Dorcas Obiri-Yeboah

University of Cape Coast | UCC · Department of Microbiology and Immunology

Background Klebsiella pneumoniae is the second most frequently isolated bacterium in medical bacteriology laboratory after Escherichia coli. It can be responsible for many infections including urinary tract infections and pneumonia. The treatment of these infections is often prolonged because of the resistance of this bacterium to antibiotics. The...

Background Different countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have established guidelines to reduce HIV transmission and improve its management in prisons. This narrative review aimed to examine established literature on HIV care and management among incarcerated persons in SSA to identify successful interventions that could inform improved guidelines...

Background. Occult hepatitis B infection (OBI) is a public health problem in Burkina Faso. OBI represents a risk factor for the development of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). OBI could be due to mutant viruses undetectable by HBsAg assays or a strong suppression of viral replication and gene expression under the pression of the host i...

Background Klebsiella pneumoniae is the second most frequently isolated bacterium in medical bacteriology laboratory after Escherichia coli. It can be responsible for many infections including urinary tract infections and pneumonia. The treatment of these infections is often prolonged because of the resistance of this bacterium to antibiotics. The...

The current burden of Hepatitis C virus infection and the availability of HCV-related services in Ghana are not well described. Previous estimates on HCV seroprevalence in the country are outdated. This study investigated the HCV seroprevalence and testing and treatment capacity in Ghana. A multi-centre cross-sectional study was conducted in which...

Background: For women living with HIV (WLHIV), the burden of persistent HPV infection, cervical pre-cancerous lesions and cancer have been demonstrated to be higher than among HIV-negative women. As Ghana and other lower-middle-income countries (LMIC) work toward developing national cervical cancer programmes, it is essential that local scientific...

Background Despite the large volume of scientific evidence on the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated high morbidity and mortality, little is known about the sociocultural disruptions which ensued. The current study explored the nuanced navigation of the COVID-19-related death and burial protocols and its impact on traditional buri...

Background Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection affect all social strata of humanity and in the absence of any management, this infection has a different outcome from one infected person to another. This suggests that there are specific individual factors that influence the outcome of the pathology. Sex, immunogenetics and age of contraction of the vi...

Background: Challenges such as stigma and loneliness may increase vulnerability to Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection and negatively affect the quality of life of people living with HIV (PLHIV) despite the massive investment in access to antiretroviral therapy. This study aims to determine the level of loneliness and stigma and explore t...

Background Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the highest cervical cancer (CC) burden globally—worsened by its HIV epidemics. In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) introduced a CC elimination strategy with goals for vaccination, screening, and treatment. To benchmark progress, we examined temporal trends in screening coverage, percent screened at...

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in disruption in every facet of life including health service delivery. This has threatened the attainment of global targets to improve health and wellbeing of all persons. In particular, for persons living with chronic diseases, who require consistent monitoring by health professionals and medication to enhance their...

Introduction: Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is widespread among sexually active individuals. Several factors may contribute to increased risk of infection in pregnant women. The objective of this study was to determine the high-risk (HR-HPV) and low-risk (LR-HPV) oncogenic HPV genotypes among pregnant women in Ouagadougou. Methodol...

Background and aims Data are needed to inform hepatitis B virus (HBV) testing and treatment policies in Ghana to make progress towards achieving the 2030 WHO elimination targets. This study investigated testing patterns for HBV and described the age, sex, and region-specific prevalence of HBV infection in Ghana using hospital data. Methods A natio...

Background and objectives: Dengue fever (DF), an emerging and re-emerging viral disease, is a major public health problem. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of KIRs genes polymorphism and KIRs genotypes in susceptibility to dengue virus infection and disease severity in a population from Burkina Faso through a case-control stu...

Background Vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) persist globally with a disproportionately high burden in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Although this might be partly due to the failure to sustain vaccination coverage above 90% in some WHO regions, a more nuanced understanding of VPD transmission beyond vaccination coverage may unveil othe...

Background and aims: An important but much less researched burden of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Sub-Saharan Africa includes the associated mental health outcomes of living with the virus. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress, and describe some of the socio-demographic associations among people l...

Background Vulvovaginal candidiasis is an important cause of morbidity among women due to Candida species. In the last decades, resistance to azoles, first-line antifungals has increased. One molecular mechanism of azole resistance by Candida involves mutations in the ERG11 gene encoding lanosterol 14-α-demethylase, the target enzyme. This study wa...

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been far reaching across almost every sphere of life. Families, which are the basic units of society, have not been spared the ravages of the pandemic. Changes in family daily routines as a result of COVID-19 can affect spousal relationships, parenting and childcare practices. However, the extent to which t...

Introduction Despite improved access to modern contraceptives in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the region has the highest fertility rate. Although modern contraceptive usage and its determinants in SSA have been assessed, most authors were not guided by behavioral change theories. This study sought to assess the modern contraceptive coverage in SSA and...

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study is to search for mutations in the BRCA1 (c.5177_5180delGAAA and c.4986+6T>C) and BRCA2 genes (c.6445_6446delAT) in a population of women diagnosed with breast cancer. METHODS: This is a case-control study that involved 140 participants, including 70 patients with histologically diagnosed breast cancer and 70...

Introduction: Human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV-8) is the main etiological agent of Kaposi's sarcoma. This virus is frequently associated with immunocompromision. This study aimed to detect HHV-8 in people with compromised immune system. Patients and methods: This is a cross-sectional study that included 180 subjects: 179 HIV-infected patients and 1...

Cerebral malaria (CM) is a rare but fatal form of severe malaria sequelae. Host-derived biomarkers have the potential to assist in the early assessment, diagnosis, and prognosis of CM. However, previously reported host-derived CM biomarkers have limited clinical utility despite their ability to discriminate between CM and non-CM conditions, either...

Background The World Health Organisation’s efforts to eliminate cervical cancer by 2030 with a target of 70% screening coverage using a high-performance test demand that women increase participation in screening. Factors that impact uptake of screening must therefore be identified and bottlenecks addressed, especially in lower- and middle-income co...

Background : Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a debilitating neglected tropical disease that remains a major public challenge in endemic countries. In addition to providing mass drugs administration (ivermectin, albendazole and diethylcarbamazine) to reduce parasite burden in endemic communities, there is also a need to mitigate the challenges associat...

Breast cancer is the leading cause of death among women in both developed and developing countries. It is multifactorial, including genetic predispositions such as oncogenic mutations on BRCA1 and 2 genes. The objectives of the present study were to identify oncogenic mutations in exon 11 of the BRCA1 gene and to determine the risk factors for brea...

The severe acute respiratory syndrome due to the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), responsible for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has severely tested the global health response capacity, with predictions of a fatality for developing countries. To evaluate the prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV- 2 antibodies in People Living with HIV (PLHIV) with no COVID-19...

Reports of increasing false-negative HRP2-based rapid diagnostic test results across Africa require constant monitoring of factors associated with these false-negative outcomes, as failure of this diagnostic tool will have severe consequences on malaria treatment and control programs. This study characterized the extent of genetic diversity in the...

Introduction: The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) belongs to the Retroviridae family and remains a public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa. Recent reports from WHO have shown that 33 million people died from HIV infections. HIV is one of the most serious fatal human diseases of the 20th and 21st centuries. However, variations in genetic and...

Objective To explore how the COVID-19 pandemic affected access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) services from the perspective of the persons living with HIV (PLWH). Design The study adopted an exploratory-descriptive qualitative design that used in-depth interviews as the technique for the data collection. Data analysis was done using conceptual co...

Background Human papillomavirus is involved in several forms of tumors of the cervix, anal canal, vulva and vagina as well as ear, nose and throat (ENT). Among ENT tumors, there is a subgroup associated with oncogenic and non-oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV). Low-risk HPVs (LR-HPV) are most often associated with benign infections such as laryng...

Background Innovations in clinical nursing education are critical in enhancing the experiences of students, especially in the era of coronavirus pandemic. This study aimed at investigating nurse preceptors’ perceptions of use, intention to use and self-efficacy towards digital technology in preceptorship in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana. Meth...

The aim of the present study was to determine the distribution of high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) genotypes in childbearing age women, teenage girls, HIV-infected women, women with high-grade precancerous lesions and cervical cancer, sex workers, men, and otolaryngology tumor cases in Burkina Faso. This descriptive cross-sectional study wit...

In recent years, Africa has been increasingly involved in biotechnology and genomics. However, this interest is much more accentuated in the field of agriculture. From published studies, we know that biotechnology and genomics can be of great interest in the health field. Africa would, therefore, benefit from investing in these disciplines, especia...

Cryptosporidium species are intestinal protozoan parasites that infect and cause diarrhoea in animals and humans. The current study was conducted to determine the prevalence and risk factors of Cryptosporidium infection among HIV-infected patients in the Central region of Ghana. In this cross-sectional study, four hundred eighteen documented HIV-in...

Background Ghana has a generalized HIV epidemic and efforts have been made to curb the spread and reverse its effects on the general population. In the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, the health system was unsettled and antiretroviral therapy (ART) care has been impacted in diverse ways. The study sought to explore the effects of COVID-19 on ART service...

A clear understanding of the properties of naturally induced antibody responses against transmission-blocking vaccine candidates can accelerate the understanding of the development of transmission-blocking immunity. This study characterized the naturally induced IgG responses against two leading transmission-blocking vaccine antigens, Pfs230 and Pf...

Background Filarial pathologies such as lymphedema may be associated with complications such as chronic non-healing wounds. Nonetheless, the role of bacterial population colonizing the lymphedematous legs has been posited to worsen the conditions of those living with the infection. These bacteria are usually composed of staphylococcal species partl...

Background Nigeria has a high burden of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, commonly acquired through vertical transmission. However, there is a lack of an efficient surveillance system for monitoring and understanding the epidemiology of HBV among pregnant women. Building on a previous review on the prevalence of HBV in Nigeria (2000–2013), we cond...

Introduction: Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection remains a major public health problem worldwide. In Burkina Faso, nearly 720,000 people are living with HCV and each year about 900 people die from complications of cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma. This study was planned to determine the HCV seroprevalence, to characterize circulating genotypes...

Family-based Index HIV Testing, (FBIT) approach is known to be associated with a relatively higher testing yield compared to Provider-Initiated Testing and Counselling. The implementation of this strategy in several countries has exposed some barriers to optimal FBIT outcomes. With the scale up of FBIT in Ghana, stakeholder engagement is key in ide...

Background The COVID-19 pandemic and control measures adopted by countries globally can lead to stress and anxiety. Investigating the coping strategies to this unprecedented crisis is essential to guide mental health intervention and public health policy. This study examined how people are coping with the COVID-19 crisis in Ghana and identify facto...

Viral and bacterial infections represent an occupational risk for female sex workers. This study aimed at determining HPV coinfection with genital pathogens among female sex workers in West and Central Africa and identifying antibiotic resistance genes. A total of 182 samples from female sex workers were analyzed by real-time PCR and classic PCR. F...

Abstract Background The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with several adverse health outcomes. However, few studies in sub-Saharan Africa have examined its deleterious consequences on mental health. Therefore, we investigated the prevalence and changes in boredom, anxiety and psychological well-being before and during the COVID...

Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection is of public health importance due to its high prevalence and infectivity. A positive test for HBV has psychological, emotional, and socio-economic implications that may affect the quality of life of the clients. The media is a major source of information and awareness creation on many health related issues includi...

Context: Genital infections and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) remain a real public health problem in the world predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa. The purpose of this study was to determine co-infection of HPV, Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG); Chlamydia trachomatis (CT); Mycoplasma genitalium (MG) and Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) among female se...

Recent genome-wide association studies and replication analyses have reported the association of variants of the exostosin- 2 gene (EXT2) and risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in some populations, but not in others. This study aimed to characterize the variants rs1113132, rs3740878 and rs11037909 of EXT2 and to determine the existence of a possible cor...

Introduction: adequate knowledge on hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is important among healthcare workers (HCWs) as this impacts the vaccination seeking behaviour. This study sought to assess the knowledge, vaccination status and related factors amongst HCWs in a tertiary facility in Ghana. Methods: an analytical cross-sectional study was cond...

Genetic polymorphisms of certain classes of glutathione S-transferase (GST), enzyme responsible for the biotransformation of drugs and xenobiotics, have been associated with risk of several cancers such as cervical cancer. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of glutathione S-transferase M1 and T1 deletion on high-risk human papilloma...

Background Family-based Index HIV Testing, (FBIT) approach is known to be associated with a relatively higher testing yield compared to Provider-Initiated Testing and Counseling. The implementation of this strategy in several countries has exposed some barriers to optimal FBIT outcomes. With the scale up of FBIT in Ghana, stakeholders’ engagement i...

Background: Caring for adolescents living with HIV/AIDS (ALHIV) can be overwhelming due to their unique needs. Ghana is currently among nine countries in West and Central Africa contributing to 90% of new paediatric infections in the sub-region with a growing population of ALHIV. Regardless, gaps in paediatric related care including healthcare pro...

The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the promoter region of MMP-1 (at 1607 bp) and MMP-3 (at 1171 bp) create Ets binding sites. Correlations between these SNPs and sensitivity to several biological processes such as metastasis and recurrence of cancer have been reported in several studies. In this case-control study, we looked for these SNPs...

Objective this study was conducted to determine the distribution of high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) genotypes in women in the general population of three regions of Burkina Faso. Method This multicenter, descriptive cross-sectional study involved 1321 sexually active women in five cities in three regions of Burkina Faso: Central, Central-E...

Background: Stigma against people living with HIV (PLHIV) among health workers remains a barrier to the provision of needed care to HIV patients worldwide. We sought to investigate predictors of HIV stigma among health workers in Cape Coast, Ghana. Methods: This was a cross sectional study conducted in three hospitals from November 2016 to February...

Background Sterile protection against malaria, most likely mediated by parasite-specific CD8+ T cells, has been achieved by attenuated sporozoite vaccination of animals as well as malaria-naïve and malaria-exposed subjects. The circumsporozoite protein (CSP)-based vaccine, RTS,S, shows low efficacy partly due to limited CD8+ T cell induction, and i...