Browsing by Author "Nkwengulila, Gamba"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

The impact of human cysticercosis in Northern Tanzania
(University of Dar es Salaam, 2014-04) Mwang’onde, Beda John; Chacha, Mwita; Nkwengulila, Gamba
Human cysticercosis (HCC) is an emerging threat to public health in endemic resource poor countries and is one of the main causes of late onset epilepsy. The epidemiology, public health and socioecomic impacts of HCC in northern Tanzania, an area with high incidences of epilepsy, is reported. Sera of 1051individuals from 25 villages in Mbulu district were tested for cysticercosis circulating antibodies using Cysticercus WB IgG assay. A subset (25 persons) of cysticercosis seropositives were scanned for NCC by cCT scan. Questionnaires, observations and docummentary reviews were used to obtain information on public health and social costs. The Disability Adjusted Life Year was used to estimate the health burden of HCC. About 16.3% of the participants were positive to cysticercosis circulating antibodies. Of the 25 cysticercosis seropositive persons, 76% had single to multiple NCC suggestive lesions. Of the 19 persons found with NCC suggestive lesions, 14 (56%) had epileptic siesures. The direct and indirect losses due to Taenia solium cysticercosis was US $ 1.37 million of which 53.6% was due to HCC. The monetary burden per case of HCC amounted to US $ 209 per year. The average number of DALYs imposed due to HCC was 2.2 per 1000 population per year. The prevalence and the impact of HCC in Mbulu district is of increasing concern and calls for immediate deployment of intervention measures.
Validation of droplet digital Polymerase Chain Reaction for the detection and absolute quantification of Taenia solium eggs in spiked soil samples
(Elsevier, 2019) Maganira, Justine Daudi; Mwang'onde, Beda John; Kidima, Winifrida; Mwita, Chacha John; Nkwengulila, Gamba; Höglund, Johan
To enable the detection of taeniid eggs in environmental samples, a sensitive technology is required. In this study, we validated the effectiveness of a digital droplet Polymerase Chain Reaction (ddPCR) assay for detection, identification and absolute quantification of taeniid DNA from artificially contaminated soils with varying numbers of taeniid eggs using a set of universal primers, JB3 & JB4.5. The results showed that the number of cox1 copies detected increased gradually for both species with the number of taeniid eggs added to the different soil types. The highest cox1 DNA copies recovery for Taenia solium and T. lynciscapreoli was from the sand soil with lowest recovery being observed in clay soils. Therefore, ddPCR is a promising technology for screening of taeniid eggs from soil samples collected in the environment irrespective of the soil type and the number of eggs. The potential of the ddPCR protocol to detect taeniid egg DNA in spiked soil samples has great practical application for taeniid egg screening in soils from endemic areas. However, when universal primers are used in screening environmental samples, the identity of ddPCR positive samples must be confirmed by sequencing. In addition, more validation studies using species-specific primers and field soil samples is recommended.