Semen quality of male partners of infertile couples living with HIV infection

Background: Infertility among HIV positive couples are increasingly been reported in various gynaecology clinic. Unfortunately research into aetiology of infertility is out tune with this emerging trend. This study was conducted to determine the semen quality among infertile HIV positive couples.Methods: A retrospective analysis of information obtained during routine care of infertile HIV positive couple at a large HIV treatment in Lagos Nigeria.Results: Over thirty percent (31.7%) of the male partners of HIV positive couple in study had abnormal semen quality. Secondary infertility was the commonest (79.2%). The quality of semen of the HIV negative men in the study was significantly better compared to that of HIV positive men (p<0.001). Of the five semen parameters compared, HIV positive participants with more severe diseases had significantly lower mean sperm volume (p=0.003), sperm concentration (p=0.0002) and total sperm concentration (p<0.001) compared to of  HIV positive participants with less severe diseases .  Approximately 22% of the semen of the men in this study was infected, with Staph aureus, E coli and Klebsiella being the most common microbial isolates.Conclusions: Male factor contributes about one third of infertility in this study and severity of HIV diseases impacts on semen quality. Further studies are needed to evaluate if antiretroviral therapy will reverse the effect of HIV infection on semen quality

Child sexual abuse and disclosure in South Western Nigeria: a community based study

Introduction: The true burden of child sexual abuse in Nigeria is not known as most reports are institutional based. This study was designed to determine population level data on the burden and pattern of child sexual abuse among adolescents in South Western Nigeria.Methods: A community based study among adolescents in SouthWestern Nigeria. Semi- structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents selected through a multistage sampling technique. Analysis was with SPSS version 20.Results: 398 adolescents (314 females and 84 males) aged 10-19 years with a mean age of 15.6 ± 2.0 years participated in the study. Most were single (90.7%), in school (84.2%), and lived with their parents/guardians (89.4%). The prevalence of CSA was 25.7%. Penetrative abuse occurred in 7.5%, and forced abuse in 46.2% of cases. Perpetrators were mostly boyfriends (31.2%) and neighbours (16.1%). Intra-familial abuse occurred in 7.5% of cases. Only 34.4% of cases ever disclosed the abuse.Conclusion: CSA is common in the community, with perpetrators majorly persons known to the adolescents. A large number of cases are not reported. Efforts should be made to educate children and their parents on various ways to reduce child sexual abuse and its consequences.Keywords: Adolescent, child, sexual abuse

Child sexual abuse and disclosure in South Western Nigeria: a community based study

Introduction: The true burden of child sexual abuse in Nigeria is not known as most reports are institutional based. This study was designed to determine population level data on the burden and pattern of child sexual abuse among adolescents in South Western Nigeria. Methods: A community based study among adolescents in SouthWestern Nigeria. Semi- structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents selected through a multistage sampling technique. Analysis was with SPSS version 20. Results: 398 adolescents (314 females and 84 males) aged 10-19 years with a mean age of 15.6 \ub1 2.0 years participated in the study. Most were single (90.7%), in school (84.2%), and lived with their parents/guardians (89.4%). The prevalence of CSA was 25.7%. Penetrative abuse occurred in 7.5%, and forced abuse in 46.2% of cases. Perpetrators were mostly boyfriends (31.2%) and neighbours (16.1%). Intra-familial abuse occurred in 7.5% of cases. Only 34.4% of cases ever disclosed the abuse. Conclusion: CSA is common in the community, with perpetrators majorly persons known to the adolescents. A large number of cases are not reported. Efforts should be made to educate children and their parents on various ways to reduce child sexual abuse and its consequences

A designathon to co-create HPV screening and vaccination approaches for mothers and daughters in Nigeria: findings from a community-led participatory event.

BACKGROUND: Oncogenic types of human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection cause substantial morbidity and mortality in Nigeria. Nigeria has low cervical cancer screening and vaccination rates, suggesting the need for community engagement to enhance reach and uptake. We organised a designathon to identify community-led, innovative approaches to promote HPV screening and vaccination for women and girls, respectively, in Nigeria. A designathon is a three-phase participatory process informed by design thinking that includes the preparation phase that includes soliciting innovative ideas from end-users, an intensive collaborative event to co-create intervention components, and follow-up activities. METHODS: We organised a three-phase designathon for women (30-65yrs) and girls (11-26yrs) in Nigeria. First, we launched a national crowdsourcing open call for ideas on community-driven strategies to support HPV screening among women and vaccination among girls. The open call was promoted widely on social media and at in-person gatherings. All eligible entries were graded by judges and 16 exceptional teams (with 4-6members each). All six geo-political zones of Nigeria were invited to join an in-person event held over three days in Lagos to refine their ideas and present them to a panel of expert judges. The ideas from teams were reviewed and scored based on relevance, feasibility, innovation, potential impact, and mother-daughter team dynamics. We present quantitative data on people who submitted and themes from the textual submissions. RESULTS: We received a total of 612 submissions to the open call from mother-daughter dyads. Participants submitted ideas via a website designated for the contest (n = 392), in-person (n = 99), email (n = 31), or via an instant messaging application (n = 92). Overall, 470 were eligible for judging after initial screening. The average age of participants for daughters was 19 years and 39 years for mothers. Themes from the top 16 proposals included leveraging local leaders (5/16), faith-based networks (4/16), educational systems (4/16), and other community networks (7/16) to promote awareness of cervical cancer prevention services. After an in-person collaborative event, eight teams were selected to join an innovation training boot camp, for capacity building to implement ideas. CONCLUSIONS: Innovative strategies are needed to promote HPV screening for mothers and vaccination for girls in Nigeria. Our designathon was able to facilitate Nigerian mother-daughter teams to develop cervical cancer prevention strategies. Implementation research is needed to assess the effectiveness of these strategies

Prevalence and impact of sickle cell trait on the clinical and laboratory parameters of HIV infected children in Lagos, Nigeria

Introduction:&nbsp;sickle cell disease and HIV infection are prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa. While Haemoglobin S (HbS) contributes to significant morbidity and mortality in the homozygous or double heterozygous states, in the carrier state it confers a survival advantage in disease conditions such as malaria. However the interaction between sickle haemoglobin and HIV infection, especially in children remains largely unknown. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and impact of sickle cell trait on the clinical and laboratory parameters of HIV infected children in Lagos, Nigeria. Methods:&nbsp;a cross-sectional study among HIV infected children in an HIV treatment centre in Lagos, Nigeria. Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics were obtained and blood sample collected for haemoglobin electrophoresis, HIV RNA viral load and haematologic profile. Data was analysed with SPSS version 20. Results:&nbsp;the prevalence of sickle cell trait was 18.8% among the 208 study participants, with none having sickle cell disease (SCD). Participants with SCT were significantly younger (OR = 4.0 95% CI (1.74-9.24)), more likely to be from the Yoruba ethnic group (OR = 3.3 95% CI [1.45-7.52)), had more opportunistic infections (OR = 2.4 95% CI (1.18-5.03), and lower mean HIV RNA viral load (p = 0.05) at baseline. However response to HIV care and treatment was similar in both groups of participants. Conclusion:&nbsp;the finding of absence of SCD, low prevalence of SCT, and lower HIV viraemia in HIV infected children with SCT may have implications for childhood survival which requires further clarification in future studies

Trends and patterns of sexual assaults in Lagos south-western Nigeria

Introduction: sexual assault is a severely traumatic experience that disproportionally affects women and girls. However there is limited information on the subject in our environment. This study was conducted to determine the trend and pattern of sexual assault among Nigerians. Methods: a retrospective study of sexual assault victims managed at a large clinic in South West Nigeria. Victims were identified from the programme data base and case files retrieved from medical records department. Relevant information was extracted and managed with SPSS for windows version 19. Results: a steady increase in the proportion of reported cases of sexual violence over the years (P&lt;0.0001) was observed. Sexual assaults were recorded among the males (6.1%), although female victims were in the majority (93.9%). Sexual assault was found to be higher in person’s &lt;20 years and the unmarried. Most sexual assault occurred during the day time. Assailants were mostly persons known to the victim (52.0%) and the assault occurred mostly in the assailants’ house or office (48.5%). Sexual assault through vaginal route only (87.2%) was the most common route of sexual assault. Threat of violence (31.1%) and physical force (29.6%) was the common methods for overcoming the victims. Follow up was completed by 75.0% of the victims. Conclusion: sexual assault is comenon in our environment, with increasing prevalence and change in pattern. Young persons aged less than than 20 years constitutes the majority of victims and assailants were mostly persons known to them. The current public education on the evils of sexual violence should be intensified.The Pan African Medical Journal 2016;2