Background There is a dearth of data on scabies from Ghana. In September 2019, local health authorities in the East Mamprusi district of northern Ghana received reports of scabies from many parts of the district. Due to on-going reports of more cases, an assessment team visited the communities to assess the effect of the earlier individual treatment on the outbreak. The assessment team furthermore aimed to contribute to the data on scabies burden in Ghana and to demonstrate the use of the International Alliance for the Control of Scabies (IACS) diagnostic tool in a field survey in a resource limited setting. Methodology/Principal findings This was a cross sectional study. Demographic information and medical history was collected on all participants using a REDCap questionnaire. A standardised skin examination of exposed regions of the body was performed on all participants. Scabies was diagnosed based on the criteria of the International Alliance for the Control of Scabies (IACS). Participants were mostly female (61.5%) and had a median age of 18.8 years (IQR 13–25). Two hundred out of 283 (71%) of participants had scabies with most (47%) presenting with moderate disease. Impetigo was found in 22% of participants with scabies and 10.8% of those without scabies [RR 2.27 (95% CI 1.21–4.27)]. 119 participants who received scabies treatment in the past months still had clinical evidence of the disease. 97% of participants reported a recent scabies contact. Scabies was commoner in participants ≤16 years compared to those >16 years [RR 3.06 (95% CI 1.73–5.45)]. Conclusion/Significance The prevalence of scabies was extremely high. The lack of a systematic approach to scabies treatment led to recurrence and ongoing community spread. The IACS criteria was useful in this outbreak assessment in Ghana. Alternative strategies such as Mass drug administration may be required to contain outbreaks early in such settings.

The World Bank estimates that at least 25 countries in the Sub-Saharan region of Africa experience chronic power outages. However, the implications of power shortages are often discussed within the context of industrial and economic disruptions, with little attention given to the health impact. Using a nationally representative data of healthcare facilities from the 2012 Ghana Access, Bottlenecks, Cost and Equity (ABCE) Health Facility Survey, this study aims to assess the impact of power outages on in-healthcare facility mortality in Ghana, a country that has experienced worsening energy crises in the last few decades. Findings revealed a positive association between the frequency of power outages and in-facility mortality, with the risk for mortality estimated to increase by 43% for each day the power was out for over 2 h. Further, when compared to an urban healthcare facility experiencing the same frequency of power outages, the risk of mortality was found to be lower in the rural facility. These findings call for a concerted effort among all stakeholders to ensure the availability of consistent power supply in healthcare facilities, in order to provide the necessary environment for the successful provision of healthcare for the citizens of Ghana.

Social media human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination interventions show promise for increasing HPV vaccination rates. An important consideration for the implementation of effective interventions into real-world practice is the translation potential, or external validity, of the intervention. To this end, we conducted a systematic literature review to describe the current body of evidence regarding the external validity of social media HPV vaccination-related interventions. Constructs related to external validity were based on the reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, maintenance (RE-AIM) framework. Seventeen articles published between 2006 and 2020 met the inclusion criteria. Three researchers independently coded each article using a validated RE-AIM framework. Discrepant codes were discussed with a fourth reviewer to gain consensus. Of these 17 studies, 3 were pilot efficacy studies, 10 were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate effectiveness, 1 was a population-based study, and 3 did not explicitly state which type of study was conducted. Reflecting this distribution of study types, across all studies the mean level of reporting RE-AIM dimensions varied with reach recording 90.8%, effectiveness (72.1%), adoption (40.3%), implementation (45.6%), and maintenance (26.5%). This review suggests that while the current HPV vaccination social media-driven interventions provide sufficient information on internal validity (reach and effectiveness), few have aimed to gather data on external validity needed to translate the interventions into real world implementation. Our data suggest that implementation research is needed to move HPV vaccination-related interventions into practice. Included in this review are recommendations for enhancing the design and reporting of these HPV vaccination social media-related interventions.

Introduction. Malaria is a leading cause of mortality among children below 5 years in Ghana. Its parasites are known to cause the degradation of hemoglobin, resulting in the production of reactive oxygen species and hence oxidant stress. Therefore, this study was carried out to compare the levels of oxidative stress between children with complicated and uncomplicated malaria infection in Kumasi, Ghana. Method. Subjects were recruited from hospitals in the Kumasi Metropolis. This was a cross-sectional study, involving 17 complicated malaria subjects, 51 uncomplicated malaria subjects, and 15 nonparasitemic subjects. The rapid diagnostic test (RDT) was used to determine presence or absence of falciparum malaria among the study participants. Blood samples from subjects were used to determine hemoglobin, malondialdehyde (MDA), and vitamin C levels. Results. Majority of the subjects (67.5%) were within the age of 0-5 years. The mean age (±SD) of uncomplicated malaria subjects was 4.32 (±2.81) years, while that of complicated malaria was 4.27 (±2.96). Mean levels of HB decreased significantly in the following order: control subjects > uncomplicated malaria subjects > complicated malaria subjects (p<0.0001). Mean levels of MDA were significantly lower in control subjects compared to complicated malaria subjects (4.62±1.85 versus 6.68±0.70, p=0.0008) and also lowered in uncomplicated malaria subjects compared to complicated malaria (4.50±1.58 versus 6.68±0.70, p<0.0001). There was a statistically significant reduced mean level of vitamin C (p=0.036) in the following order: control subjects > uncomplicated malaria > complicated malaria subjects. However, for the complicated malaria cases, there were significantly higher mean vitamin C levels in females than in males (p<0.001). Conclusion. Malaria progression increases MDA levels and decreases the ascorbate (vitamin C) and hemoglobin levels. It is recommended that future studies should investigate changes in other antioxidant vitamins, like vitamins A and E.