Background. Malaria is known to cause severe health consequences due to its marked effects and alteration on the haematological parameters of infected individuals. This study evaluated the haematological profile of adult individuals infected with the malaria parasite. Methods. A retrospective study was conducted using archived data of malaria positive cases from January 2017 to March 15, 2019. Data retrieved included subjects’ demographics, malaria parasite count, malaria parasite species, and full blood count parameters. A total of 236 malaria positive subjects were included in the study. Results. The study showed that more females were infected with the malaria parasite than males (69.07% and 30.93%, respectively). A total of 87.3% of the study population were infected with Plasmodium falciparum as compared to 12.7% infected with Plasmodium malariae. The commonest haematological abnormalities that were seen in this study were lymphopenia (56.78%), anaemia (55.51%), thrombocytopenia (47.46%), eosinopenia (45.76%), neutropenia (29.24%), monocytosis (21.19%), and leucocytosis (17.37%) in the infected subjects. The mean platelet count of P. falciparum-infected subjects was decreased as compared to the mean platelet count of P. malariae-infected subjects. There was a significant (P value <0.05) decrease in the number of platelet count with every unit increase in parasite density. Conclusion. Study participants infected with malaria demonstrated vital changes in haematological parameters with anaemia, thrombocytopenia, lymphopenia, monocytosis, and eosinopenia being the most important predictors of malaria infection especially with P. falciparum species.

Viral hepatitis could have an impact on the treatment response in HIV patients. In this study, we sought to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B and C infections and examine the effect on the treatment response in HIV-1 patients attending antiretroviral therapy (ART) centers in the Volta and Oti Regions of Ghana. A longitudinal study design was employed. A cohort of 200 newly diagnosed HIV-1 positive adults who met the inclusion criteria (CD4 count ≤350 cells/μl) were enrolled at three ART Centers and initiated on the combination Antiretroviral Therapy (cART) from January 2014 to December 2015. Blood samples obtained from each participant were subsequently screened for the presence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis C antibody. Out of the 200 study respondents recruited, 93 HIV mono-infected were randomly selected plus all 17 HIV co-infected were prospectively followed for twelve months. Using standard methods, three consecutive measurements of CD4 cells, haemoglobin, and liver enzymes [(aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP)] as well as weight measurements were performed at baseline, six months and twelve months, respectively, after treatment initiation. The overall HIV-viral hepatitis sero-positivity was 8.5%. HBV and HCV co-infections were 7.0% and 1.5% respectively. Among HIV mono-infected CD4 cell count, haemoglobin, and weight significantly increased from baseline to the twelfth month while levels remained statistically comparable in the HIV co-infected patients. The levels of AST, ALT, and ALP were more pronounced (hepatotoxicity) in the HIV co-infected compared to the HIV mono-infected at various time points within the twelve month. The frequency of HIV-hepatitis co-infection was high. This correlates with poor immunological outcome, clinical response to treatment and pronounced hepatotoxicity. The findings, therefore, underscore the need for regular screening of HIV patients for early detection and appropriate management.

Objective. The study sought to determine the diagnostic accuracy of body adiposity index (BAI) and relative fat mass (RFM) to predict BIA‐derived BFP among patients with type 2 diabetes in the Ho municipality. Materials and Method. This hospital‐based cross‐sectional study involved 236 patients with type 2 diabetes. Demographic data, including age and gender were obtained. Height, waist circumference (WC), and hip circumference (HC) were measured using standard methods. BFP was estimated on a bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) scale. The validity of BAI and RFM as alternative estimates for BIA‐derived BFP was evaluated based on mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), Passing‐Bablok regression, Bland‐Altman plots, receiver‐operating characteristic curve (ROC), and kappa statistics analyses. A p value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results. BAI showed systematic bias in estimating BIA‐derived BFP in both genders, but this was not evident between RFM and BFP among females (t = −0.62; p = 0.534). While BAI showed “good” predictive accuracy in both genders, RFM exhibited “high” predictive accuracy for BFP (MAPE: 7.13%; 95% CI: 6.27‐8.78) among females according to MAPE analysis. From the Bland‐Altman plot analysis, the mean difference between RFM and BFP was acceptable among females [0.3 (95% LOA: ‐10.9 to 11.5)], but both BAI and RFM recorded large limits of agreement and low Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient with BFP (Pc < 0.90) in the two gender populations. The optimal cut‐off, sensitivity, specificity, and Youden index for RFM were >27.2, 75%, 93.75%, and 0.69, respectively, while those of BAI were >25.65, 80%, 84.37%, and 0.64, respectively, among males. Among females, the values for RFM were >27.26, 92.57%, 72.73%, and 0.65, whereas those of BAI were >29.4, 90.74%, 70.83%, and 0.62, respectively. The accuracy of discriminating between BFP levels was higher among females [BAI (AUC: 0.93) and RFM (AUC: 0.90)] compared to males [BAI (AUC: 0.86) and RFM (AUC: 0.88)]. Conclusion. RFM had a better predictive accuracy of BIA‐derived BFP in females. However, both RFM and BAI failed as valid estimates for BFP. Furthermore, gender‐specific performance in the discrimination of BFP levels for RFM and BAI was observed.

Operational research (OR) published in 2023 revealed low utilisation and suboptimal quality of blood culture services at a tertiary hospital in Ghana. To address these, several interventions were implemented, including sensitisation of physicians, training of laboratory staff, use of automated incubation systems, and improved availability of laboratory consumables. To assess the impact of these interventions, we conducted a follow-up study in a cross-section of inpatients (n = 1080) with suspected bloodstream infections (BSI) admitted in 2024. There were three key changes. First, there was a five-fold increase in requests for blood culture from 8% pre-OR to 40% post-OR. Culture requests were more frequent from child health department (63%) and intensive care units (53%) compared to surgery department (15%). Second, there was a reduction in delays: time from hospital admission to culture request was reduced from 2 days to 1 day, and the laboratory turn-around time was reduced from 7 days to 5 days. Third, there was a marginal improvement (p = 0.692) in the quality of blood cultures: diagnostic yield improved from 7% to 10%, and the contamination rate was reduced from 16% to 14%. Achieving universal culture utilisation among eligible patients and lowering contamination rates will require a detailed gap analysis and targeted interventions.