Occupational risk factors for HIV infection among traditional birth attendants in Copperbelt province, Zambia

Today we are featuring African Journal of Health Sciences vol.17 no. 3-4, which includes "Occupational risk factors for HIV infection among traditional birth attendants in Copperbelt province, Zambia" by Siziya, Seter & Hazemba, Alice. 

In this issue, a cross sectional survey was conducted among traditional birth attendants (TBA) in order to determine overall occupational health risks associated with HIV infection. A sum of 370 individual TBAs were recruited for the study. 67 (18.1%) of the individuals were trained and the median age of all individuals was 50 years old. One of the key issues was the use of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for initial birth of the babies, which was reported by 22 (6.0%) of the 365 TBAs. Additionally, a total of 220 (59.6%) TBAs reported washing their hands with soap and water after contact with mothers and babies after the deliveries. Only 42 (11.5%) birth attendants used gloves all of the time when in contact with mothers and their babies. 

In summary, a total of 44 out of the 370 (11.9%) traditional birthing attendants tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). After adjusting for age, attendants who used mouth-to-mouth resuscitation were 6.02 (95%CI 1.97, 18.42) times likely to contract HIV than attendants who did not use this method of resuscitating the newborn babies. To conclude, the study suggests that the precautions for universal protection against the contraction of HIV was poor and that the use of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation of newborns should be highly discouraged. 

For this article and others from this issue, click here.

Featured Issues: African Journal of Health Sciences Vol.17 No.3 & 4

This is our very first time featuring African Journal of Health Sciences on our blog! Today we will be featuring issues 3 and 4 from vol.17. 

This includes "Costing injuries in South Africa: preliminary results and challenges from a pilot study" by Bowman et al. This article aims to uncover the costs of injuries in the South African public health sector by providing a baseline for medical costs of the treatment of gunshot wounds, pedestrian-motor vehicle collision injuries, as well as falls and burns at a public health facility in Johannesburg, South Africa.

"Prescription status of Respiratory tract infection - a survey report" by Ramvikas et al. aims to investigate how respiratory tract infections are treated in developing countries, with a focus on South India. Treatment by means of self-medication and consumption of drugs prescribed by non-doctors were assessed. The results showed that out of 1000 respondents, those between 21 and 40 years of age were more prone to self-medication due to economic factors, lack of time and lack of treatment awareness among others. The authors conclude that pharmacists should educate patients to improve patient compliance and prevent diseases.

For the complete details of these studies and other articles from this issue, go to: http://www.bioline.org.br/titles?id=jh&year=2010&vol=17&num=3-4&keys=V17N3-4