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Introduction: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a cause of significant morbidity and mortality in the world. There are currently 4 COVID-19 vaccines have been developed for mass vaccination to combat the disease. Some people, however, have expressed safety and efficacy concerns with regards to the vaccines. In Ghana, junior doctors, being frontline doctors, are likely to first encounter patients presenting with COVID-19. They may also have the highest direct exposure to the virus even though their outcomes after infection may be good. The study sought to determine the potential acceptance rate of COVID-19 vaccine among junior doctors, the factors that will influence their acceptance and whether they will recommend the vaccine to their patients. Methods: The study was an ethically approved anonymous cross-sectional survey to determine the willingness to accept the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine among junior doctors in Ghana. The survey was designed using Google forms posted to the various junior doctor’s social media group pages such as WhatsApp and Facebook with the study participants responding to 15 items. Results: Out of a total of 305 participants, females were 155 (50.8%). Of the respondents, 171/305 (56.1%) had cared for Covid-19 patients before, 51/305 (16.7%) had had Covid-19 infection previously and 204/305 (66.9%) will be willing to take the vaccine when available. Females were more likely to take the vaccine and those who were willing to accept the vaccine were more likely to recommend same to their family and others. Conclusion: This study has showed a more than average willingness to accept the COVID-19 vaccine. Female gender, living with the extended family and history of SARS-Cov-2 infection were positively associated with willingness to accept the COVID-19 vaccine. Doctors who were willing to accept the vaccine were also more likely to recommend their patients and family members to also accept the COVID-19 vaccine.

Introduction:A pregnant woman’s knowledge of her human immune deficiency virus (HIV) serostatus and that of her sexual partner and the disclosure of her serostatus to the partner puts her in a better position to make informed choices about her pregnancy, adopt strategies to prevent mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV and reduce sexual transmission of HIV. Some pregnant women however opt out of antenatal HIV testing while others have challenges with partner disclosure. This study sought to assess the pregnant women’s knowledge of their HIV serostatus and that of their partners, and disclosure to partners about their serostatus. Methods:An ethically approved cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at the antenatal clinic (ANC) of the Kumasi South Hospital, Ghana from the period 8thMarch to 5thApril, 2016. A structured questionnaire was administered to 407 ANC attendants who were randomly selected to participate in the study. Data entry was in Microsoft Excel and analyzed using R Core Team (2014). Results:The study showed that 80.1% (n = 326/407) of the participants knew their HIV serostatus. Of these, 18.1% (n = 59/326) knew prior to the current pregnancy and 81.9% (n = 267/326) were told during the current pregnancy. Among those who knew their HIV serostatus, the majority [83.1%; (n = 271/326)] had disclosed to their partners. Most of the participants [70.76%; (n = 288/407)] had no knowledge of their partners’ status. Conclusion:Every pregnant woman should know their HIV status, disclose it to their sexual partners and know the status of their sexual partners as this will PMTCT, reduce HIV transmission and acquisition among sero- discordant couples.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS Cov-2) which currently has caused over 76 million cases with over 1.6 million people dead worldwide. COVID-19 can manifest with several non-specific clinical presentations, posing a diagnostic challenge. Several studies have shown an increased COVID-19 severity in patients with Diabetes mellitus. However, some patients with COVID-19 severity may present with new-onset Diabetes mellitus or worsening blood glucose control in a known diabetic. There are various mechanisms by which the SARS Cov-2 causes hyperglycemia in infected patients. This can lead to hyperglycemia as a presentation of COVID-19 in the absence of specific signs and symptoms. We present three cases: two of them initially presented with acute onset hyperglycemia and were diagnosed with Diabetes mellitus but shortly developed clinical manifestations that led to the suspicion of COVID-19 and a positive COVID-19 RT-PCR test. The third was a diabetic with previously good glycaemic control which suddenly worsened for no reason and shortly after, also developed clinical manifestations that led to the suspicion of COVID-19 which was later confirmed. We recommend that patients with acute hyperglycemia state and/or worsening blood glucose control in patients with previously well controlled Diabetes mellitus should be evaluated for COVID-19 in order to reduce morbidity and mortality as hyperglycemia confers an increased disease severity&nbsp