Kwabena O. Duedu

• BSc MPhil MA PhD, AFHEA, FRSB
• Associate Professor at Birmingham City University

Introduction Gross domestic product (GDP) has been shown to affect government spending on various budget heads including healthcare and the purchase and distribution of vaccines. This vulnerable situation has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic which disrupted and exposed the fragile nature of equitable access to vaccines for childhood immuni...

Surveillance is essential in the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR), to monitor the extent of resistance, inform prevention, control measures, and evaluate intervention progress. Traditional surveillance methods based on phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility data offer important but limited insights into resistance mechanisms, transmiss...

Background Intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) are serious global public health issues, especially in low and middle-income countries. These parasites can cause high morbidity and mortality, especially in immunocompromised individuals, and can easily be transmitted by consumption of contaminated food or water or by penetration of skin and mucous...

Background The World Health Organization has set ambitious goals to eliminate cervical cancer, necessitating evidence on increasing coverage and access to screening and treatment in high-burden areas. We implemented a pilot program to assess the feasibility of obtaining self-collected specimens for high-risk human papillomavirus (hr-HPV) testing in...

Introduction Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a global public health threat, with colistin emerging as a last-resort treatment option for multidrug-resistant Gram-negative infections. However, the emergence of colistin resistance, mediated by mechanisms like mutations in the PhoP gene, raises concerns about the future utility of this antib...

Background Wound infections are often underestimated issues that can lead to chronic illnesses, and since the introduction of antibiotics, wound complications have become less common. However, due to the increased and irrational use of these antibiotics, the resistance in the bacterial isolates has become very common. This has led to reduced treatm...

Urinary tract infection (UTI) remains one of the most treated infections in primary healthcare over the last two decades. The infection is treated with antibiotics. However, there have been reported cases of increasing antibiotic resistance globally, limiting the available antibiotics for the treatment of the infection. The study aimed to determine...

Background: Colistin resistance in Gram-negative bacteria poses a significant threat to public health. This study investigated the prevalence of colistin resistance mediated by the PhoP gene in Gram-negative bacteria isolated from various water sources in the Ho Municipality, Ghana. Methods: Water samples were collected from different sources inc...

Background: Access to safe drinking water is vital for public health, yet water sources in many developing countries, including Ghana, are often contaminated. This study assessed physicochemical properties of water samples from various sources in Ghana's Volta Region against WHO recommendations. Methodology: A cross-sectional study collected 104...

Background During the COVID-19 pandemic the aetiology of respiratory illnesses were narrowed to SARS-CoV-2. This prevented diagnosis of other pathogens and patients were not notified of the accurate diagnosis of their illnesses when SARS-CoV-2 was absent. It is therefore important to look back and determine what else was present but was missed. Ob...

The World Health Organization (WHO) strict defining criteria were used to identify severe malaria among Ghanaian patients clinically diagnosed as uncomplicated malaria. From each study participant, blood haemoglobin (Hb) and plasma bilirubin levels were estimated using automated analyzers. According to the WHO, the criteria for diagnosing severe ma...

The burden of Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) remains a public health problem that should be addressed considering its effect on society and close association with HIV. This study aimed to determine the knowledge and prevalence of common STIs and associated risk factors among adult patients seeking STI care in health facilities in Ho Municip...

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents one of the most pressing public health threats globally, particularly in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) where healthcare resources are often limited. The capability to monitor and respond to AMR patterns is crucial for managing infections effectively and mitigating the spread of resistance. Genomic...

Background The successful detection of drug-resistance mutations (DRMs) in HIV-1 infected patients has improved the management of HIV infection. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) to detect low-frequency mutations is predicted to be useful for efficiently testing minority drug resistance mutations, which could contribute to virological failure. This...

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted and exposed the fragile nature of equitable access to vaccines for childhood immunization globally. Hence it was necessary to perform a systematic review and meta- analysis to assess the association of country income status and gross domestic product with vaccination coverage of vaccines for childhood immunizat...

Objective In this study, we sought to determine whether faecal shedding occurs among SARS-COV-2 positive Ghanaians, as reported elsewhere. Hence we assayed for SARS-COV-2 in the stools of 48 SARS-COV-2 confirmed patients at the Ho Municipal Hospital in Ghana. Results Of the 48 COVID-19 patients, 45 (93.8%) had positive tests for SARS-CoV-2 faecal...

The SARS-CoV-2 genome occupies a unique place in infection biology – it is the most highly sequenced genome on earth (making up over 20% of public sequencing datasets) with fine scale information on sampling date and geography, and has been subject to unprecedented intense analysis. As a result, these phylogenetic data are an incredibly valuable re...

Background There is no conclusive evidence on the association between interleukin- (IL-) 6 gene polymorphism and type 2 diabetes mellitus (type 2 DM). Thus, this study is aimed at evaluating the role of rs1800795 and rs1800796 polymorphisms in the pathogenesis of type 2 DM among Ghanaians in the Ho Municipality. Materials and Methods We recruited...

Background Mass drug administration of praziquantel is expected to reduce Schistosome carriage in treated children in endemic communities. However, the effectiveness of this annual exercise has not been assessed in Ghana. Therefore, this study aimed to detect viable Schistosoma mansoni infection using point-of-care circulating cathodic antigen (POC...

Objectives Before administration of the first dose of the AstraZeneca 2019 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine to selected prioritized groups in the Volta regional capital of Ghana, we determined the pre-vaccination status of prospective recipients and established the baseline exposure status 1 year after the first case was reported. Methods After informed consent...

Background Effective management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is crucial in the control and spread of these infections in health systems. Community pharmacies are usually the first port of call in Ghana for most people who contract STIs for therapy. Delayed and inappropriate treatment contributes significantly to treatment failures, dru...

Objective: The study sought to determine the diagnostic accuracy of body adiposity index (BAI) and relative fat mass (RFM) to predict BIA-derived BFP among patients with type 2 diabetes in the Ho municipality. Materials and Method. This hospital-based cross-sectional study involved 236 patients with type 2 diabetes. Demographic data, including age...

Urinary schistosomiasis has long been associated with bladder cancer, but it is still not clear the mechanisms involved. Schistosoma haematobium causes injury and disruptions in the integrity of the urothelium. The cellular and immunologic responses to the infection lead to the formation of granulomata. The ability to use cellular morphological cha...

Background: Parasitic infections among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients are common in various regions and populations across the world and have since remained a persistent public health challenge. Sub-Saharan Africa harbors the greatest burden of the infections due to sociodemographic and behavioral factors. However, the preval...

In Ghana, HIV status disclosure to partners is voluntary. This study sought to determine the factors associated with HIV status disclosure to partners among antiretroviral therapy (ART) clients in the Upper East Region. A matched case–control study (1:1) was carried out in nine ART sites in the Upper East region in which 100 ART sexually active cli...

Background: Effective and successful treatment of infectious diseases is a significant gain in clinical settings. However, resistance to antibiotics, especially the last-resort medicines, including carbapenems and colistin is on the rise. Aim: The aim of this study was to detect carbapenemase production and colistin-resistant genes in clinical i...

The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the fastest evolving pandemics in recent history. As such, the SARS-CoV-2 viral evolution needs to be continuously tracked. This study sequenced 1123 SARS-CoV-2 genomes from patient isolates (121 from arriving travellers and 1002 from communities) to track the molecular evolution and spatio-temporal dynamics of the S...

Investment in Africa over the past year with regards to SARS-CoV-2 genotyping has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, exceeding 100,000 genomes generated to track the pandemic on the continent. Our results show an increase in the number of African countries able to sequence within their own borders, coupled with a decrease in sequ...

Background. Escherichia coli bacteria are Gram-negative, non-spore-forming aerobes or facultative anaerobic rods. Some strains are pathogenic in men while others are commensals in the gut. The pathogenic strains cause a wide array of diseases by virtue of virulence factors. The commensal strains are generally categorized into phylogenetic groups A...

Background: The growing burden of antibiotic resistance is a threat to the management of infections. Infections by Escherichia coli are routinely treated with fluoroquinolone antimicrobial agents. Due to their frequent use, there has been increasing resistance to these drugs. We set out to determine the burden of fluoroquinolone resistance among c...

Background: Hypertension is an important public health concern that is claiming millions of lives worldwide. In sub-Saharan African countries, where some of the highest prevalence rates are being recorded, sufficient attention has not been given to its control. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the association and predictive pote...

BACKGROUND: The growing burden of antibiotic resistance is a threat to the management of infections. Infections by Escherichia coli are routinely treated with fluoroquinolone antimicrobial agents. Due to their frequent use, there has been increasing resistance to these drugs. We set out to determine the burden of fluoroquinolone resistance among cl...

Objective: This study determined the occurrence and distribution of Extended Spectrum β-Lactamase (ESBL) genotypes of E. coli isolates in Ho Teaching Hospital, Ghana. Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: A single centre study was conducted at Ho Teaching Hospital of Ghana. Participants: Patients who visited Ho Teaching Hospital Laborato...

This study sequenced 1077 SARS-CoV-2 genomes from patient isolates (106 from arriving travellers and 971 from communities) to track the molecular evolution and spatio-temporal dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 variants in Ghana. The data show that initial local transmission was dominated by B.1.1 lineages, but the second wave in Ghana was overwhelmingly d...

Hepatitis C is a leading cause of chronic hepatitis and causes severe health problems in areas where prevalence is high. Ghana is noted for a relatively high sero-prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection. However, there is very little data on prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) among children in Ghana, and what data is available indicates very l...

Introduction: the National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP), Ghana, introduced Symptoms-Based Screening (SBS) Tool for TB case finding. This study aimed to determine the challenges and limitations associated with the use of the SBS Tool for active tuberculosis case finding in Ghanaian health facility settings. Methods: this study targeted suspected...

Malaria-endemic areas of the world are noted for high morbidity and mortality from malaria. Also noted in these areas is the majority of persons in the population having acquired malaria immunity. Though this acquired malaria immunity does not prevent infection, it resists the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites, restricting disease to merely un...

The progression of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Africa has so far been heterogeneous and the full impact is not yet well understood. Here, we describe the genomic epidemiology using a dataset of 8746 genomes from 33 African countries and two overseas territories. We show that the epidemics in most countries were initiated by importations predomina...

The progression of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Africa has so far been heterogeneous and the full impact is not yet well understood. Here, we describe the genomic epidemiology using a dataset of 8746 genomes from 33 African countries and two overseas territories. We show that the epidemics in most countries were initiated by importations predominantl...

Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato (s.l.) infection in dogs poses risk of transmission to their owners and family members. We determined the prevalence and factors associated with E. granulosus s.l. infection among owned dogs presented at veterinary clinics or hospitals in Lagos State, Nigeria. Fecal samples from 217 dogs were screened for the pres...

Background: Phenotypic characterization of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria has remained the gold standard for investigation and monitoring of what resistance is present in an organism. However, the process is laborious and not attractive for screening multiple plasmids from a microbial community (plasmidomes). Instead, genomic tools are...

To compare clinical presentations, haematological and immunological parameters in urban and rural malaria patients. Clinically suspected malaria patients, resident in either rural or urban communities, were selected from seven health facilities in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. For each suspected malaria patient, parasites were detected microsc...

Background Early tuberculosis case detection is important for early commencement of treatment to improve treatment outcomes and also to prevent community spread of the disease. However, there is a paucity of data in Ghana on the efficiency of the symptom-based screening tool (SBS tool) to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the communities. Theref...

Background Obesity is a risk factor for different chronic conditions. Over the years, obesity has become a pandemic and it is therefore important that effective diagnostic tools are developed. Obesity is a measure of adiposity and it has become increasingly evident that anthropometric measures such as body mass index (BMI) used to estimate adiposit...

Background: Obesity is a risk factor for different chronic conditions. Over the years, obesity has become a pandemic and it is therefore important that effective diagnostic tools are developed. Obesity is a measure of adiposity and it has become increasingly evident that anthropometric measures such as body mass index (BMI) used to estimate adiposi...

We write to introduce the African Vaccinology Network (AfVANET) as a new network of African research scientists involved in vaccine research & development (R&D) for human and animal diseases. The goal of this network is to promote and build capacity for early phase vaccine R&D in Africa in order to stimulate the development of innovative solutions...

Background: Plasmodium falciparum parasites, which could harbour anti-malaria drug resistance genes, are commonly detected in blood donors in malaria-endemic areas. Notwithstanding, anti-malaria drug resistant biomarkers have not been characterized in blood donors with asymptomatic P. falciparum infection. Methods: A total of 771 blood donors we...

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is common in Ghana and is associated with high morbidity and mortality, especially in the paediatric population. In Volta Region, one of Ghana’s ten provinces, the major drivers of harm in children with SCD has not previously been systematically explored. We sought to characterize hospitalization events among p...

Globally, hypertension is one of the leading causes of death. It can potentially lead to heart disease and stroke, among others, that could result to premature death. In Ghana, hypertension is considered as a disease that contributes to an increase in outpatients’ attendance. To assess the trend differentials of hypertension-induced deaths in Ghana...

Background Obesity is increasingly becoming a pandemic considering the many risks it pose to other disease conditions. Obesity is largely a measure of adiposity, however, adiposity is not centralized in the human body. This makes it difficult for any single method to adequately represent obesity and by extension the risks specific areas of adipose...

Enteric bacteria are commonly implicated in hospital-acquired or nosocomial infections. In Ghana, these infections constitute an important public health problem but little is known about their contribution to antibiotic resistance. The aim of the study was to determine the extent and pattern of antibiotic resistance of enteric bacteria isolated fro...

The cover image, by Eugene Fletcher et al., is based on the On the Map Toward a sustainable bioeconomy in West Africa: A focus on biorefining, DOI: 10.1002/bbb.1793.

Considering its size and expanding population, Africa needs to play a more active role in preventing global warming. The economy of most West African countries is driven by agriculture and the export of processed wood resulting in the generation of tons of wood and agricultural waste. The waste is usually disposed of by burning, which releases harm...

Estimation of bacterial growth by rapid traditional methods such as spectrophometric measurements at 600nm (OD600) is not applicable for cultures containing insoluble particles in the growth media. Colony counts are the only suitable alternative but these are laborious and not high-throughput. The data presented in this article is related to the re...

In this paper, we examine patterns of self-reported diagnosis of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and prevalences of algorithm/measured test-based, undiagnosed, and untreated NCDs in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa. Nationally representative samples of older adults aged ≥50 years were analyzed from wave 1 of the World Health Or...

Monitoring bacteria growth is an important technique required for many applications such as testing bacteria against compounds (e.g. drugs), evaluating bacteria composition in the environment (e.g. sewage and wastewater or food suspensions) and testing engineered bacteria for various functions (e.g. cellulose degradation). Traditionally, rapid esti...

Significance and impact of the study: Biofuels have been shown to be the best sustainable and alternative source of fuel to replace fossil fuels. Of the different types of feedstocks used for producing biofuels, lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant. Converting this biomass to useful products has met with little success. Different approache...

Effective degradation of cellulose requires multiple classes of enzyme working together. However, naturally occurring cellulases with multiple catalytic domains seem to be rather rare in known cellulose-degrading organisms. A fusion protein made from Cellulomonas fimi exo- and endo- glucanases, Cex and CenA which improves breakdown of cellulose is...

There is increasing concern regarding alternative, sustainable energy sources, such as biofuels, to replace declining oil reserves. The abundance of lignocellulosic biomass makes it the only imaginable resource that can potentially substitute a substantial portion of the fossil fuels we use today, but current methods for producing biofuels from non...

Background Co-infection of HIV with HBV is common in West Africa but little information is available on the effects of HBV on short-term therapy for HIV patients. A 28 day longitudinal study was conducted to examine short-term antiretroviral therapy (ART) outcomes in HIV infected individuals with HBV co-infection. Methods Plasma from 18 HIV infect...

Background: Soluble CD30 (sCD30) has been suggested as a useful marker for estimating medium to long term viral suppression during antiretroviral therapy. High titres are also associated with hepatitis B and C virus (HBV/ HCV) infections. It is unclear if sCD30 can be used to determine short term antiretroviral responses in individuals with only HI...

Background As part of malaria characterization study in the South-Tongu district of Ghana, the current study was conducted to explore relationships between malaria, schistosomiasis, soil transmitted helminths and malnutrition in riparian community settings that had hitherto encountered episodes of mass deworming exercises. Methods School-age childr...

Background Neglected tropical diseases are of major concern to sub-Saharan African countries. Though efforts to monitor the prevalence and control are in place, these are mostly restricted to groups within the population. This study was performed to determine the prevalence among patients of a Ghanaian psychiatric hospital and find out whether ther...

Parasitic infections particularly neglected tropical diseases affect millions of individuals in sub-Saharan Africa. It is associated with poverty and limited resources, which is a key characteristic of orphanages. Unfortunately, there is very scarce baseline data about the prevalence of parasitic infections within orphanages and other institutions...

Synthetic biology allows the generation of complex recombinant systems using libraries of modular components. Two major near-market applications are whole-cell biosensors and biocatalysts for conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to biofuels and chemical feedstocks. Whole cell biosensors consist of cells genetically modified so that binding of a sp...

Background Consuming raw vegetables offers essential nutrients that one may not get when such vegetables are usually cooked. However, eating them raw may pose a great risk for transmissions of pathogens. Such risks may be influenced by the sources of the vegetables and washing techniques used. The aim of the study was to compare the prevalence and...

Background Cyperus esculentus L, is a minor but important crop in Ghana. They are noted mostly by their aphrodisiac properties among others. The nuts are often eaten raw as an unprocessed snack due to its rich flavour and texture. Though eaten raw, the nuts are sometimes handled unhygienically, posing a public health threat. This study therefore ai...

Cockroaches are common in the environment of many hospitals in Ghana; however, little is known about their public health risks. To evaluate potential risks, we investigated the external and internal microbial flora of 61 cockroaches from a tertiary hospital in Ghana and evaluated the antibiotic resistance profiles of the common bacterial species. S...

To determin the extent to which parvovirus B19 (B19V) and co-infection of B19V and malaria contribute to risk of anaemia in children. B19V DNA and malaria parasites were screened for 234 children at the PML Children's Hospital in Accra. The role of B19V and co-infection with B19V and malaria in anaemia was evaluated by analysing full blood cell cou...

In resource-limited settings where HIV-1 is endemic, there is a need for simple, inexpensive but effective rapid methods for detecting recent infections and estimating incidence for the purposes of surveillance and management. We sort to determine possible reasons for reported misclassifications of recent HIV-1 seroconversion as determined with the...

Asymptomatic intestinal parasitosis is largely under reported in Ghana. It is largely associated with a wide variety of deficiencies such as intrauterine growh retardation and low birth weight in pregnant women. We conducted a study on 1000 pregnant, women attending some selected antenatal outpatient health facilities in Accra, Ghana. The women wer...