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PubMed1997

Seroepidemiological survey of sympatric domestic and wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) in Tsumkwe District, north-eastern Namibia.

Disease is a potential threat to many endangered populations and may originate from sympatric domestic species. This paper describes a cross-sectional serological survey of canine pathogens carried out in domestic (n = 70) and wild dogs (Lycoan pictus) (n = 6), in Tsumkwe District, northeastern Namibia. Evidence of past exposure to canine distemper virus, canine adenovirus and parainfluenza virus was evident in both wild and domestic dogs with this, the first, documented exposure of free-living wild dogs to canine distemper. Domestic dogs were also exposed to rabies virus, canine parvovirus and coronavirus. There was no pathogen to which wild dogs, but not domestic dogs, were exposed. With wild dogs known to be susceptible to rabies and canine distemper, these may be the greatest threat to this population of wild dogs, although some wild dogs can clearly survive infection with canine distemper.

Adenoviruses, Canine↗
PubMed1997

Current status of food-borne parasitic zoonoses in South Africa and Namibia.

Epidemiological data on food-borne parasitic zoonoses in countries of southern Africa are sporadic. In a study of toxoplasmosis in South Africa, there was an overall prevalence of 21% (2, 147/10,228). Prevalences vary between the different cultural groups and from one geographical region to another. The prevalence rate for the San (Bushmen) people of Namibia and Botswana was 9% (65/725) compared to the 30% (190/635) found in the Indian and Black communities of Kwazulu-Natal province, South Africa. These variations are probably linked to the dietary habits of the different cultural communities. Cysticercosis appears to be most prevalent in the Eastern Cape Province (former Transkei), where pigs roam freely and sanitation facilities are inadequate or non-existent. Segments of tapeworms often feature as an ingredient of concoctions prepared by traditional healers and are suspected sources of many of the cases of cysticercosis in South Africa. Trichinella nelsoni has been identified in wild game in South Africa: so far no cases of infection in humans have been recorded. Cases of Sarcocystis have been identified in some instances but infection is probably underdiagnosed in the country.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Successful plague control in Namibia.

OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate that plague can be successfully controlled. DESIGN: A descriptive study outlining patterns of plague occurrence in relation to variables such as age group, gender, place and time. SETTING: Two northern districts, namely Engela in Ohangwena region and Onandjokwe in Oshikoto region, an area of 2,000 km2. SUBJECTS: All patients who presented to the health facilities with signs and symptoms of plague were considered. Diagnosis was made on the basis of clinical symptomatology and laboratory confirmation. OUTCOME MEASURES: A plague control programme was established involving the following components: management capability at the local level, case recognition and management, dusting programme, rodent trapping programme, health education, establishment of plague laboratory, and plague surveillance system. RESULTS: Following the establishment of the control programme plague cases were reduced from 1,092 to zero within 3 years and deaths from 45 to zero within 2 years. The case fatality rate was reduced from 4.12% to 0% over a 3-year period. No cases have been reported in Namibia for the past 3 years. CONCLUSION: The Namibian experience has demonstrated that plague can be controlled through a combination of strategies taking local conditions into consideration.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

The anomalous archaic Homo femur from Berg Aukas, Namibia: a biomechanical assessment.

The probably Middle Pleistocene human femur from Berg Aukas, Namibia, when oriented anatomically and analyzed biomechanically, presents an unusual combination of morphological features compared to other Pleistocene Homo femora. Its midshaft diaphyseal shape is similar to most other archaic Homo, but its subtrochanteric shape aligns it most closely with earlier equatorial Homo femora. It has an unusually low neck shaft angle. Its relative femoral head size is matched only by Neandertals with stocky hyperarctic body proportions. Its diaphyseal robusticity is modest for a Neandertal, but reasonable compared to equatorial archaic Homo femora. Its gluteal tuberosity is relatively small. Given its derivation from a warm climatic region, it is best interpreted as having had relatively linear body proportions (affecting proximal diaphyseal proportions, shaft robusticity, and gluteal tuberosity size) combined with an elevated level of lower limb loading during development (affecting femoral head size and neck shaft angle).

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Wd(a+) red blood cells in two sisters of a Hei//om Khoisan family in Namibia.

Two sisters in a Hei//om family of the southern African Khoisan race in Namibia were found to have Wd(a+) red blood cells. Wda is a low-frequency antigen identified so far only in a European family in Canada and a family in Holland. The Wda gene may have had an independent origin in the Khoisan. Alternatively, the Hei//om population may have acquired it through miscegenation.

Blood Group Antigens↗
PubMed2006

Technical efficiency of district hospitals: evidence from Namibia using data envelopment analysis.

BACKGROUND: In most countries of the sub-Saharan Africa, health care needs have been increasing due to emerging and re-emerging health problems. However, the supply of health care resources to address the problems has been continuously declining, thus jeopardizing the progress towards achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals. Namibia is no exception to this. It is therefore necessary to quantify the level of technical inefficiency in the countries so as to alert policy makers of the potential resource gains to the health system if the hospitals that absorb a lion's share of the available resources are technically efficient. METHOD: All public sector hospitals (N = 30) were included in the study. Hospital capacity utilization ratios and the data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique were used to assess technical efficiency. The DEA model used three inputs and two outputs. Data for four financial years (1997/98 to 2000/2001) was used for the analysis. To test for the robustness of the DEA technical efficiency scores the Jackknife analysis was used. RESULTS: The findings suggest the presence of substantial degree of pure technical and scale inefficiency. The average technical efficiency level during the given period was less than 75%. Less than half of the hospitals included in the study were located on the technically efficient frontier. Increasing returns to scale is observed to be the predominant form of scale inefficiency. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that the existing level of pure technical and scale inefficiency of the district hospitals is considerably high and may negatively affect the government's initiatives to improve access to quality health care and scaling up of interventions that are necessary to achieve the health-related Millennium Development Goals. It is recommended that the inefficient hospitals learn from their efficient peers identified by the DEA model so as to improve the overall performance of the health system.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1997

An assessment of the quality of care given to, and hygiene on patients at a teaching hospital in Namibia.

An assessment was done during 1991 to evaluate the quality of care with regard to mouth hygiene rendered to patients in a teaching hospital in Namibia. The sample was drawn from nine wards. By means of a type of quota sampling, the patients were categorised as dependent, interdependent or independent. The nursing process was used as a framework for the study. From the assessment it became evident that no policies existed with regard to oral hygiene. Planning was not in every case based on assessment, and it seemed that when planning(s) were done, it was not always implemented. Record keeping was the aspect most poorly attended to.

Hospitals, Teaching↗
PubMed1993

Sex hormone levels and body hair growth in !Kung San and Kavango men from Namibia.

The relation between hair growth and levels of sex hormones in serum and saliva was investigated in 256 !Kung San and Kavango men (ages 18 to 39 years) from Namibia/Southern Africa. Serum concentrations of total testosterone (Tser), 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and estradiol (E2) as well as the level of bioavailable non-SHBG-bound testosterone in the saliva (Tsal) were determined by radioimmunoassay. The distribution and density of scalp and facial hair as well as the development of terminal hair on the chest, abdomen, pubic area, arms, fingers, and legs were categorized using objective criteria. Covariance analyses revealed marked differences in the distribution of body hair in the San and the Negro sample. This is partly explained by a significant influence of androgen and estrogen levels on the growth of terminal hair. DHT and the ratio DHT/Tser are significantly positively related to midphalangeal hair growth and negatively to pubic hair development. Tsal, the bioavailable fraction of total testosterone, exerts a weak positive influence on the degree of arm and leg hair growth; the most significant positive effect on the growth of abdominal, arm, and leg hair in our samples is caused by E2. The ratio Tser/E2 correlates significantly negatively with the arm and leg hair development and the ratio DHT/E2 with the degree of abdominal, pubic, arm, and leg hair, whereas lower DHT concentrations occur in men with stronger hair development.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Plasma lipids and fatty acids in urbanized Bushmen, Hereros and Kavangos of southern Africa (Namibia).

Thirty-nine urbanized ethnic Namibian people comprising 21 Bushmen (semi-urbanized), 7 Hereros and 11 Kavangos were assessed for plasma lipids and fatty acid (FA) composition. Total cholesterol and triacylglycerol concentrations were measured by enzymatic methods, and neutral lipid FA composition by gas-liquid chromatography. The results demonstrated that while total cholesterol concentrations were not significantly different, significant differences in triacylglycerol concentrations (P < 0.05) were seen between Bushmen and Kavangos. By comparing Bushmen with Hereros and Kavangos, significant differences between Bushmen and Kavangos were also observed in plasma triacylglycerol FA compositions, particularly 16:0 (32.73% vs. 25.05%), 16:1n-7 (7.00% vs. 5.06%), 18:2n-6 (9.30% vs. 22.25%) and 20:3n-6 (0.12% vs. 0.48%), while Kavangos had higher 20:4n-6 levels than Hereros (1.44% vs. 2.00%). In plasma cholesteryl esters, Bushmen were significantly different from Kavangos in 16:1n-7 (8.85% vs. 4.93%), 18:1n-9 (32.06% vs. 23.07%) and 20:4n-6 (6.91% vs. 10.00%). Significant differences were also observed between Bushmen and Hereros in 18:0 (1.08% vs. 1.29%) and 18:2n-6 (35.68% vs. 45.50%). The FA of Namibian groups were also compared with South African reference groups comprising urbanized whites and Xhosas and rural Vendas. The differences in blood lipid values can be explained primarily by excessive alcohol consumption. These results suggest that semi-urbanized Bushmen have changed their diets under urbanized conditions which may increase their risk of coronary heart disease.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1989

African Burkitt's lymphoma in the Cape province of South Africa and in Namibia.

The clinical features, incidence and pattern of jaw involvement, and seasonal occurrence in relation to 22 patients with Burkitt's lymphoma in the Cape province and Southwest Africa were analyzed. The mean age, male dominance, and pattern of organ involvement paralleled typical African Burkitt's lymphoma. Development of the patients' disease was more likely during the rainy season. The frequency and pattern of jaw involvement resembled typical African Burkitt's lymphoma. The frequency of jaw involvement was similar in white and nonwhite patients. Members of all racial groups had typical African Burkitt's lymphoma.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Prevalence of a photoparoxysmal response in the electroencephalograms of epileptics in the three main ethnic groups of Namibia.

This descriptive study consists of 1493 EEGs from patients with epilepsy referred to the State Hospital in Windhoek, over the years 1983-1988. Excluded were patients with febrile convulsions, acute symptomatic epilepsy and a history of alcoholism. A standardized procedure of intermittent photic stimulation (IPS) was performed. The three main population groups blacks, coloureds (people of mixed race) and whites, were adequately represented in the sample. Classical photoparoxysmal responses (PPR) occurred in 0.4, 4.2 and 5.2%, respectively. Climatic factors are not considered relevant in the elicitation of a PPR. It is postulated that different mutations occurred in the genes that were involved in the expression of the PPR in epileptic patients of different ethnic groups.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

The impact of stigma, experience, and group referent on HIV risk assessments and HIV testing intentions in Namibia.

People often perceive risks for others and themselves differently. This study examines whether personal beliefs about HIV and experience with those living with HIV influence personal risk assessments of contracting HIV in an interview sample of northern Namibians (N=400), but not others' assessments as explained by singular-distribution theory [Klar, Medding, & Sarel (1996). Nonunique invulnerability: Singular versus distributional probabilities and unrealistic optimism in comparative risk judgments. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 67, 229-245]. Findings indicate that personal risk perceptions decrease with more HIV stigmatizing beliefs and increase with greater experience, but that those characteristics had no impact on assessments for others' risk. The study also examines whether the size and characteristics of the referent group, peers and the general Namibian population, influence others' risk assessments. Optimistic biases for personal risk versus others' risk appear with the highest discrepancy emerging between personal and general population risk assessments. Further, we found that personal risk perceptions did not mediate the relationship between personal characteristics, beliefs and experiences, and intentions to seek HIV testing.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗