The cooccurrence of diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome potentiates the cardiovascular risk associated with each of the conditions; therefore characterizing metabolic syndrome among people with type 2 diabetes is beneficial for the purpose of cardiovascular disease prevention. This study aims at evaluating the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its components among 162 patients with type 2 diabetes attending the diabetic clinic of the Ho Municipal Hospital, Ghana. Data obtained included anthropometric indices, blood pressure, serum lipids, glucose, and sociodemographics and clinical information. The overall prevalence of metabolic syndrome among the study population was 43.83%, 63.58%, and 69.14% using the NCEP-ATP III, the WHO, and the IDF criteria, respectively. The most predominant component among the study population was high blood pressure using the NCEP-ATP III (108 (66.67%)) and WHO (102 (62.96)) criteria and abdominal obesity (112 (69.14%)) for IDF criteria. High blood pressure was the most prevalent component among the males while abdominal obesity was the principal component among the females. In this population with type 2 diabetes, high prevalence of metabolic syndrome exists. Gender vulnerability to metabolic syndrome and multiple cluster components were skewed towards the female subpopulation with type 2 diabetes.

Quality of life (QoL) is an important component in the evaluation of the wellbeing of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV). This study was aimed at evaluating the QoL of PLHIV attending the antiretroviral clinics in the Ho municipality. A cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2017 to April 2017 involving 158 purposively selected HIV-positive patients who were attending the antiretroviral clinics both in the Volta Regional Hospital and Ho Municipal Hospital. An Interviewer administered standard questionnaire (WHOQOL-HIV Bref) was used to collect information on sociodemography, medical history, and the quality of life (QoL) of the respondents. Among these 158 HIV-positive respondents, 126 (79.75) and 14 (8.86) presented with excellent and good overall QoL, respectively, whilst 18 (11.39) had their life negatively affected by HIV/AIDS. Religious/personal beliefs (19.62%) were the most affected QoL component, followed by the physical (15.82%) and level of independence (15.19%) domains. Patients’ occupation, perception of health, sexual activity, and state of the disease were associated with poor overall QoL. In general, being an HIV-infected man, symptomatic patient, not being sexually active, or being ART naïve was also associated with poorer QoL in several HIV/AIDS QoL domains.

Background. The WHO targets to end HIV/AIDS as a public health problem by 2030. The introduction of the ambitious “90-90-90” strategy to attain this target is expected to be achieved by the year 2020. However, there is lack of regional data, especially on the third “90.” This study sought to assess the rate and associated factors of viral suppression among people living with HIV (PLWH) on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) at the Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Clinic in a Ghanaian health facility.Method. The study design was a retrospective analysis of secondary data of 284 HIV registrants on HAART for at least 6 months at the ART Clinic from July 2016 to April 2019. Data on sociodemography including age, gender, marital status, education, and occupation as well as pharmacological (type of medication and duration on medication) and laboratory variable (current viral load results) were extracted from patients’ folders. Viral suppression and failure were determined using the WHO definitions (viral suppression as viral load 3 years as factors associated with viral suppression.

The prevalence of transfusion associated hepatitis B virus infection varies across different geographical populations. Establishing the sero-prevalence of the disease is important to informing the direction of preventive and control strategies. We sought to estimate the sero-prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen among blood donors in Ho Municipal Hospital, Ghana. This was a retrospective study which involved reviewing of blood donation records for the year 2014 in Ho Municipal Hospital. The records were analysed to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B virus among blood donors. Data analysis was done using STATA statistical package. A total of 576 blood donors were screened in 2014, out of which 520 (90%) were males and the rest females. The overall sero-prevalence of hepatitis B virus was 7.5% (95% CI 5.6–9.9%). The prevalence was highest (8.9%; 95% CI 5.6–14.0) among donors between 30 and 39 years old and among females (14.3%; 95% CI 7.4–25.7). Females were about 2.5 times more likely to be HBsAg positive compared with males (p < 0.05). The findings suggest that the study region is of intermediate to high endemicity with hepatitis B infection. Generally, females are more likely to be HBsAg positive than males. Planning more extensive screening and vaccination campaigns and educational programmes would help reduce the transmission of the infection among the general population.

Background. Bloodstream infections are among the top causes of morbidity and mortality in people of all ages, especially in immunocompromised patients in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed at describing the epidemiology of bloodstream infections and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern over a nine-year period at St. Dominic Hospital, Akwatia, in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Method. This study retrospectively analysed data from 4,489 patients who were referred to the Laboratory Department for blood culture and sensitivity testing from January 2009 to December 2017. Sociodemographic data included age, gender, and patients’ department. Blood culture results were retrieved from archival records in the laboratory. The authorities of St. Dominic Hospital granted approval for the study. Results. The incidence of bloodstream infection over the 9 years was 51.4 positive cultures per 100,000 hospital attendance. Staphylococcus aureus was the leading causative agent of bacteraemia for the first two scalar years (2009–2011 (38.9%) and 2012–2014 (42.2%)) while coagulase-negative staphylococcus (CoNS) (50.5%) was predominant for the last scalar year (2015–2017), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (169/587 (28.8%)). The highest incidence of bloodstream infections was recorded in the wet seasons (months of May (8.9 per 10,000 persons) and October (10.1 per 10,000 persons)). The bacterial isolates demonstrated high resistance to tetracyclines (390/531 (73.4%)), penicillins (1282/1669 (76.8%)), and sulphonamides (450/499 (90.2%)). Conclusion. Bloodstream infection and antimicrobial resistance are high in patients seeking healthcare in Akwatia. This therefore calls for concerted efforts aimed at reducing the incidence in the study area.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a global challenge, although there is currently a safe and effective vaccine available. HBV prevalence in Ghana is not well documented, but vary regionally from 4.8% to 12.3% in the general population, 10.8% to 12.7% in blood donors and about 10.6% in pregnant women. This puts Ghana among the high endemic countries in Africa. The study objective was to determine the sero-prevalence of HBs antigen (Ag) and HBeAg among pregnant women in the Ho municipality. Two hundred and eight participants (pregnant women), attending Ho Municipal antenatal clinic were enrolled into the study. This study recorded a HBsAg seroprevalence rate of 2.4% among the pregnant women, with primigravida pregnant women recording (0.98%) and multigravida (1.42%). The prevalence of HBsAg among the pregnant women can be classified as Low Intermediate; therefore there is still the need for routine screening of pregnant women during antenatal visits. Amongst HBsAg positives, HBeAg positivity was significantly high (40% of all HBsAg positive women), which suggests high chances of carrier and vertical transmission (mother to child) state.