• Canada
• Publicationsclose
• UG close

Editors’ Summary Background Cardiometabolic diseases—cardiovascular diseases that affect the heart and/or the blood vessels and metabolic diseases that affect the cellular chemical reactions needed to sustain life—are a growing global health concern. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, the prevalence (the proportion of a population that has a given disease) of adults with diabetes (a life-shortening metabolic disease that affects how the body handles sugars) is currently 3.8%. By 2030, it is estimated that the prevalence of diabetes among adults in this region will have risen to 4.6%. Similarly, in 2004, around 1.2 million deaths in sub-Saharan Africa were attributed to coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases. By 2030, the number of deaths in this region attributable to cardiovascular disease is expected to double. Globally, cardiovascular disease and diabetes are now responsible for around 17.3 million and 1.3 million annual deaths, respectively, together accounting for about one-third of all deaths. Why Was This Study Done? Experts believe that increased consumption of saturated fats, sugar, and salt and reduced physical activity are partly responsible for the increasing global prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases. These lifestyle changes, they suggest, are related to urbanization—urban expansion into the countryside and migration from rural to urban areas. If this is true, the prevalence of unhealthy lifestyles should increase as rural areas adopt urban characteristics. Sub-Saharan Africa is the least urbanized region in the world, with about 60% of the population living in rural areas. However, rural settlements across the subcontinent are increasingly adopting urban characteristics. It is important to know whether urbanization is affecting the health of rural residents in sub-Saharan Africa to improve estimates of the future burden of cardiometabolic diseases in the region and to provide insights into ways to limit this burden. In this cross-sectional study (an investigation that studies participants at a single time point), the researchers examine the distribution of urban characteristics across rural communities in Uganda and the association of these characteristics with lifestyle risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases. What Did the Researchers Do and Find? For their study, the researchers used data collected in 2011 by the General Population Cohort study, a study initiated in 1989 to describe HIV infection trends among people living in 25 villages in rural southwestern Uganda that collects health-related and other information annually from its participants. The researchers quantified the “urbanicity” of the 25 villages using a multi-component scale that included information such as village size and economic activity. They then used statistical models to examine associations between urbanicity and lifestyle risk factors such as body mass index (BMI, a measure of obesity) and self-reported fruit and vegetable consumption for more than 7,000 study participants living in those villages. None of the villages had paved roads or running water. However, urbanicity varied markedly across the villages, largely because of differences in economic activity, civil infrastructure, and the availability of educational and healthcare services. Notably, increasing urbanicity was associated with an increase in lifestyle risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. So, for example, people living in villages with the highest urbanicity scores were nearly 20% more likely to be physically inactive and to eat less fruits and vegetables and nearly 50% more likely to have a high BMI than people living in villages with the lowest urbanicity scores. What Do These Findings Mean? These findings indicate that, across rural communities in Uganda, even a small increase in urbanicity is associated with a higher prevalence of potentially modifiable lifestyle risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases. These findings suggest, therefore, that simply classifying settlements as either rural or urban may not be adequate to capture the information needed to target strategies for cardiometabolic disease management and control in rural areas as they become more urbanized. Because this study was cross-sectional, it is not possible to say how long a rural population needs to experience a more urban environment before its risk of cardiometabolic diseases increases. Longitudinal studies are needed to obtain this information. Moreover, studies of other countries in sub-Saharan Africa are needed to show that these findings are generalizable across the region. However, based on these findings, and given that more than 553 million people live in rural areas across sub-Saharan Africa, it seems likely that increasing urbanization will have a substantial impact on the future health of populations throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Additional Information Please access these websites via the online version of this summary at http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001683. This study is further discussed in a PLOS Medicine Perspective by Fahad Razak and Lisa Berkman The American Heart Association provides information on all aspects of cardiovascular disease and diabetes; its website includes personal stories about heart attacks, stroke, and diabetes The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has information on heart disease, stroke, and diabetes (in English and Spanish) The UK National Health Service Choices website provides information about cardiovascular disease and diabetes (including some personal stories) The World Health Organization’s Global Noncommunicable Disease Network (NCDnet) aims to help low- and middle-income countries reduce illness and death caused by cardiometabolic and other non-communicable diseases The World Heart Federation has recently produced a report entitled “Urbanization and Cardiovascular Disease” Wikipedia has a page on urbanization (note that Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit; available in several languages) Background Urban living is associated with unhealthy lifestyles that can increase the risk of cardiometabolic diseases. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where the majority of people live in rural areas, it is still unclear if there is a corresponding increase in unhealthy lifestyles as rural areas adopt urban characteristics. This study examines the distribution of urban characteristics across rural communities in Uganda and their associations with lifestyle risk factors for chronic diseases. Methods and Findings Using data collected in 2011, we examined cross-sectional associations between urbanicity and lifestyle risk factors in rural communities in Uganda, with 7,340 participants aged 13 y and above across 25 villages. Urbanicity was defined according to a multi-component scale, and Poisson regression models were used to examine associations between urbanicity and lifestyle risk factors by quartile of urbanicity. Despite all of the villages not having paved roads and running water, there was marked variation in levels of urbanicity across the villages, largely attributable to differences in economic activity, civil infrastructure, and availability of educational and healthcare services. In regression models, after adjustment for clustering and potential confounders including socioeconomic status, increasing urbanicity was associated with an increase in lifestyle risk factors such as physical inactivity (risk ratio [RR]: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.14, 1.24), low fruit and vegetable consumption (RR: 1.17; 95% CI: 1.10, 1.23), and high body mass index (RR: 1.48; 95% CI: 1.24, 1.77). Conclusions This study indicates that even across rural communities in SSA, increasing urbanicity is associated with a higher prevalence of lifestyle risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases. This finding highlights the need to consider the health impact of urbanization in rural areas across SSA. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary Johanna Riha and colleagues evaluate the association of lifestyle risk factors with elements of urbanicity, such as having a public telephone, a primary school, or a hospital, among individuals living in rural settings in Uganda. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary

Background Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is the most common inherited hemoglobinopathy worldwide. Infection is a major cause of illness and death in children with SCA, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where an estimated 50–90% of affected children die before their fifth birthday. Interventions to reduce the incidence and severity of infections are needed urgently. A high proportion of adults and children with SCA are zinc-deficient, and zinc deficiency leads to impaired immunity and an increased risk of infection. Zinc supplementation has been shown to decrease the risk of infection in adolescents and adults, but there are no data on the effectiveness of zinc for prevention of infection in children < 5 years of age with SCA. Methods/design The study will be a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial in which 250 Ugandan children 1.00–4.99 years of age with SCA will receive daily zinc supplementation (10 mg oral dispersible tablet) or identical placebo for 12 months. Discussion If this trial shows a reduction in severe or invasive infection incidence, it would be the basis for a multi-site, multi-country clinical trial to assess real-world safety and efficacy of zinc in African children with SCA. Since zinc is safe, inexpensive, and easy to administer, this trial has the potential to improve the health of hundreds of thousands of African children with SCA through reduction of infection-related morbidity and mortality. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT03528434. Registered on May 17, 2018 Protocol Version: 1.0. Date: Dec 11, 2017 Sponsor: Indiana University. Sponsor’s protocol identifier, 1712339562 Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13063-019-3569-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

ObjectiveTo evaluate whether the clinical benefit and relapse rates in anti-muscle-specific kinase (MuSK) myasthenia gravis (MG) differ depending on the protocol of rituximab followed. MethodsThis retrospective multicentre study in patients with MuSK MG compared three rituximab protocols in terms of clinical status, relapse, changes in treatment, and adverse side effects. The primary effectiveness endpoint was clinical relapse requiring a further infusion of rituximab. Survival curves were estimated using Kaplan-Meier methods and survival analyses were undertaken using Cox proportional-hazards models. ResultsTwenty-five patients were included: 11 treated with protocol 4 + 2 (375 mg/m(2)/4 weeks, then monthly for 2 months), five treated with protocol 1 + 1 (two 1 g doses 2 weeks apart), and nine treated with protocol 4 (375 mg/m(2)/4 weeks). Mean follow-up was 5.0 years (SD 3.3). Relapse occurred in 18.2%, 80%, and 33.3%, and mean time to relapse was 3.5 (SD 1.5), 1.1 (SD 0.4), and 2.5 (SD 1.4) years, respectively. Based on Kaplan-Meier estimates, patients treated with protocol 4 + 2 had fewer and later relapses than patients treated with the other two protocols (log-rank test P = 0.0001). Patients treated with protocol 1 + 1 had a higher risk of relapse than patients treated with protocol 4 + 2 (HR 112.8, 95% CI, 5.7-2250.4, P = 0.002). Patients treated with protocol 4 showed a trend to a higher risk of relapse than those treated with protocol 4 + 2 (HR 9.2, 95% CI 0.9-91.8, P = 0.059). InterpretationThis study provides class IV evidence that the 4 + 2 rituximab protocol has a lower clinical relapse rate and produces a more durable response than the 1 + 1 and 4 protocols in patients with MuSK MG. I. Illa received research support from the Fondo de Investigacion en Salud, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministry of Health (Spain), FIS PI16/01440 (Fondos FEDER). E. Cortes-Vicente was supported by a FIS grant (CM16/00096) from Fondo de Investigacion en Salud, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministry of Health (Spain) and Fondo Social Europeo.

# Background Trauma is a leading cause for major limb loss (MLL) during war. As societies transition into peace other factors become important. The voluntary sector plays a diminishing role in service delivery as countries transition towards peace. # Methods We undertook a retrospective review of 141 inpatient case notes at two hospitals in Northern Uganda to study the etiology of MLL. Focus group discussions, a literature search and key informant interviews were undertaken to ascertain patients' experience and the state of current services. # Results The most common indication for amputation was malignancy (36%), followed by gangrene and complications from diabetes. Trauma was the 5^th^ most common cause. The mean (standard deviation, SD) age of this cohort was 43 (22.2) years and the mean (SD) distance from their homes to the closest rehabilitation service unit was 91 (75) km. Less than 1% of patients were formally referred to rehabilitation services. Patients described experiences of stigma and marginalization impacting relationship and/or employability. Rehabilitation services were limited/unaffordable and inaccessible. Unpreparedness of government agencies in taking over rehabilitation services was evident. # Conclusions Non-communicable diseases account for the majority of MLL in this region now. These new cohorts of patients join an existing large pool of war-related amputees. Chronic dependence on the voluntary sector has rendered a state of unpreparedness amongst the local health providers.

AbstractOnly a few studies have assessed the long-term duration of the humoral immune response against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).In this nationwide longitudinal study from the Faroe Islands with close to full participation of all individuals on the Islands with PCR confirmed COVID-19 during the two waves of infections in the spring and autumn 2020 (n=172 & n=233), samples were drawn at three longitudinal time points (3, 7 and 12 months and 1, 3 and 7 months after disease onset, respectively).Serum was analyzed with a direct quantitative IgG antibody binding ELISA to detect anti–SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD antibodies and a commercially available qualitative sandwich RBD ELISA kit measuring total antibody binding.The seropositive rate in the convalescent individuals was above 95 % at all sampling time points for both assays. There was an overall decline in IgG titers over time in both waves (p < 0.001). Pairwise comparison showed that IgG declined significantly from the first sample until approximately 7 months in both waves (p < 0.001). After that, the antibody level still declined significantly (p < 0.001), but decelerated with an altered slope remaining fairly stable from 7 months to 12 months after infection. Interestingly, the IgG titers followed a U-shaped curve with higher antibody levels among the oldest (67+) and the youngest (0– 17) age groups compared to intermediate groups (p < 0.001).Our results indicate that COVID-19 convalescent individuals are likely to be protected from reinfection up to 12 months after symptom onset and maybe even longer. We believe our results can add to the understanding of natural immunity and the expected durability of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine immune responses.