Overview
- COVID-19 PANDEMIC
The Department has played and continues to play a crucial role in infectious diseases management and in particular HIV/AIDS and more recently SAR-COV-2 and in this regard, is involved in collaborative clinical care work and research on how to manage the COVID-19 pandemic with the Government of Kenya - Ministry of Health, Kenyatta National Hospital, the KNH Infectious Disease Unit at Mbagathi Hospital and Coast General and Teaching Hospital. In addition, members of the department are involved in sample collection and CVID-19 patient follow-up in the above health facilities. Some members of the department of medical microbiology were appointed to serve in the National COVID-19 taskforce and received the Uzalendo awards which were conferred by his Excellency the President of the republic of Kenya- Uhuru Kenyatta. This is after the government realized their commitment and patriotism in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition members of the department have contributed to national guidelines and policy in COVID-19 treatment and management (see below):
- INTERIM GUIDELINES ON MANAGEMENT OF COVID-19 IN KENYA
- HOME BASED ISOLATION AND CARE GUIDELINES FOR PATIENTS WITH COVID-19
- SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES
This department conducts clinical studies and clinical assessment in sexually transmitted infections in male and female patients at the KNH and also Casino STI clinic in Nairobi (The Casino health facility is located in Nairobi CBD area under the management of Nairobi Metropolitan Service, and deals mainly with treatment of sexual transmitted disease, skin diseases and other common ailments. Its clients mare mostly low income earners and commercial sex workers). One of the objectives at the clinic is to improve diagnostic accuracy of the syndromic management of STIs among individuals seeking treatment at the Health Centre (see table 1 for the published work). The department has also lead in determining the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns for STIs such as Neisseria gonorrhoea in particular. The study also looked at the prevalence of other commonly occurring sexually transmitted infections such as Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma and Trichomonas vaginalis.
- ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious threat to global public health that threatens effective treatment of infections and leads to prolonged duration of illness, higher morbidity and mortality rates, and increased cost of health care and is likely to have a negative impact on the achievement of universal health coverage (UHC). The department of Medical Microbiology is at the forefront assisting to build capacity in strengthen AMR surveillance in Kenya by ensuring diagnostic stewardship and microbial culture uptake and improving Kenya’s ability in diagnosis of drug-resistant infections. The ongoing AMR work is being conducted in six county hospitals, namely:
(1) Kiambu County Referral Hospital,
(2) Bungoma County Hospital,
(3) Webuye Sub-County Hospital,
(4) Nakuru County Teaching and Referral Hospital,
(5) Thika Level 5 Hospital
(6) Naivasha Sub-County Hospital
In addition members of the department have contributed to national guidelines and policy in AMR
1. ANTIMICROBIAL STEWARDSHIP GUIDELINES FOR HEALTH CARE SETTINGS IN KENYA
2.THE KNH GUIDE TO EMPIRIC ANTIMICROBIAL THERAPY
