Health Workers' Knowledge of and Experience with Female Genital Cutting in Southwestern, Nigeria

Female genital mutilation with its attendant complications has been a harmful traditional practice that is difficult to eliminate despite all efforts by various government and non-governmental agencies in Nigeria. The aim of this study is to assess the experience and the knowledge of the health workers practicing in our environment on Female genital cutting (FGC). Two hundred and fifty were interviewed with self-administered structured questionnaire. Their mean age was 35.2±8.3 years. Type I 82(66.6%) was the commonest FGC seen by the health workers, type II 31(25.2%), type III 9 (7.3%) and type IV constituted 0.8%. Two hundred and two (202) (80.0%) of the respondents admitted to having sufficient knowledge in preventing FGC while 42 (16.8%) did not have. One hundred and twenty one (121) (48.4%) had been asked to perform FGC. It was concluded that female genital cutting is still a major health problem in Nigeria. There is need for all concerned to step up efforts in the elimination of the practice.Keywords: Experience, Female Genital cutting, Health workers, Knowledge, Nigeri

Characteristics of patients presenting with complications of abortion in a tertiary health facility in south-west Nigeria

Objectives: Abortion is associated with significant healthproblem with short- and long-term complications that affect the quality of life of those who are fortunate enough to escape mortality. This study evaluated the population of patients with complications of abortion, identified the abortion providers and the pattern of contraceptive usage in these patients managed in our hospital, and suggests strategies on the required heath intervention.Design: The design was a descriptive study of cases of abortions with complications.Setting and subjects: We reviewed all (225) cases of abortions with complications managed at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, Nigeria, over a five-year period.Outcome measures: Records of patients managed for abortion-related complications were retrieved, data were extracted and analysis was carried out for socio-demographic factors and other abortion-related characteristics.Results: The study showed a more common occurrence of abortions among middle-aged (64.4%), multiparous (53.3%) women with a low socio-economic background (62.6%), and they were performed mostly by medical doctors in private settings (37.8%). The low usage of contraception (11.1%) was of significance.Conclusion: This study provided considerable insight into the complications of abortion in a tertiary institution in Nigeria. Most of the patients were aware of contraception, but usage, which mainly constituted emergency contraception, was low. Despite prophylactic antibiotics, sepsis was the most common observed complication. Healthcare intervention should bere-focused through the encouragement of the adoption of effective methods to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Healthcare providers should re-appraise their antibiotics regimen.Keywords: unsafe abortion, abortion complications, contraception, Nigeri

Pattern of gynaecological consultations at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital

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Adaptation of vulcanized rubber as pessaries for the treatment of uterovaginal prolapse in a resource-poor setting

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Acute gastroenteritis and the usage pattern of antibiotics and traditional herbal medications for its management in a Nigerian community

Acute gastroenteritis (AGE) is the highest cause of mortality worldwide in children under the age of 5 years, with the highest mortalities occurring in low-to-middle income countries. Treatment can involve use of unregulated herbal medication and antibiotics. A cross sectional study was carried out to investigate the use of antibiotics and traditional herbal medications in the management of AGE among Yòrùbá-speaking communities in Kwara State, Nigeria. Our findings suggest habitual use of antibiotics (54.6%) and herbal medication (42.5%) in the management of AGE with high levels of self-prescription of antibiotics (21.7%) and herbal medications (36.2%) within the community. Ethanolic extracts of selected herbal plants reported (i.e. Aristolochia ringens, Azadirachta indica, Chromolaena odorata, Etanda Africana, Ficus capensis, Ficus vogelii, Mangifera indica, Momordica charantia, Ocimum gratisimum, Senna alata, Sorghum bicolor and Vernonia amygdalina) were investigated for antibacterial properties, using bacteria known to be causative agents of AGE. Our findings showed that, with exception of Ficus vogelii, which enhanced bacterial growth, the plant extracts reported all showed some antibacterial activity. We further discuss our findings within a regulatory context, with the aim to guide the use of traditional and herbal medication in low-to medium income countries (LMICs) and reduce the potential risks associated with the development of antimicrobial resistance

Determinants of insecticide-treated net ownership and utilization among pregnant women in Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Malaria during pregnancy is a major public health problem in Nigeria leading to increase in the risk of maternal mortality, low birth weight and infant mortality. This paper is aimed at highlighting key predictors of the ownership of insecticide treated nets (ITNs) and its use among pregnant women in Nigeria.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 2348 pregnant women were selected by a multi-stage probability sampling technique. Structured interview schedule was used to elicit information on socio-demographic characteristics, ITN ownership, use, knowledge, behaviour and practices. Logistic regression was used to detect predictors of two indicators: ITN ownership, and ITN use in pregnancy among those who owned ITNs.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>ITN ownership was low; only 28.8% owned ITNs. Key predictors of ITN ownership included women who knew that ITNs prevent malaria (OR = 3.85; <it>p </it>< 0001); and registration at antenatal clinics (OR = 1.34; <it>p </it>= 0.003). The use of ITNs was equally low with only 7.5% of all pregnant women, and 25.7% of all pregnant women who owned ITNs sleeping under a net. The predictors of ITN use in pregnancy among women who owned ITNs (N = 677) identified by logistic regression were: urban residence (OR = 1.87; <it>p </it>= 0.001); knowledge that ITNs prevent malaria (OR = 2.93; <it>p </it>< 0001) and not holding misconceptions about malaria prevention (OR = 1.56; <it>p </it>= 0.036). Educational level was not significantly related to any of the two outcome variables. Although registration at ANC is significantly associated with ownership of a bednet (perhaps through free ITN distribution) this does not translate to significant use of ITNs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>ITN use lagged well behind ITN ownership. This seems to suggest that the current mass distribution of ITNs at antenatal facilities and community levels may not necessarily lead to use unless it is accompanied by behaviour change interventions that address the community level perceptions, misconceptions and positively position ITN as an effective prevention device to prevent malaria</p

Development of Bioinformatics Infrastructure for Genomics Research:

Although pockets of bioinformatics excellence have developed in Africa, generally, large-scale genomic data analysis has been limited by the availability of expertise and infrastructure. H3ABioNet, a pan-African bioinformatics network, was established to build capacity specifically to enable H3Africa (Human Heredity and Health in Africa) researchers to analyze their data in Africa. Since the inception of the H3Africa initiative, H3ABioNet's role has evolved in response to changing needs from the consortium and the African bioinformatics community

Oral abstracts of the 21st International AIDS Conference 18-22 July 2016, Durban, South Africa

The rate at which HIV-1 infected individuals progress to AIDS is highly variable and impacted by T cell immunity. CD8 T cell inhibitory molecules are up-regulated in HIV-1 infection and associate with immune dysfunction. We evaluated participants (n=122) recruited to the SPARTAC randomised clinical trial to determine whether CD8 T cell exhaustion markers PD-1, Lag-3 and Tim-3 were associated with immune activation and disease progression.Expression of PD-1, Tim-3, Lag-3 and CD38 on CD8 T cells from the closest pre-therapy time-point to seroconversion was measured by flow cytometry, and correlated with surrogate markers of HIV-1 disease (HIV-1 plasma viral load (pVL) and CD4 T cell count) and the trial endpoint (time to CD4 count <350 cells/μl or initiation of antiretroviral therapy). To explore the functional significance of these markers, co-expression of Eomes, T-bet and CD39 was assessed.Expression of PD-1 on CD8 and CD38 CD8 T cells correlated with pVL and CD4 count at baseline, and predicted time to the trial endpoint. Lag-3 expression was associated with pVL but not CD4 count. For all exhaustion markers, expression of CD38 on CD8 T cells increased the strength of associations. In Cox models, progression to the trial endpoint was most marked for PD-1/CD38 co-expressing cells, with evidence for a stronger effect within 12 weeks from confirmed diagnosis of PHI. The effect of PD-1 and Lag-3 expression on CD8 T cells retained statistical significance in Cox proportional hazards models including antiretroviral therapy and CD4 count, but not pVL as co-variants.Expression of ‘exhaustion’ or ‘immune checkpoint’ markers in early HIV-1 infection is associated with clinical progression and is impacted by immune activation and the duration of infection. New markers to identify exhausted T cells and novel interventions to reverse exhaustion may inform the development of novel immunotherapeutic approaches