Missed vaccination opportunities at a secondary health facility in Ilorin, Nigeria

Background: Immunization remains a key strategy in the control of childhood diseases, with a child expected to have five visits according to the current National Programme on Immunization. The study aimed to identify missed vaccination visits and the associated factors in children presenting at the general out-patient clinic of a secondary health facility in Ilorin, Nigeria.Method: Through a descriptive cross-sectional study, the vaccination data of all children seen at the out-patient clinic were critically reviewed over a period of one month. Socio-demographic and immunization details were obtained and reasons for missed vaccination documented. Those that had missed vaccination were commenced on the needed vaccine(s) after counselling of their parent(s), and adequate follow-up was instituted.Results: Eighty-two (5.1%) children out of 1603 seen had missed at least one vaccine visit. The mean (SD) age of the children was 20.1(14.9) months. The male to female ratio was 1.1:1. Thirty-nine (47.2%) children had missed one visit while 43(52.7%) had missed two or more visits; 16(19.5%) had missed all five visits. Major reasons for missed visits were ill child(26.8%), ignorance about routine vaccine but received vaccine during the National Immunization Days(NID) (19.5%), mother travelled (14.6%), forgot(9.8%), and reaction to previous vaccine(6.1%).Conclusion: The missed opportunity for immunization is high therefore health care providers should enquire about the vaccination status of children at all contact. There is a need to increase awareness on illnesses that are not contra-indications to vaccination, and routine vaccine status should be checked during NID.Keywords: Missed, Opportunity, Vaccination, Children, Routine, Immunizatio

Prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis Infection among Pregnant Women in Abeokuta, Nigeria

Trichomoniasis caused by Trichomonas vaginalis has emerged as one of the most common sexually transmitted infections. The infection may lead to an important complication in pregnancy, as it has been related with prematurity and low birth weight. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of T. vaginalis among Nigerian women attending ante natal clinic at the State Hospital, Abeokuta. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among two hundred (200) pregnant women attending ante-natal at Ogun State Hospital, Abeokuta. High vaginal swabs (HVS) and urine samples were collected from consenting pregnant women and examined for the presence of T. vaginalis under the microscope. Out of 200 women, a total of 40 (20%) were found to be infected with T. vaginalis. The women between the age group 20-30 had the highest prevalence of 21.3% while age group >20 years had the lowest of 12.5% but the difference was not statistically significant. Women in second trimester had the highest prevalence of 25% while those of first trimester were the lowest with 18%. Results obtained from comparing HVS and urine microscopy in this study showed that HVS had a prevalence of 40% compared to urine microscopy (5.5%) and the difference in their detection was statistically significant p=0.0041. These results may be useful for health authorities, especially for ante-natal care and protection against STDs. The higher recovery rate obtained by using HVS microscopy confirms its advantage over urine microscopy

Intestinal Helminthiasis among School Children in Ilie, Osun State, Southwest, Nigeria

A cross sectional study of intestinal helminthiasis among school pupils was undertaken in three primary schools in Ilie in Olorunda Local Government Area of Osun state in order to determine the prevalence and intensity of helminthic infections. The relationship between intestinal helminths and anthropometric indices and the factors that could favour the infection were also studied. Faecal samples from three hundred and four (304) randomly selected out of the four hundred and seven (407) school children in the study area were collected and analysed with the semi-quantitative Kato Katz technique and concentrated method. The intensity of infection was classified into light, moderate or high according to World Health Organisation (WHO) thresholds. The overall prevalence rate was 52.0% while five species of intestinal helminths were identified. Ascaris lumbricoides (36.2%) was the most common, followed by Hookworm (10.5%), Schistosoma mansoni (4%), Strongyloides stercoralis (0.7%) and Hymenolepis nana (0.7%). Multiple helminthic infection were recorded with Ascaris –Hookworm (6.58%) having the highest prevalence among the children. Female (56.6%) were more infected than male (46.4%) and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.0019). Seventeen percent (17%) of the children were below the third percentile for weight (wasted) while fourteen percent (14%) were below the third percentile for height (stunted). There was a relationship between intensity of infection and wasting since there were fewer underweight pupils (13%) with normal stool than those moderately infected (35%) (

Prevelence of helminth and protozoal infections among a religion sect that walk barefooted in Iseyin, Nigeria

No Abstract. The Nigerian Journal of Parasitology Vol. 22(1&2) 2001: 85-9

Screening for Schistosoma haematobium infection in a rural cohort of pregnant women in Nigeria

Studies were conducted to investigate the occurrence of Schistosoma haematobium infection among 37 pregnant Nigerian women in llie, Osun state, Nigeria and to determine the effects on haemoglobin concentration and clinical symptoms. Out of the 37 pregnant women seen over a period of nine months, 14 (37%) had urinary schistosomiasis, with a mean egg count of 82.5 eggs/10 mls of urine. The mean haemoglobin values in women with schistosomiasis mothers were lower than in women negative for the parasite but the differences were not stastically significant (P>0.05). Abdominal pain was the predominant complaint among the women seen in with 71% of the infected women while other complaints were dizziness, fever and headache. This study shows that schistosomiasis is prevalent among pregnant women in rural area and could contribute to anaemia and abdominal pain commonly seen in pregnant women in our environment. Keywords: schistosomiasis, pregnant women, abdominal pain, haemoglobin values, Nigeria African Journal of Clinical and Experimental Microbiology Vol. 6 (3) 2005: 199-20

Prevalence of malaria among the nomadic Fulani in Osun state, southwest Nigeria

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of malaria among the nomadic Fulani in Osun state, Nigeria. In this study, 102 blood samples were collected from male and female nomads and assayed by Giemsa staining of thick and thin blood film for detection and identification of plasmodium species and parasitaemia count for determination of parasitaemia load. Malaria prevalence was 55.9%. All infection was diagnosed as Plasmodium falciparum infection. Malaria prevalence was high in children, while location, age, sex, the use of bed net and the type of prophylaxis and therapeutic drugs used had no significant influence on prevalence.Keywords: Malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, nomadic Fulani, Nigeria International Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences, 6(2): 223-227, 201

Genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum field Isolates from South western Nigeria

Abstract Background: Plasmodium falciparum the main causative agent of malaria is an important public health vector. With the use of PCR, its genetic diversity has been extensively studied with dearth information from Nigeria

Genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum field isolates from south western Nigeria

Background: Plasmodium falciparum the main causative agent of malaria is an important public health vector. With the use of PCR, its genetic diversity has been extensively studied with dearth information from Nigeria.Methods: In this study, 100 P. falciparum strains merozoite surface protein 1( msp-1), merozoite surface protein 2 (msp-2) and Glutamate rich protein (Glurp) from Ogun State General Hospitals were characterized. The genetic diversity of P. falciparum isolates was analyzed by restriction fragment length polymorphism following gel electrophoresis of DNA products from nested polymerase chain reactions (PCR) of their respective allelic families KI, MAD 20, RO33 (MSP-1);FC27, 3D7 (MSP-2) and Glutamate rich protein respectively.Results: Majority of the patients showed monoclonal infections while multiplicity of the infection for msp-1 and msp-2 were 1.1 and 1.2 respectively. The estimated number of genotypes was 8 msp-1 (4 KI; 3 MAD; 1 RO33) and 6 msp-2 (3 FC27; 3 3D7). 80% of the isolates coded for Glurp with allelic size ranged between 700 and 900 bp.Conclusion: The allelic distributions however were similar to those previously reported in other endemic malaria countries. Future studies will be designed to include other malaria endemic regions of Nigeria such as the oil exploration regions.Keywords: Genetic diversity; Plasmodium; Merozoite surface protein, monoclonal infectio

Genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum field isolates from south western Nigeria

Background: Plasmodium falciparum the main causative agent of malaria is an important public health vector. With the use of PCR, its genetic diversity has been extensively studied with dearth information from Nigeria. Methods: In this study, 100 P. falciparum strains merozoite surface protein 1( msp-1), merozoite surface protein 2 (msp-2) and Glutamate rich protein (Glurp) from Ogun State General Hospitals were characterized. The genetic diversity of P. falciparum isolates was analyzed by restriction fragment length polymorphism following gel electrophoresis of DNA products from nested polymerase chain reactions (PCR) of their respective allelic families KI, MAD 20, RO33 (MSP-1);FC27, 3D7 (MSP-2) and Glutamate rich protein respectively. Results: Majority of the patients showed monoclonal infections while multiplicity of the infection for msp-1 and msp-2 were 1.1 and 1.2 respectively. The estimated number of genotypes was 8 msp-1 (4 KI; 3 MAD; 1 RO33) and 6 msp-2 (3 FC27; 3 3D7). 80% of the isolates coded for Glurp with allelic size ranged between 700 and 900 bp. Conclusion: The allelic distributions however were similar to those previously reported in other endemic malaria countries. Future studies will be designed to include other malaria endemic regions of Nigeria such as the oil exploration regions