tool (LiST)...

..03 million from complications of prematurity. No systematic assessment of mortality reduction from tactile stimulation or resuscitation has been published...

....

..The perspectives of health care providers and traditional birth attendants on childbirth and the factors determining where women deliver were also investigated...

..The PROMISE-EBF trial, during which we promoted exclusive breastfeeding, gave us the opportunity to describe the epidemiology of PNM in Banfora Health District, South-West in Burkina Faso...

..We review approaches to the control of confounding and discuss issues in drawing causal inference from these studies...

..We aimed to develop more reliable estimates and a time series from 1995 for 193 countries, by increasing input data, using recent data, and applying improved modelling approaches...

..We investigated whether regional incidences of vCJD were correlated with regional dietary data...

..An ecological analysis relating the regional incidence of vCJD to historical dietary data does not provide a dear evidence that humans became infected through consumption of MRM...

..In low and middle-income settings, where some 2 million neonatal deaths occur annually due to complications of pre-term birth or infection, many women do not receive antibiotic therapy for pPROM...

..We aim to describe specific scenarios in which randomised trials may not be possible and describe, exemplify and assess alternative strategies...

..The programme was tailored to local customs, targeted specific types of behaviour, built on existing motivation for hygiene, and used locally appropriate channels of communication...

..Although measles incidence has been reduced to low levels in many countries, the potential exists for HIV-1 infection to enhance measles virus (MV) transmission and hinder measles control and elimination efforts...

..The level of these antibodies at birth depends on the level of antibodies in the mother and the extent of placental transfer. We investigated predictors of levels of measles antibodies in newborns in rural Kenya...

..Little is known about the influence of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection on levels of prevaccination antibodies to measles virus...

..Estimates of the force of infection using routinely available data were consistent with those based upon serological surveys in other sub-Saharan African countries...

..Effective action is possible to reduce neonatal mortality, but innovative approaches to implementation will be required if these preventable deaths are to be avoided...

..We assess implications for sample size estimation and present a simple solution to the problems outlined...

....

..Both the unadjusted analysis and the analysis adjusting for confounders are shown to be robust, even for very small numbers of clusters, in situations that are likely to arise in randomized trials...

....

....

..ITN coverage has increased rapidly in Kenya from 7% in 2004 to 67% in 2006. We aimed to assess the extent to which this investment has led to improvements in child survival...

..While we neglect these challenges, 450 newborn children die every hour, mainly from preventable causes, which is unconscionable in the 21st century...

....

..This pilot study investigated the feasibility of delivering a package of community-based interventions for improving perinatal care using lady health workers (LHWs) and traditional birth attendants (Dais) in rural Pakistan...

..Results support the implementation of the current WHO protocol and favor analyzing PCR-corrected outcomes by Kaplan-Meier analysis (which allows for dropouts) and retaining new infections (which minimizes losses)...

....

..More detailed analysis and evaluation within and across countries would be invaluable in guiding investments for primary health care, and expediting progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and "health for all"...

..Strengthening MNCH at the primary health-care level should be a priority for countries to reach their Millennium Development Goal targets for reducing maternal and child mortality...

..The tested sample is too small to come to any conclusions about whether the BSE strain is present in sheep, but the study provides a framework for further more extensive studies...