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During the COVID-19 pandemic, evacuation and repatriation of nationals have been done by many countries. However, this has posed several socio-economic and public health issues that are worth exploring. This commentary, therefore, aims at exploring the impact of evacuation and repatriation amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Evacuation and repatriation helped to alleviate the psycho-social effects of the pandemic on foreign nationals, and also creates a sense of relief for host nations due to the reduced stress related to caring for a potentially larger number of people. It also contributed to the enhancement of the healthcare systems of several countries. However, evacuation and repatriation have contributed to the importation of the virus into various countries. It presents significant logistic and economic challenges as it requires trained personnel and equipment. Therefore, there is a need for proper planning, financing and supervision to avoid possible importation of the virus during the expedition. In addition, community awareness regarding returnees is essential to prevent social discrimination and stigma. Doi: 10.28991/SciMedJ-2021-03-SI-7 Full Text: PDF

The achievements in Ebola virus disease (EVD) prevention and control can be reflected by scientific studies, particularly in the top-cited studies. The study thus aimed to identify and characterise the 100 top-cited studies of EVD. The study used a retrospective bibliometric-analysis, which was performed in January 2020. Studies were searched from the Web of Science using keywords: "Ebola" or "Ebola virus" or "Ebola virus disease" to identify the 100 top-cited EVD studies. Studies were analysed for the number of citations, authorship, and journal, year of publication, country and institution. The analyses were carried out using SPSS, HistCite and VOSviewer. The 100 top-cited studies were published between 1977 and 2017, cited from 169 to 808 times and had an average citation of 290.5, and 8 studies were cited more than 500 times. They were published in 31 journals, and the Journal of Virology published most of the studies (n=14). They were produced by 33 countries, and the USA published most of the studies (63), followed by Germany (8) and Gabon (6). CDC-USA (26) was the leading institution, while Geisbert TW and Sanchez A were the most productive authors. This study provides insights into the historical advancements reflected by the top-cited studies and has highlighted the leading roles played by various stakeholders in addressing EVD. However, the contribution of African countries is not sufficiently reflected among these studies, and so more focus, funding and involvement in clinical research is needed for effective prevention and control of EVD in Africa.

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Zika virus (ZIKV) that was less known for decades suddenly became a global health emergency at the beginning of 2016. The virus was first discovered in the Zika forest of Uganda in 1947, and the first confirmed human infection was reported in Uganda between1962-1963. From its origin in East Africa, ZIKV then spread to West and Central Africa with a limited occurrence in North Africa. ZIKV has been circulating in Africa for over 60 years, but less attention had been given, not until its recent outbreaks outside Africa and its discovered association with adverse congenital disabilities. ZIKV is known to cause several debilitating neurological complications, including microcephaly in newborns and Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) in adults. This review thus aims to highlight the epidemiological evidence and distribution of ZIKV in Africa with a focus on determinants, complications as well as management. We used literature searched from key databases such as Google Scholar, Web of Science, among others, to collect relevant current information about ZIKV in Africa. Climate, sociodemographic factors, and increasing human density impact the spread of ZIKV in Africa, as in other areas. Furthermore, ZIKV transmission is affected by several unique factors, including the potential risk of sexual transmission, as well as vast numbers of refugees and other travellers from ZIKA endemic areas across Africa, and all over the world. The review identifies the need to improve surveillance mechanisms and focusing on vector control as critical steps to enable prompt detection and avert potential outbreaks of the disease in the continent.

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Malnutrition is a significant public health problem over the world, with severe impact in developing countries, including Asia and Africa. This paper present to assess malnutrition as a cause of infant and child mortality rate in Torbu community in Bo city, Sierra Leone. We used a community-based cross-sectional survey. A total of 80 mothers with children of under five years were selected using convenience sampling from the different divisions of Bo city. The findings showed that 48 (60%) of the respondents have never been sensitized nor have any knowledge about Malnutrition, of which 16 (50%) were informed via radio while 50 (63%) were not aware of any nutrition facility around the community. Besides, 56 (70%) of the respondents did not practice exclusive breastfeeding, 64 (80%) fed their children on only carbohydrates mainly in the form of rice, and 26 (32.5%) had one meal per day. 64 (80%) reported their children to have been admitted due to malnutrition (with mainly protein-energy malnutrition), while over a half 46 (57%) reported having lost a child to malnutrition. Thus, we recommended more nutrition education to address the poor Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices as well as targeted health interventions to mitigate the devastating effects of child malnutrition in the district.

Abstract Background: Childhood obesity (CHO) is a serious global health threat, whose prevalence in China has gradually increased in the past two decades. The study aimed to quantify and map the scientific output of research concerning CHO published from China though a Bibliometric perspective. Methods: CHO-related publications were retrieved from the Web of Science database by using the keywords ‘childhood obesity’, and ‘childhood overweight’. HistCite and Biblioshiny software were used to categorise and evaluate authors’, institutions’ and journals’ contribution. VOSviewer was used for network-visualisation. Results: A total of 230 CHO-related documents were identified from China (1900-2020), which was 3.8% of the global output of CHO research. The majority (74.8%) of the papers were research articles, and the average citations per document were 18.4. The results show a gradual increase in publication trend over the last 20 years. The leading institutions in CHO research were Peking University (n=22), Chinese CDC (19) and Chinese University of Hong Kong (18), while “Endocrinology Metabolism” (50) was the most decisive research field. The most contributing authors included Wang YF (17), Xue H (11), and Ma GS (10), while “Obesity Reviews” (15) was the most-crucial journal. The most cited article was from Olds T et al. published in 2011. Conclusion: This analysis provides a historical perspective of progress in CHO research from China and has highlighted the leading role played by various stakeholders in addressing CHO. Besides, it highlights a need for more focus on CHO research as well as targeted interventions for effective prevention and control.