Dr. Kizza Dominic Kateregga

Dr. Kizza Dominic Kateregga

MBChB (MUST), MPH (MUST), Advanced Field Epidemiology Fellow (UPHFP)
Email: dkizza@uniph.go.ug
Telephone: 256 782-264576 /+256 700-234538

Host Site: Uganda National Expanded Program on Immunization, Ministry of Health

Host Mentor: Dr Atugonza Rita

ABOUT THE FELLOW

Now a fully qualified field epidemiologist, Dominic  is a medical doctor with a master’s degree in  Public Health. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in  Medicine and Surgery from Mbarara University  of Science and Technology (MUST) and a Post  graduate diploma on principles of clinical trials  from University of Montifeller, Paris, France and  Master of Public Health (MPH) from MUST.

Prior to joining the fellowship, Dominic practiced as a general practitioner at both private not for profit and public health facilities. His exposure to public health was when he participated in medium term fellowship at Makerere School of public health a decade ago. He then pursued a masters in public health and later joined the Field Epidemiology Track Program. He is passionate about outbreak investigations and treating populations.
During the fellowship he was attached to the Uganda National Expanded Program on Immunization. This gave him more understanding
of preventive medicine through vaccination of children and high-risk populations.
Through the in-service training, Dominic has attained competencies in several areas of public health and epidemiology such as: Outbreak
investigation and response, alert management, data analysis, evaluation of surveillance systems, quality improvement and assurance, scientific
writing, and research. He led three outbreak investigations and participated in four others. He participated in several other activities including
the revision of data tools, growing expertise in the E-health Knowledge and Skills project, Mini Survey on the uptake of immunization in Uganda,
among others

  Achievements at the Host Site

At the Uganda National Expanded Program on Immunization, he participated in a number of projects and activities including but not limited to:

– Led the Growing Expertise in E-health  Knowledge and Skills evaluation project  on two innovations aimed at reducing  immunization dropout rates in Masindi and  Luweero districts. Tickler box system was  found to be more effective than smart paper  technology (SPT) in reducing immunization  dropout rates in Luweero District.

– Participated in the analysis and compilation of  the quarterly bulletins on vaccine-preventable  diseases and EPI updates.

– Participated in the revision of EPI HMIS tools  with the data and M and E team at UNEPI. – Participated in the Phase II Yellow fever mass  vaccination as central supervisor for Mitooma  District where we achieved 97% coverage  above the national target of 90%.

– Led Measles outbreak investigation in Kikuube  District, in July 2024.

Fellowship program specific achievements

• Led two outbreak investigations

• • Measles outbreak investigation in  Bundibugyo, June 2023
  • Mpox outbreak in Mayuge District,  September 2024.

• Participated in three other outbreak  investigations:

• •  Anthrax outbreak in Ibanda District ǿ Anthraxoutbreak in Kyotera District  ǿ Investigation of a strange illness in Kyotera  District, in 2003.

• Analysed data from the Iganga Mayuge Health  Demographic Surveillance Site to assess  the Mortality due to vaccine-preventable  diseases among under five-year-old children  in Iganga and Mayuge districts
• Designed and implemented a continuous  quality improvement (CQI) project to reduce  immunization dropout rates in Bamunanika HCIII. Dropout rates reduced from 41% to  9% (below the national target of 10%) over a  period of 6months
• Participated in Excess mortality survey in  Uganda following COVID-19 as team lead for  Dokolo District team, March 2023.
• Participated in the Uganda cross sectional min-national survey to determine  immunization coverage and factors associated  with immunization uptake in Uganda, August  2024
• Presented at three conferences:

• • The 9th and 10th National Field Epidemiology  Conference
  • The 25th Uganda Society for Health  Scientists conference,

• Published one newspaper article: Mpox  Explained: How to protect yourself and what  to watch out for.
• Wrote and published one article in the Uganda  Public Health Bulletin: Measles outbreak  investigation in Bundibugyo, June 2023
• Submitted a manuscript for publication to  peer reviewed journal titled ‘Measles outbreak  in Bundibugyo District, June 2023’.

Summary of Epidemiological Study: 

 Title:

Background: 

Mortality due to vaccine-preventable diseases  among children under 5 years from a population based cohort in Eastern Uganda, 2008 to 2022  Background: Uganda is among the Sub-Saharan  countries with high under-five mortality (U5M)  rates. Over time, the U5M rates have reduced  from 137 to 40/1000 live births from 2007 to  2022 which is still above the 2030 Sustainable  Development Goal (SDG) target of 25/1000 live  births. Interventions such as routine vaccination  are expected to reduce U5M rates. We assessed  the mortality trends in vaccine-preventable  diseases among U5 in eastern Uganda from a  population-based demographic surveillance  cohort from 2008 to 2022.

Methods: We conducted a descriptive analysis of  U5 children who died and reported in surveillance  data from the Iganga-Mayuge Health and  Demographic Surveillance Site (IMHDSS) between  2008 to 2022. Demographic Surveillance system  works by monitoring individuals, households and  residential units in a well-defined geographic area.  We calculated mortality proportions and rates by  cause, age and sex. We analyzed data using STATA  version 14. We used line graphs to show trends  over time and conducted trend analysis using the  Mann-Kendall test for trends.

Results: A total of 3,564 children <5 years died  during the period 2008 to 2022. The average  annual mortality rate was 31/1000 live births. The  mean age of the children was 5.6 months (Range  0 49, SD 0.13). The majority 1,926 (54%) had a  verbal autopsy (VA), and most (37%) of the VAs  were in children 0-11 months. A total of 244 (13%)  of the children died due to vaccine-preventable  diseases. Diarrheal diseases were the leading  cause of death at 47% (115), pneumonia at 26%  (64), meningitis at 17% (39), and measles at 10%  (26) among the VPNs. There was a decreasing  non-significant mortality trend among U5 due to  vaccine-preventable diseases.

Conclusion: U5M due to vaccine-preventable  diseases in Eastern Uganda has not decreased  significantly over the years as expected. Diarrheal  diseases were the leading cause of death among  vaccine-preventable diseases. There is need to  enhance strategies targeting combating vaccine preventable diseases in Eastern Uganda.

Key lessons learnt during the fellowship

During the fellowship, I learnt and developed the  following skill sets:

• Outbreak Investigation and response and  institution of control measures
• Leadership and management skills
• Designing and implementing Quality  Improvement Projects
• Data management, analysis, and interpretation.
• Scientific writing (for Abstracts, Manuscripts,  Policy Briefs, and newspaper articles)
• Presentation skills and dissemination of  findings
• Evaluation of surveillance systems
• Multisectoral collaborations

Next Steps

With the competencies gained, I hope to be  able to continue to serve in different upcoming  outbreak responses as an Epidemiologist with  passion for treating populations.

Pictorial