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Andrew Brent
kilifi [dot] kemri-wellcome [dot] org Research
Tuberculosis (TB) is an important cause of childhood illness and death worldwide. TB in children is both common, with nearly a million new cases estimated each year, and serious; young children are at particularly high risk of severe disease and death following infection. The incidence of childhood TB in Kenya is estimated to be amongst the highest in the world, but limited data are available from both Kenya and elsewhere due to difficulties in diagnosing TB in children.
There is now a consensus that two of the most urgent research priorities for childhood tuberculosis are to collect robust regional data on the true burden of paediatric TB; and to develop a rapid, reliable and affordable diagnostic test for use at the point of care in resource poor settings. The KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Programme in Kilifi has a combination of sophisticated laboratory, community surveillance and epidemiology infrastructure that provides a unique setting in Africa to address these questions. Our research aims to expand and strengthen clinical and laboratory TB diagnostic facilities and systems in Kilifi, and thereby to improve paediatric TB diagnosis and surveillance in the district; and to investigate the role of novel methods for paediatric TB diagnosis.
Collaborations
Publications
Subhi R, Adamson M, Campbell H, Weber M, Smith K, Ashraf H, Berkley J, Brent AJ et al. The prevalence of hypoxaemia among ill children in developing countries: a systematic review. Lancet Infectious Diseases 2009; 9; 219-27.
Newton SM, Brent AJ, Anderson S, Whittaker E, Kampmann B. Paediatric tuberculosis: lessons from the young on an old disease. Lancet Infectious Diseases 2008; 8: 498-510.
Brent AJ, Hay D, Conlon CP. Souvenirs to make your skin crawl. Lancet Infectious Diseases 2008; 8: 524.
Brent AJ, Anderson ST, Kampmann B. Childhood tuberculosis: out of sight out of mind? Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 2008;102:217-8.
Brent AJ, Angus B. Not all that is Malaria is falciparum. Lancet Infectious Diseases 2008: 8: 208.
Brent AJ, Bowler I. Candidaemia in Oxford: trends in the epidemiology and resistance of candida blood isolates over a decade [poster]. British Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 2007.
Brent AJ, Matthews PC, Dance DA, Pitt TL, Handy R. Misdiagnosing melioidosis. Emerging Infectious Diseases 2007;13:349-51.
Brent AJ et al. Incidence of pneumococcal bacteraemia among Kenyan children [poster]. 5th International Symposium on Pneumococci and Pneumococcal Disease, Alice Springs 2006.
Brent AJ, Ahmed I, Ndiritu, M, Lewa P, Ngetsa, C, Lowe B, Bauni E, English M, Berkley JA, Scott JAG. Incidence of clinically significant bacteremia in children who present to hospital in Kenya: community-based observation study. Lancet 2006;367:482-88.
Brent AJ, Oundo J, Mwangi I, Ochola L, Lowe B, Berkley JA. Non Typhoid Salmonella bacteraemia in Kenyan children. Paediatric Infectious Diseases Journal 2006;25:230-6.
Brent AJ, Hull R, Jeffery KJM, Phillips RR, Atkins B. Acute cholecystitis complicating mumps infection. Clinical Infectious Diseases 2006;42:302-3.
Otieno H, Were E, Ahmed I, Charo E, Brent A, Maitland K. Are bedside features of shock reproducible between different observers? Archives of Diseases in Childhood 2004;89(10):977-9.
Berkley J, Brent AJ et al. Mortality amongst Kenyan children admitted to a rural district hospital on weekends as compared with weekdays. Paediatrics 2004:114(6);1737-8.
Dickson SJ, Brent A, Davidson RN, Wall R. Comparison of bronchoscopy and gastric washings in the investigation of smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis. Clinical Infectious Diseases 2003;37(12):1649-53.
BOOKS
Eddleston M, Davidson R, Brent A, Wilkinson R. Oxford Handbook of Tropical Medicine, 3rd Edition 2008. Oxford University Press, Oxford.