Browsing by Author "Kateete, David P."

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    Medical Mycology dissertation topics require prioritisation among Postgraduate Microbiology trainees of Makerere University, Uganda
    (International Society for Infectious Diseases, 2022-04-25) Achan, Beatrice; Mboowa, Gerald; Kwizera, Richard; Kateete, David P.; Kajumbulaa, Henry; Bongomin, Felix
    Background: As elsewhere worldwide, there is an increasing burden of fungal diseases in Uganda. However, expertise in medical mycology (the study of fungal diseases of medical importance) among clinicians and laboratory personnel remains low. Objective: This study sought to determine the proportion of dissertations on medical mycology among postgraduate medical microbiology trainees at the College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Uganda. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the topics of dissertations submitted to the Departments of Medical Microbiology and Immunology & Molecular Biology from 2011 through 2018. The proportion of dissertation topics on medical mycology was analysed using descriptive statistics. Results: A total of 152 dissertations were retrieved. Of these, only 5 (3.3%) were on medical mycology compared to bacteriology (50.7%, n = 77), virology (27.6%, n = 42), parasitology (14.5%, n = 22) and immunology (4.0%, n = 6). Of the 5 dissertations on fungal diseases, the distribution was as follows: cryptococcal meningitis (40%, n = 2), Candidiasis (20%, n = 1), superficial mycoses (20%, n = 1) and other invasive fungal diseases (20%, n = 1). The most common method that was used for studying the fungal diseases was culture 60%, n = 3. Conclusion: There is limited research on medical mycology among the postgraduate medical microbiology trainees of Makerere University, Uganda
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    Performance and cost-effectiveness of a pooled testing strategy for SARS-CoV-2 using real-time polymerase chain reaction in Uganda
    (International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2021-10-21) Bogerea, Naghib; Bongominb, Felix; Katende, Andrew; Ssebambuliddee, Kenneth; Ssengooba, Willy; Ssenfuka, Henry; Kigozi, Edgar; Biraro, Samuel; Kateete, David P.; Andia-Biraro, Irene
    Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) remains the gold standard for detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). This study tested the performance of a pooled testing strategy for RT-PCR and its cost-effectiveness. In total, 1280 leftover respiratory samples collected be tween 19 April and 6 May 2021 were tested in 128 pools of 10 samples each, out of which 16 pools were positive. The positivity rate of the unpooled samples was 1.9% (24/1280). After parallel testing using the individual and pooled testing strategies, positive agreement was 100% and negative agree ment was 99.8%. The overall median cycle threshold (Ct) value of the unpooled samples was 29.8 (in terquartile range 22.3–34.3). Pools that remained positive when compared with the results of individ ual samples had lower median Ct values compared with those that turned out to be negative (28.8 versus 34.8; P=0.0.035). Pooled testing reduced the cost >4-fold. Pooled testing may be a more cost effective approach to diagnose SARS-CoV-2 in resource-limited settings without compromising diagnostic performance.