Male participation is key in the implementation and use of Antenatal Care (ANC) amenities. Over the years, there has been a slight increase in male participation in reproductive health. However, there is evidence that majority of those who participate do not understand their role in ANC. This study aimed to establish males' knowledge regarding their role in the ANC continuum. The study design was cross-sectional. The study population consisted of males with female partners aged 18-49 years who live in Mangu town, Nakuru County, Kenya, and have had a full-term delivery within the past 5 years. A sample of 73 respondents was recruited for the study. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Majority of the respondents (45.2%) were between ages 31-40 years. The main source of credible knowledge on ANC were health care providers, 71.2% of the respondents who escorted their female partners to ANC clinics waited outside the consultation room as their female partners sought medical attention hence, they either had little or completely no knowledge on ANC. Male's knowledge of ANC is influenced by age, type of family (monogamy or polygamy), level of education and caregiver’s attitude. Male partners should be provided with targeted education regarding their role in the ANC continuum.

Groups of five 3-kg Kenyan monkeys,Cercopithecus aethiops, were exposed individually to 150,600 or 1500Schistosoma mansonicercariae per monkey. Three monkeys died soon after the infections became patent and the survivors were autopsied 4 months after exposure. Mortality and most haematological, parasitological and pathological sequelae of infection were dose-related, but not the white cell response or changes in the levels of serum proteins or fibrinogen. No gross liver fibrosis was seen. Comparison of this study with earlier ones on related cercopithecine monkeys suggests that the vervet closely resembles the baboon in its response toS. mansoniinfections. Difficulties in managing and maintaining vervets can be overcome by using colonybred or properly adapted feral animals. Thus, the vervet provides a cheaper, more readily available primate model for experimentalS. mansonistudies. A prolonged infection, sufficiently heavy to permit reliable parasitological monitoring without undue mortality, should be provided by 150S. mansonicercariae per kg body-weight, using the Kenyan strains of vervet and parasite.

Background: Malaria is an acute febrile illness affecting over 229 million people worldwide. Children aged five years and below are affected the most, with the highest prevalence in Sub-Saharan Africa. Chloroquine was previously used as the first-line treatment for malaria due to its affordability and high efficacy, but resistance has developed. Resistance to chloroquine is due to a mutation in the protein Plasmodium falciparum Chloroquine Transporter (pfCRT) which effluxes the drug from the parasitic digestive vacuole, decreasing the drug concentration. Resistance has however been shown to be reversible by compounds that can bind to the protein. Methods: In silico screening for chloroquine analogues was done using SwissSimilarity, SWISSADME, SwissTargetPrediction, Pubchem sketcher, Chimera and Avogadro tools to predict pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetic profiles of the selected analogues. Results: About 20 compounds with a similarity index of > 95% were obtained from the ZINC database. In total, 12 of the 20 compounds showed a higher binding affinity to the mutant pfCRT protein. Overall, four of the 12 had a binding affinity less than -8.0 compared to -7.0 for chloroquine. Compound ZINC01596768 had the greatest binding strength at -8.3. The other analogues were ZINC38050614, ZINC38050617, and ZINC38050615 with binding interaction strengths of -8.0, -8.2 and -8.2 respectively. Pharmacokinetic profile prediction showed all 12 compounds inhibited the enzymes CYP1A2 and CYP2D6, followed the Lipinski rules, had a high GI absorption, were permeant to the blood brain barrier, had no alerts on the PAINS criteria and had violated the rule of XLOGP3 > 3.5 in lead likeness. Compounds ZINC38050614, ZINC38050617, and ZINC38050615 were predicted to be substrates of P-glycoprotein. The synthetic accessibility score for the twelve compounds were below 3.07. Conclusions: Results demonstrated that the compounds ZINC01596768, ZINC38050614, ZINC38050617, and ZINC38050615 were potential candidates that could be tested and developed as co-formulations of chloroquine.

Infectious diseases are responsible for most mortalities and morbidities globally. They are estimated to cause 17 million deaths annually. Candida albicans is a microflora found in mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract and vagina. Though a commensal organism, it can cause either oropharyngeal or vaginal candidiasis in immunocompromised states. It thus, is a common opportunistic infection especially in patients living with HIV/AIDS. Management of candidiasis requires use of antifungal agents but some are costly or drug-resistant. Therefore, there is need for exploration of novel and affordable treatment modalities. Medicinal plants offer alternative therapeutic modalities. Against this backdrop, we sought to evaluate synergistic antifungal activity of ethanolic extract of Carica papaya leaves and Solanum melongena fruit peel against Candida albicans. Ethical approval was sought from School of pharmacy, Kabarak University Research Ethics Committee (KUREC) and National commission for science, technology, and innovation (NACOSTI).  Experimental research design was employed. Green leaves of Carica papaya were obtained from the school’s herbarium while the eggplant fruit was purchased from Nakuru town market. The sample plants were dried and powdered. Phytochemical analysis was carried out and antifungal activity evaluated via disk diffusion method. Phytochemical studies showed presence of tannins, alkaloids and flavonoids in both plants. Anthraquinone glycosides were absent in both samples. Carica papaya and Solanum melongena ethanolic extracts respectively showed activity against Candida albicans at different concentrations with zones of inhibition of 8.34mm and 7.98mm, respectively, at the highest concentrations. S. melongena extracts showed a lower zone of inhibition against Candida albicans compared to C. papaya extracts. Combined ethanolic extracts of   Solanum melongena and Carica papaya showed higher activity at all concentrations than individual extracts, implying synergism between the two plant extracts. The difference in zones of inhibition was significant at different concentrations(P<0.05). Conclusion: The study findings have demonstrated that Carica papaya and Solanum melongena extracts have remarkable antifungal activity against Candida albicans. This makes them potential efficacious antifungal agents against Candida albicans.