Lassa fever, caused by the Lassa virus of the Arenaviruses family, is a re‐emerging public health concern that has led to 300,000 infections and 5000 deaths annually in Africa. Highly prevalent in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria, Côte d'lvoire, Ghana, Togo, and Benin, patients infected with the virus can manifest with cough, sore throat, headache, nausea, and vomiting among other symptoms. Coexisting with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic and its impacts, cases of Lassa fever in the African population have been reported to decrease due to hesitancy in visiting clinics that leads to unreported cases—all contributing to a silent outbreak in West Africa. Thus, to overcome current burdens, gaps, and challenges caused by Lassa fever amidst COVID‐19 in Africa, various recommendations for efficient control of transmission, measures for disease containment, and strategies to correct misperceptions were made.
Background: The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID‐19) is highly contagious and can spread a pandemic, so it is related to serious health issues and major public concerns, and is considered by the medical community to be the greatest concern because it is the greatest risk of infection.Objective: To identify and assess the psychological effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic on healthcare professionals in Khartoum state hospitals 2021.Materials and methods: Generalized Anxiety Scale (GAD‐7), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS‐10), and Work–Family Balance Measure Scale were used to assess the psychological impact of doctors and nurses working in four big hospitals in Sudan, by an online questionnaire, analyzed by the statistical package for social science (SPSS) during February.Results: Most of the participants had minimal to mild anxiety according to GAD‐7 score, 121 (35.2%) and 103 (29.9%), respectively. Using PSS‐10, the cutoff point was determined as 19 as the mean for total score was 19.2 ± 6.2, accordingly, more than half had high levels of stress (scored 19 and above) 189 (54.9%). For the Work–Family Balance Scale, 10 was regarded as the cutoff point. There was a significant association between specialty and stress level p‐value .032. No significant correlations were found between age and stress level, neither between age and anxiety level (r −.100, p‐value .064 and r = −.022, p‐value .683, respectively).Conclusion: More than half of healthcare professionals (54.9%) showed high levels of stress. Most of the healthcare professionals had poor work–family balance (60.2%).
Background: Migraine—and episodic headache—is one of the most common types of primary headache. Migraine is considered a serious health problem that affects the quality of life. During university life, students often report increased levels of stress, depression, anxiety, and irregular sleep, all of which are associated with migraines. Our aim was to determine the prevalence of migraine headaches among medical campus students at the University of Khartoum, Sudan. Based on available data, migraine is on the rise in both general populations as well as in university students.Methods: This is a cross‐sectional study. The study population was composed of students registered to the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmacy at Khartoum University in the academic years of 2020–2021. Out of these, 318 of them accepted to participate. Participants who had two or more headaches in the last 3 months formed the headache group. Afterwards, two preliminary questions were applied to the headache group and participants with at least one affirmative response were asked to perform the validated ID‐Migraine™ test.Results: The mean age of 318 students participating in the study was 19.23 ± 1.84 (17–39 years), with adolescents:adult ratio being 2.5:1. A total of 1613 students (43.7%) had at least two headaches in the last 3 months. Migraine‐type headache was detected in 266 subjects (7.2%) based on the ID‐Migraine™ test. Of the migraine group, 72 were male (27.1%) and 194 were female (72.9%). There was no significant difference in migraine prevalence between adolescent and adult age groups.Conclusions: With prevalence similar to adults, primary care physicians should be aware of the probability of migraine headaches in university students in order to maintain a successful school performance.
Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) is a relatively uncommon cause of stroke that mainly affects young ladies, with a wide spectrum of symptoms severity, and prognosis. In this study, we aim to study the clinical profile and Risk Factors of CVST among Sudanese patients in Khartoum state hospitals. This was a multi-center cross-sectional hospital-based study that covered 37 participants in three major hospitals in Khartoum, with radiologically confirmed Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis (CVST). About 37 patients were included in this study. The median age was 35 years; the range was 52 years, with a minimum age of 23 years and a maximum of 75 years. The commonest presenting feature was headache (n = 35; 94.6%), followed by blurring of vision (n = 25; 67.6%), while seizures is a presenting symptom in nearly half of the patients (n = 17; 45.9%), on examination papilledema was present in 83.8%. In this study 13.8% were pregnant, 31.0% were postpartum and OCPS users account for 27%. Regarding the involved sinus; Sagittal Venous Sinus and the transverse sinus were the most affected sinuses. Regarding treatment options: “low molecular weight heparin followed with warfarin” was found in 81.1%, followed by heparin in only 10.8%, while the new agents NOACs comprised only 8.1%. Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis is mainly a disease of child-bearing women, although significant proportions of men were affected. Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis presents in a wide variety of signs and symptoms.
Background: Since December 2019, (COVID‐19) has had a significant impact on global health systems. Because little is known about the clinical characteristics and risk factors connected with COVID‐19 severity in Sudanese patients, it is vital to summarize the clinical characteristics of COVID‐19 patients and to investigate the risk factors linked to COVID‐19 severity.Objectives: We aimed to assess the clinical characteristics of COVID‐19 patients and look into risk factors associated with COVID‐19 severity.Methods: This is a retrospective cross‐sectional study that took place in two Isolation Centers in Wad Medani, Gezira State, Sudan. Four hundred and eighteen patients were included between May 2020 and May 2021. All COVID‐19 patients over the age of 18 who were proven COVID‐19 positive by nucleic acid testing or had characteristics suggestive of COVID‐19 on a chest CT scan and had a complete medical record in the study period were included.Results: The participants in this study were 418 confirmed COVID‐19 cases with a median age of 66.313 years. There were 279 men (66.7%) among the patients. The most prevalent comorbidities were hypertension (n = 195; 46.7%) and diabetes (n = 187; 44.7%). Fever (n = 303; 72.5%), cough (n = 278; 66.5%), and dyspnea (n = 256; 61.2%) were the most prevalent symptoms at the onset of COVID‐19. The overall mortality rate (n = 148) was 35.4%. Patients with severe illness had a mortality rate of 42.3% (n = 118). Older age, anemia, neutrophilia, and lymphocytopenia, as well as higher glucose, HbA1c, and creatinine levels, were all linked to severe COVID‐19, according to the chi‐square test and analysis of variance analysis.Conclusion: Sixteen variables were found to be associated with COVID‐19 severity. These patients are more prone to go through a serious infection and as a result have a greater death rate than those who do not have these characteristics.
Since December 2019, an outbreak of severe respiratory infection (COVID-19) emerged in the city of Wuhan in China. The knowledge, awareness and practice of medical students toward COVID-19 pandemic is of most importance as it demonstrates their preparedness to deal with this pandemic. The objective of this study is to assess the knowledge, awareness and practice of medical students in Sudan universities about COVID 19. This is a cross-sectional study conducted on 19 universities that have medical schools in Sudan. Data from at least 100 medical students from each university were included in the study. Data were collected using an online questionnaire in April 2020. Statistical analysis was conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Science software, version 25. About 2603 medical students from 19 universities were included. Overall good knowledge and practice were demonstrated by the medical students (88.9%) and (78.6%), respectively. Respondents who answered that the most common clinical symptoms of COVID-19 were the main combination of dry cough, fatigue and fever were (27.7%), and the first initial symptom was headache were (48.3%.). (60.2%) Wear medical masks, (95%) said that avoiding crowded places protects against the spread of COVID-19, and (50.7%) have confidence that Sudan can win the battle against the COVID-19. Finally, (68.8%) agreed that COVID-19 will finally be successfully controlled. This study has found that medical students in Sudan demonstrated good knowledge and good practice toward Covid19.