Kenneth Ssebambulidde
Country (Nationality)
Uganda
Grantee Title
Project: Relationship between maternal or new-born cholesterol levels and neonatal septicaemia: A Ugandan cohort of mother-new-born pairs
Grantee Description
Prior in vitro work showed that immune cells in settings of high or low cholesterol have impaired uptake of bacteria.
Kenneth will lead a mother-newborn pair cohort study, looking for a correlation between maternal and new-born cholesterol levels and neonatal septicaemia. Consenting pregnant mothers will have a blood drawn for a lipid profile, and upon delivery, cord blood cholesterol will be analysed for their new-borns. The new-borns will be followed up for 28 days, those who develop clinical signs and symptoms of neonatal septicaemia will have a CBC, CRP, and blood culture to confirm diagnosis. We shall look for an association between maternal and new-born cholesterol levels at delivery with neonatal septicaemia. The projects seeks to test the hypothesis of whether abnormal (high or low) maternal and newborn cholesterol is associated with a risk for neonatal sepsis.