Browsing by Author "Kiconco, Gloria"

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    Intestinal Obstruction in a Child with Massive Ascariasis
    (Case Reports in Pediatrics, 2021) Turyasiima, Munanura; Matovu, Paul; Kiconco, Gloria; Egesa, Walufu Ivan; Sunday, Phillip; Nakandi, Lydia; Musa, Kirya; Oluka, Denis; Byendera, Martin
    Soil-transmitted helminths are so prevalent in the tropics and low developing countries. Pediatric clinical presentation of ascariasis, the most common helminth, as the intestinal obstruction is not only rare but also less described. We present a case of a 4- year-old girl with massive ascariasis. She presented with a 3-day history of acute abdominal pain associated with vomiting and an episode of passing long white roundworms, about 5 cm in length, through the nose. (e child had mild constipation and passed pellets of hard stool once in the last 72 hours. She was in fair general condition at the examination but had significant findings on abdominal examination. On palpation, there was a soft mass localized in the left paraumbilical area and no tenderness, with normal bowel sounds on auscultation. Exploratory laparotomy was sanctioned where roundworms (Ascaris lumbricoides), saucepan full, were delivered through a 2.5 cm enterotomy incision. Postoperative management was carried out, and the child discharged on the 7th day of treatment including a 3-day course of albendazole 400 mg daily.
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    Sickle Cell Disease in Children and Adolescents: A Review of the Historical, Clinical, and Public Health Perspective of Sub-Saharan Africa and Beyond
    (International Journal of Pediatrics, 2022) Egesa, Walufu Ivan; Nakalema, Gloria; Waibi, William M.; Turyasiima, Munanura; Amuje, Emmanuel; Kiconco, Gloria; Odoch, Simon; Kumbakulu, Patrick Kumbowi; Abdirashid, Said; Asiimwe, Daniel
    Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an umbrella term for a group of life-long debilitating autosomal recessive disorders that are caused by a single-point mutation (Glu→Val) that results in polymerization of hemoglobin (Hb) and reversible sickle-shape deformation of erythrocytes. This leads to increased hemolysis of erythrocytes and microvascular occlusion, ischemia-reperfusion injury, and tissue infarction, ultimately causing multisystem end-organ complications. Sickle cell anemia (HbSS) is the most common and most severe genotype of SCD, followed by HbSC, HbSβ0thalassemia, HbSβ+thalassemia, and rare and benign genotypes. Clinical manifestations of SCD occur early in life, are variable, and are modified by several genetic and environmental factors. Nearly 500 children with SCD continue to die prematurely every day, due to delayed diagnosis and/or lack of access to comprehensive care in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), a trend that needs to be urgently reversed. Despite proven efficacy in developed countries, newborn screening programs are not universal in SSA. This calls for a consolidated effort to make this possible, through the use of rapid, accurate, and cheap point-of-care test kits which require minimal training. For almost two decades, hydroxyurea (hydroxycarbamide), a century-old drug, was the only disease-modifying therapy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Recently, the list expanded to L-glutamine, crizanlizumab, and voxelotor, with several promising novel therapies in the pipeline. Despite its several limitations, hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) remains the only curative intervention for SCD. Meanwhile, recent advances in gene therapy trials offer a glimpse of hope for the near future, although its use maybe limited to developed countries for several decades.