Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Lesotho”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Clinical signs of pneumonia in children attending a hospital outpatient department in Lesotho.

To determine the value of clinical findings for the diagnosis of pneumonia, we evaluated 950 children who presented with respiratory illness to the outpatient department of the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, Maseru, Lesotho. Those children at high risk for pneumonia and a systematically selected 20% sample of children at low risk were examined in turn by a nurse, a general practitioner, and a paediatrician; a chest radiograph was recorded for each child. Pneumonia was defined as radiographic findings compatible with the disease as interpreted by a paediatric radiologist. A respiratory rate > or = 50 breaths/minute was a sensitive sign for pneumonia among infants (sensitivity range for the three examiners: 59-79%), but identified a progressively smaller proportion of children with pneumonia in older age groups. Adjusting the respiratory rate for age using a threshold of > or = 40 breaths/minute for children aged > or = 12 months improved the sensitivity, but identified < 30% of children with pneumonia aged > or = 24 months. No drop in sensitivity with age was found when respiratory rate thresholds were evaluated for children with more severe radiographic evidence of pneumonia.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1993

Assault, a burden for a rural hospital in Lesotho.

A retrospective study among adult inpatients revealed the prevalence and characteristics of assault trauma in a district hospital in Southern Lesotho. A comparison with non-assault trauma and non-trauma inpatients highlights the burden of this problem on the available resources. In one year 20.6% of all admissions of adult men were victims of purposely inflicted injuries while 11.4% were due to other (accidental) trauma. For women these figures were 5.8% and 10.3% respectively. Post mortem examination at the hospital allowed an estimation of the homicide rate of 40.9 per 100,000 in the catchment area of the hospital. The age group of 20 to 29 years constitute 40% of the assault patients. Knives and sticks cause most damage and the head receives the more serious blows in 67% of the cases. The group of assault victims needed considerably more care than other patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Serological studies on human plague in Southern Africa. Part II. A bubonic/pneumonic plague epidemic in Lesotho.

A description is given of an outbreak of human plague in Lesotho in 1968 which was preceded by, and merged with, a typhoid epidemic. This circumstance was responsible for a diagnosis of typhoid fever being made in the earliest plague cases, especially as the clinical presentation was similar to that of the typhoid patients. Consequently, the plague epidemic ran its natural course and with the onset of winter the pneumonic form appeared. Serological follow-up studies of recovered patients were carried out up to 4 years after the outbreak.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Grandma ahead of her time: traditional ways of diarrhoea management in Lesotho.

The study was aimed at learning about home management of infant and young child diarrhoea in Lesotho. Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with mothers, grandmothers and nurses during two phases of field work in three geographically different locations. It was found that home management of diarrhoea traditionally had emphasised feeding. While medical advice in the past recommended that, except for breast feeding, food should be withheld during diarrhoea, mothers, grandmothers and even nurses had been reluctant to follow this advice. Mothers and grandmothers saw feeding during diarrhoea as so essential that they would make special efforts to feed a child with diarrhoea. Since most foods contain protein and carbohydrates which stimulate intestinal fluid absorption, feeding during diarrhoea, besides maintaining nutrition, will help maintain hydration. When such beneficial feeding practices are protected and supported there is less need to promote new practices and less risk of producing harmful effects.

Breast Feeding↗
PubMed1999

Screening of medicinal plants used in Lesotho for anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory activity.

Traditional healers and herbalists from Lesotho were interviewed about plants used in traditional remedies by the Sotho. Plant roots are most often used to make water extracts. Mainly high altitude plants are used, with lowland healers obtaining most of their plant material from the highlands, either by collecting them or buying them from highland gatherers. As a result of ethnobotanical data obtained, leaves and roots of 12 plants were extracted using hexane, methanol and water, respectively and the extracts screened for anti-inflammatory activity using the cyclo-oxygenase bioassay. Six species yielded inhibitory activity above 90%. Hexane and methanol leaf and root extracts were the most active. Leaves and roots of 16 plants were extracted using hexane, methanol and water and the respective extracts screened for anti-bacterial activity using the disc-diffusion assay. Six species displayed very high anti-bacterial activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. A number of plant extracts had medium inhibitory activity, mostly against gram-positive bacteria. The activity was mainly found in the root extracts.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed2005

Thermal injuries in under-4-year-old children: the Lesotho experience.

The Queen Elizabeth II Hospital is the apex of the health care services in the Kingdom of Lesotho but has no designated burns unit. A review of patients managed during a 5-year period was done to document our experience so as to show what can be achieved even without a standard burns unit. We reviewed the clinical course of children who were admitted for care of acute thermal injuries during a 5-year period, May 1997 to April, 2002 inclusive. All were treated in the children surgical ward in accordance with a protocol of care emphasizing urgent care of shock, accurate fluid therapy, open wound care and early enteral feeding. Ninety-eight children (51 males and 47 females) aged 4 months to 43 months (mean 21.66 +/- 11.30 months) were admitted on account of acute thermal injuries during the study period. The injuries included scalding (46%) involving predominantly the upper part of the body and full thickness burns (87%). Skin grafting was needed in 82% of the patients. The common complications were infection, fluid imbalance, respiratory problems, and contracture deformities. The mean duration of hospital stay was 40 +/- 4.43 days and the case fatality rate was 9%. The case fatality rate in this series is considered high and could be improved if there were a well staffed specialized burns unit.

Accidents, Home↗
PubMed1987

Lesotho.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Africa↗
PubMed1978

The occurrence of zearalanone in raw and fermented products from Swaziland and Lesotho.

Numerous reports of epizootics dur to zearalanone, and the subsequent experimental work upon it have implicated this oestrogenic mycotoxin as an important pathologic agent for the uterus and vagina. The finding of zearalanone in fermented products in an area in Southern Africa where human cervical cancer is prevalent may be related to this disease.

Beer↗
PubMed1997

Comparison of clinical diagnosis and standard laboratory and molecular methods for the diagnosis of genital ulcer disease in Lesotho: association with human immunodeficiency virus infection.

A multiplex polymerase chain reaction (M-PCR) assay for Haemophilus ducreyi, Treponema pallidum, and herpes simplex virus (HSV) was compared with clinical and standard laboratory methods for the diagnosis of genital ulcer disease (GUD) in 105 patients; 36% were human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-seropositive. Chancroid (80%), syphilis (8%), and genital herpes (8%) were the most frequent diagnoses. H. ducreyi and HSV were isolated from ulcers of 43% and 18% of patients, respectively; in 35%, all cultures were negative and the laboratory diagnosis indeterminate. M-PCR detected H. ducreyi, T. pallidum, and HSV in 56%, 23%, and 26% of patients, respectively; (no definitive diagnosis, 6%). The proportion of patients with more than one agent was 4% by culture and 17% by M-PCR (P = .002). Resolved sensitivities of M-PCR for H. ducreyi and HSV cultures were 95% and 93%, respectively. The sensitivities of H. ducreyi and HSV cultures were 75% and 60%, respectively. HSV, detected in 47% of specimens from HIV-infected versus 16% from HIV-uninfected patients (P < .001), may be emerging as a more frequent cause of GUD.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Biochemical gene markers in the gerbil Tatera brantsii from Lesotho.

Several geographically separated populations of the gerbil Tatera brantsii were investigated with protein and enzyme gene markers. Genetic variation was found in the following systems: serum albumin, 6-PGD, haemoglobin, esterase, IDA and GPI. No variation was found in the SDH and LDH systems. There appeared to be only slight differences in gene frequencies between populations. No real seasonal variation in any of the frequencies could be established.

Animals↗