Research Articles
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A research article reports the results of original research, assesses its contribution to the body of knowledge in a given area, and is published in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal. The faculty publications through published and on-going articles/researches are captured in this community
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Item Co-infections of SARS-CoV-2 with respiratory syncytial virus and human influenza A in patients with symptoms of COVID-19 in Ghana: A retrospective study(New Microbes and New Infections, 2024-08-19) Duedu, O.K.; Gyamfi, J.; Ayivor-Djanie, R.; Afenya, G.; Agbuglah, B.I.; Agbogli, K.H.; Essandoh, P.; Kugbemanya, S.; Adiku, K.T.Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic the aetiology of respiratory illnesses were narrowed to SARS-CoV-2. This prevented diagnosis of other pathogens and patients were not notified of the accurate diagnosis of their illnesses when SARS-CoV-2 was absent. It is therefore important to look back and determine what else was present but was missed. Objective: This retrospective study sought to gain insights into prevalence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza A alongside SARS-CoV-2 in patients who reported with clinical symptoms of respiratory illnesses. Methods: Samples from patients who had reported of respiratory symptoms were selected at random from a pool. RNA was extracted and RT-PCR was performed for SARS-CoV-2, RSV and Influenza A in parallel. Data on the clinical symptoms was extracted from case-base forms and analysed. Results: Of the 400 symptomatic samples tested, prevalence of SARS-CoV-2, influenza A and RSV was 20.3 %, 2.0 % and 0.5 % respectively. Only one sample tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A. About 77 % of the symptomatic cases did not test positive for any of the three agents. Cough (79 %) was the most common symptom followed by fever and chills, headache, sore throat and runny nose. Conclusion: The large proportion of symptomatic cases that tested negative for all three respiratory viruses raises a flag and a need for more investigations into the actual burden of respiratory aetiologic agents during the pandemic. With the low levels of co-infections, parallel testing may not be needed however, a strong case for multiplex tests for respiratory agents exists.Item Policy Responses to fight COVID-19; the case of Ghana(Brazilian Journal Of Public Administration, 2020) Antwi-Boasiako, J.; Abbey, C.O.A.; Ofori, R.A.; Ogbey, P.This paper focuses on the policy responses of Ghana’s government with a focus on three areas: health, economic, and social. Ghana has made several policy interventions in these three areas. The study highlighted the adoption of the 3T approach in health, CAP-20 in economics, and free water and subsidized electricity for citizens as social interventions. The study concludes that the measures undertaken by the Government of Ghana have yielded significant results even though some challenges with delivery mechanisms are identified. The available statistics as of October 25, 2020, on the COVID-19 situation in Ghana further affirm the gains.Item Harnessing the tenets of health promotion and wise reasoning in managing the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana and similar contexts(African Geographical Review, 2022) Kutor, S.K.; Ablo, A.D.; Annan-Aggrey, E.; et al.The emergence of COVID-19 in December 2019 produced new geographic spaces characterized by physical and social distancing with concomitant surprises. In Ghana, management of the first and second waves of the pandemic garnered mixed reactions from the populace. Against these perspectives, this commentary explored the critical role of health promotion and wise reasoning tenets in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana, specifically through the following eight principles: intellectual humility; acknowledging uncertainty and change; perspective-taking of different viewpoints; integration of diverse perspectives; intersectorality; sustainability; empowerment and public health engagement; and equity. Our analyses demonstrate that wise reasoning and health promotion from Ghana’s political authorities are critical to ensuring citizens’ compliance with the several measures that require a change of behavior.Item Unpacking the impact of COVID-19 on child immunization: evidence from Ghana(BMC Public Health, 2024) Durizzo, K.; Awoonor-William, K.; Harttgen, K.; Günther, I.Background With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments implemented social distancing regulations to limit the spread of the disease. Some health experts warned that these measures could negatively affect access to essential health services, such as routine childhood immunizations. Others noted that without these regulations, COVID-19 cases would increase, leading to overburdened health systems. Methods We analyze four years (2018–2021) of monthly administrative data on childhood immunizations in all administrative districts in Ghana and exploit variations in social distancing regulations across districts. Given variations in social distancing regulations across Ghanaian districts, we can further differentiate between the effect of public lockdowns and the effect of the pandemic. Results We find that child immunizations in Ghana declined by 6% during the public lockdown in April 2020, but the country compensated with higher vaccination rates starting in June, and immunization services recovered to pre-pandemic growth levels by 2021. Time-critical vaccines, such as polio, were not affected at all. We do find a substantially larger disruption in April 2020 (14%) and a slower recovery in 2020 in the 40 lockdown-affected districts. Interestingly, vaccination rates already decreased in February and March by about 5% before the public lockdown and before the pandemic had reached Ghana, but with the pandemic already spreading globally and in the news. Conclusion Our results indicate that the negative effect on child immunization was less severe and shorter than predicted by experts. Fear of COVID-19 and delayed vaccination campaigns had a substantial impact on childhood immunization while rising COVID-19 cases and moderate social distancing regulations did not seem to affect immunization ratesItem Managing large classes in virtual teaching: experiences of university teachers in Ghana during COVID‑19(Education Tech Research Dev, 2022) Salifu, I.; Abonyi, U.K.This research used a qualitative multiple-case study and phenomenological designs to explore how, without training, university teachers in Ghana managed large student numbers in the virtual environment during COVID-19. The study examined further the challenges the teachers faced in their virtual instructional delivery. Twelve participants, drawn randomly from four large Ghanaian universities, participated in individual interviews and follow-up virtual class observations. The findings revealed that the participants employed two management techniques in their virtual teaching—regulating the behaviour of learners and controlling instructional content. The research further uncovered that, although the teachers’ complaints generally centred on environmental constraints and inadequate institutional support, those whose difficulties included using virtual tools did not have virtual teaching experience before the COVID period. The study supports the clarion call for university teachers involved in virtual teaching to personally seek a continual update of skills and competency in virtual delivery because it is an approach hinged on evolving technology.Item Female farmers’ struggles and responses to COVID-19 in Ghana(African Geographical Review, 2024) Yaro, J.A.; Essien, R.S.; Ablo, A.D.; Siakwah, P.; Zaam, M.The COVID-19 lockdown measures exacerbated the struggles of societies with existing inequalities. Given that women are generally the most vulnerable in times of pandemics and associated economic downturns, the study seeks to understand the struggles that female farmers experienced during the COVID-19 crisis and their survival responses and livelihood enhancement. To do this, we organized six women’s focus group discussions and interviewed 145 women farmers in communities within Builsa South and Ada (in Ghana) where farming is one of the major occupations for women. The findings reveal that the pandemic severely disrupted women’s access to farm inputs, markets, and farming activities amidst the absence of COVID-19 relief funds. Consequently, female farmers had to adopt multiple alternative livelihood strategies to meet their basic needs. But, the nature of the adaptation strategy adopted depended on the intersections of gender, household characteristics and remittance flows. Female farmers from migrant households with larger household sizes temporarily migrated as an alternative livelihood strategy compared to those from non-migrant households and with smaller family sizes. This distributional consequence of COVID-19 is important for government agencies to carefully consider when forming future response policies to pandemics in general and the rural agricultural sector specifically since it has implications for food securityItem Intimate Partner Violence against Men and Women in Nigeria during the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown: An Assessment of Prevalence and Forms(Journal of Community Medicine and Primary Health Care, 2024) Ezenwoko, A.Z.; Abubakar, A.U.; Udofia, E.A.; et al.Background: The control of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the use of stringent control measures such as lockdowns by many countries of the world. This predisposed people in relationships to intimate partner violence (IPV). This study aimed to assess the prevalence and forms of intimate partner violence against both men and women in Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 538 respondents using an online electronic questionnaire which was circulated across the 36 states in Nigeria on social media platforms - nd Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter. Data were collected from May 22 - July 27 2020 and descriptive analysis generated using IBM SPSS version 23. Results: The mean age ± standard deviation of respondents was 37.2± 8.0 years. The overall prevalence of IPV was 216 (40.2%). Eighty-six (44.8%) men reported experiencing IPV with sexual violence 54 (28.1%) being the most reported form followed by emotional 49 (25.5), nancial 20 (10.4%) and physical 18 (9.4%) violence. One hundred and thirty (37.6%) women experienced IPV during the lockdown period. The common forms of violence experienced by women were emotional 100 (28.9%), sexual 66 (19.1%), nancial 42 (12.1%) and physical 31 (9.0%) violence. Conclusion: The prevalence of IPV was higher in men than women. The most reported form of violence was sexual in men and emotional in women. This underscores the need for the Federal Government to put in place systems (such as helplines for counselling and legislation) to protect people who are in relationships from IPV.Item COVID-19, nutrition, and gender: An evidence-informed approach to gender-responsive policies and programs(Social Science & Medicine, 2022) Kalbarczyk, A.; Lartey, A.; Aberman, N.; et al.In addition to the direct health impacts of COVID-19, government and household mitigation measures have triggered negative indirect economic, educational, and food and health system impacts, hitting low- and middle-income countries the hardest and disproportionately affecting women and girls. We conducted a gender focused analysis on five critical and interwoven crises that have emerged because of the COVID-19 crisis and exacerbated malnutrition and food insecurity. These include restricted mobility and isolation; reduced income; food insecurity; reduced access to essential health and nutrition services; and school closures. Our approach included a theoretical gender analysis, targeted review of the literature, and a visual mapping of evidence-informed impact pathways. As data was identified to support the visualization of pathways, additions were made to codify the complex interrelations between the COVID-19-related crises and underlying gender relations. Our analysis and resultant evidence map illustrate how underlying inequitable norms, such as gendered unprotected jobs, reduced access to economic resources, decreased decision-making power, and unequal gendered division of labor, were exacerbated by the pandemic’s secondary containment efforts. Health and nutrition policies and interventions targeted to women and children fail to recognize and account for understanding and documentation of underlying gender norms, roles, and relations, which may deter successful outcomes. Analyzing the indirect effects of COVID-19 on women and girls offers a useful illustration of how underlying gender inequities can exacerbate health and nutrition outcomes in a crisis. This evidence-informed approach can be used to identify and advocate for more comprehensive upstream policies and programs that address underlying gender inequities.Item Factors Associated with Adolescent Pregnancy in Sub-Saharan Africa during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review of Socioeconomic Influences and Essential Interventions(International Journal Of Sexual Health, 2022) Kons, K.; Biney, A.A.E.; Sznajder, K.Objective: A literature review was conducted to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on documented preexisting determinants of adolescent pregnancy in sub-Saharan Africa, such as poverty, inequitable gender norms, low access to education, and reproductive health services. Methods: The terms “sub-Saharan Africa,” “Gender Norms,” “Poverty,” and “Adolescent Pregnancy” were used to search the literature for preexisting determinants of adolescence pregnancy in academic and grey literature. “COVID-19” was added to investigate the potential consequences of the pandemic. The literature revealed similar experiences in adolescents girls during the Ebola outbreak, which led to the analysis of government and healthcare official responses to previous epidemics. Results: The literature review revealed that the relationship between identified micro (inequitable gender norms, transactional sex, sexual and gender-based violence, early marriage, and menstruation) and macro (poverty, education, and healthcare factors contributing to adolescent pregnancy were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: Three realistic targets, including expanding and communicating available reproductive health resources, prioritizing the role of women in the economy, and ensuring return to school, should be included as part of current COVID-19 mitigation programs. Additionally, these interventions should be incorporated in future public health preparedness plans to reduce the risk of adolescent pregnancy during public health emergencies.Item Quantile risk spillovers between energy and agricultural commodity markets: Evidence from pre and during COVID-19 outbreak(Energy Economics, 2022) Tiwari, A.K.; Abakah, E.J.A.; Adewuyi, A.O.; Lee, C.The spillover effect is a significant factor impacting the volatility of commodity prices. Unlike earlier studies, this research uses the rolling window-based Quantile VAR (QVAR) model to describe conditional volatility spillover between energy, biofuel and agricultural commodity markets. Since the magnitude of connectedness and spillover effects may switch between bearish and bullish market states over time, a QVAR model is a relatively realistic and appropriate approach to capture connectedness as compared to the mean-based approaches of Diebold and Yilmaz (DY; 2009, 2012, & 2014), which are mostly used in the literature. To this end, we employ volatility estimates by using the realized variance advanced by Parkinson (1980). Specifically, we investigate the time-varying volatility spillovers and connectedness among agricultural markets (wheat, corn, sugar, soyabean, coffee, and cotton), energy markets (gasoline, crude oil, and natural gas) and biofuel (ethanol) markets from January 12, 2012, to May 10, 2021. By comparing our empirical analysis with results from the DY spillover model, we establish that connectedness is stronger in the left and right quantiles than those in the mean and median of the conditional distribution, emphasizing the importance of systematic risk spillovers during extreme market movements. Furthermore, results find that volatility spillovers and connectedness in the right tail is higher than in the left tail. In particular, we document significant volatility spillovers from agricultural markets to energy markets during extreme markets conditions and observe the dominance of agricultural markets over energy markets. To ascertain the impact of COVID-19 on the volatility of markets examined, we divide our sample into sub-samples and observe significant variation in the level of volatility spillovers and connectedness across the markets before and during the outbreak of COVID-19. Finally, some useful implications are summarized for investors’ portfolios and risk avoidance.