Evaluation of school health instruction in public primary schools in Bonny Local Government Area, Rivers state

Background: Effective school health instruction in primary schools is  essential in addressing the health risks and needs of school age children and adolescents. This study sought to evaluate the status of schoolhealth instruction in public primary schools in Bonny Local Government Area.Method: This is a cross sectional school based study carried out in 20 public primary schools in Bonny Local Government Area, Rivers State, in March 2006. The availability of the various components of the school health instruction programme was evaluated using an evaluation scale. Components had weighted scores. The minimum acceptable and maximumattainable scores for school health instruction were 31 and 47. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 11.Results: There were a total of 100 teachers in all the schools. The teacher population per school ranged from 2 to 13 with a mean of 5±2.77SD. The pupil population of the schools ranged between 100-1460 with a mean of352±336SD. Teacher/pupil ratio per school ranged from 1: 30 to 1: 128. Fourteen (70%) schools had teacher/pupil ratio less than 1:40. There was no professional health instructor in all the schools. Four schools (20%) allotted 3 periods per week to health teaching, while the rest (80%)  allotted less than 3 periods per week. HIV/AIDS was not in the health education curriculum being used. The only teaching method used by all the schools was the direct teaching method. No school used teaching aids; noschool went on field trips. Teachers did not receive in-service training on health education. No school attained the minimum acceptable score of 31 points using the evaluation scale.Conclusion: School health instruction was poorly implemented in the primary schools investigated. Teachers were not adequately prepared for health teaching and the classrooms were overcrowded.Keywords: School; Health instruction, Evaluatio

Hand washing practices amongst medical students in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Background: Hand washing with soap and water is one of the most effective and inexpensive means of preventing infections. Rates of hand washing are low world wide even amongst health care workers who are should know about its importance. The aim of the study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and hand washing practices both in and outside the hospital amongst medical students in Port Harcourt.Method: This was a descriptive cross sectional survey carried out amongst randomly selected fourth to sixth year medical students of the University of Port Harcourt. A simple questionnaire exploring perceptions, attitudes and self reported behavior was used. Information obtained included biodata, awareness information and practice. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.Results: Two hundred and sixty one students participated in the study with a M: F of 1.5:1. Diarrhea diseases were most commonly recognised as being associated with contaminated hands. 37.6% washed their hands regularly after interacting with their patients while 33.9% did so only after the days work. 58.3% and 58.9% washed hands before meals and after defecating respectively. Use of soap was generally low. The greatest motivation for hand washing was fear of contracting disease, whilst constraints included lack of soap, forgetfulness and inconveniently located sinks.Conclusion: Hand washing rates are low amongst medical students in Port Harcourt. There is need for regular education and re-education.Key words: Hand washing practices; medical students; Port Harcourt

Mothers' Perception of Fever Management in Children

Background: Fever is a common problem in childhood. Most febrile episodes are managed at home before consultation in a health facility. Caregivers' response to fever will depend on their perception of its cause and knowledge of its management. This study aimed to evaluate mothers' perceptions of fever and its management in childhood.Methods: This was a descriptive hospital based study. It involved the distribution of 11 itemed questionnaires on fever and related questions to 151 mothers who brought their children to the Paediatrics outpatient clinic of University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics.Results: A total of 151 mothers participated with age range 19 years to 54 years with mean of 31.4±5.7SD. One hundred and thirteen (74.8%) defined fever as hotness of the body. Commonest associated symptom with fever was loss of appetite (71.5%). Commonest identified cause of fever was malaria (71 (47%) mothers). 115 (76.2%) mothers measured their children's body temperature by touching their forehead, while 21 (13.9%) used thermometer. Commonest action taken when there was fever was to administer Paracetamol (107 (70.9%)). Commonest identified complication of fever was convulsion (86(67.7%)).Conclusion: Knowledge of fever is good amongst mothers in Port Harcourt; however there is need to educate them on the use of thermometer and appropriate use of drugs.Keywords: Mothers Perception; Fever; Childre

Prevalence of alcohol consumption among secondary school students in Port Harcourt, Southern Nigeria

Background: Consumption of alcohol by secondary school students is a major public health concern globally, but its prevalence is not known in secondary schools in Port Harcourt.Objective: To determine the prevalence and factors associated with alcohol use among secondary school students in Port Harcourt.Methods: This was a cross sectional school based study conducted in Port Harcourt in March 2014. A 20 itemed structured, self -administered questionnaire was distributed to 1080 senior secondary 1 to 3 students from 10 public secondary schools selected through Multistage Sampling technique. Questions asked covered drinking of alcohol, frequency of drinking and being drunk in the past 30 days before the survey. Other behaviours sought were smoking of cigarette, use of cocaine and going out in the evening for fun. Sociodemographic was also sought. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.Results: 1080 students participated in the study, mean age 16.09±6SD and male to female ratio of 0.9: 1. Prevalence of current drinking of alcohol was 30.6% and 38.1% of current drinkers were also drunk in the past 30 days, with 17.2 % being very frequently drunk. The behaviour which showed a strong association with drinking of alcohol, being drunk and the frequency of being drunk was going out in the evening for fun and recreation. Gender showed a positive association with drinking of alcohol, as more males drank alcohol with in the past 30 days compared to the females (p=0.000). Smoking of cigarette in the past 30 days and truancy were positively associated with being drunk, while academic grades showed an inverse relationship with consumption of alcohol. Majority of those who drank alcohol (42.6%) were experimenting with alcohol, though 5.4% drank due to addiction. Majority (39.3%) bought their drinks from stores and supermarkets. The most Common problems experienced by the drinkers were fatigue, alcohol made them behave in ways they later regretted and it hurt their relationships.Conclusion: Alcoholism is a serious problem with secondaryschool students in Port Harcourt. It is linked with truancy, poor academic achievement and other substances use. The most serious health and social problem experienced by the drinkers is addiction.Keywords: Prevalence, Alcohol, Secondary school, Consumption

Mothers’ recognition of newborn danger signs and health seeking behaviour

Background: Early recognition of neonatal illnesses followed by  care-seeking and intervention are key factors in improving neonatal health and survival.Objectives: To assess mothers’ ability to recognize newborn dangersigns and actions taken by mothers in the event of neonatal illness.Methods: The study was carried out in three health centres in Yenagoa Metropolis from April to May 2011. A 15 itemed Questionnaire based on the WHO/UNICEF IMCI programme handbook was administered to 146 mothers with infants younger than three months. The mothers were asked to identify danger signs of neonatal illness from a list of symptoms, to indicate which of the listed symptoms their babies experienced, to state what actions were taken in response to the symptoms and reasons for notutilizing orthodox healthcare.Results: None of the listed symptoms was recognized by up to halfthe mothers as danger signs of neonatal illness, the best being fast breathing by 66 (45.2%) mothers. Eighty two (56.2%) mothers reportedthat their children experienced some of the neonatal danger signs: the commonest were difficult breathing and convulsions in 8 (9.8%) cases each. Unconsciousness and excessive crying were thought to be caused by evil spirits and consultations sought with faith healers. The major constraint to utilization of health facilities was cost {45(29.8%)}.Conclusion: Mothers’ recognition of danger signs in the newborn was poor. Self-medication and the use of home remedies delayed timely  consultation. The commonest reason for non-utilization of health facilities was lack of money.Keywords: Mothers, Newborns, Danger signs, Recognition, Health seeking

The preclinical pharmacology of the high affinity anti-IL-6R Nanobody (R) ALX-0061 supports its clinical development in rheumatoid arthritis

Introduction: The pleiotropic cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of different diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). ALX-0061 is a bispecific Nanobody (R) with a high affinity and potency for IL-6 receptor (IL-6R), combined with an extended half-life by targeting human serum albumin. We describe here the relevant aspects of its in vitro and in vivo pharmacology. Methods: ALX-0061 is composed of an affinity-matured IL-6R-targeting domain fused to an albumin-binding domain representing a minimized two-domain structure. A panel of different in vitro assays was used to characterize the biological activities of ALX-0061. The pharmacological properties of ALX-0061 were examined in cynomolgus monkeys, using plasma levels of total soluble (s)IL-6R as pharmacodynamic marker. Therapeutic effect was evaluated in a human IL-6-induced acute phase response model in the same species, and in a collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) model in rhesus monkeys, using tocilizumab as positive control. Results: ALX-0061 was designed to confer the desired pharmacological properties. A 200-fold increase of target affinity was obtained through affinity maturation of the parental domain. The high affinity for sIL-6R (0.19 pM) translated to a concentration-dependent and complete neutralization of sIL-6R in vitro. In cynomolgus monkeys, ALX-0061 showed a dose-dependent and complete inhibition of hIL-6-induced inflammatory parameters, including plasma levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen and platelets. An apparent plasma half-life of 6.6 days was observed after a single intravenous administration of 10 mg/kg ALX-0061 in cynomolgus monkeys, similar to the estimated expected half-life of serum albumin. ALX-0061 and tocilizumab demonstrated a marked decrease in serum CRP levels in a non-human primate CIA model. Clinical effect was confirmed in animals with active drug exposure throughout the study duration. Conclusions: ALX-0061 represents a minimized bispecific biotherapeutic of 26 kDa, nearly six times smaller than monoclonal antibodies. High in vitro affinity and potency was demonstrated. Albumin binding as a half-life extension technology resulted in describable and expected pharmacokinetics. Strong IL-6R engagement was shown to translate to in vivo effect in non-human primates, demonstrated via biomarker deregulation as well as clinical effect. Presented results on preclinical pharmacological properties of ALX-0061 are supportive of clinical development in RA

New Caledonian crows rapidly solve a collaborative problem without cooperative cognition

There is growing comparative evidence that the cognitive bases of cooperation are not unique to humans. However, the selective pressures that lead to the evolution of these mechanisms remain unclear. Here we show that while tool-making New Caledonian crows can produce collaborative behavior, they do not understand the causality of cooperation nor show sensitivity to inequity. Instead, the collaborative behavior produced appears to have been underpinned by the transfer of prior experience. These results suggest that a number of possible selective pressures, including tool manufacture and mobbing behaviours, have not led to the evolution of cooperative cognition in this species. They show that causal cognition can evolve in a domain specific manner-understanding the properties and flexible uses of physical tools does not necessarily enable animals to grasp that a conspecific can be used as a social tool

Systematic review of methods used in meta-analyses where a primary outcome is an adverse or unintended event

addresses: Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, St Luke's Campus, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK. [email protected]: PMCID: PMC3528446types: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't© 2012 Warren et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Adverse consequences of medical interventions are a source of concern, but clinical trials may lack power to detect elevated rates of such events, while observational studies have inherent limitations. Meta-analysis allows the combination of individual studies, which can increase power and provide stronger evidence relating to adverse events. However, meta-analysis of adverse events has associated methodological challenges. The aim of this study was to systematically identify and review the methodology used in meta-analyses where a primary outcome is an adverse or unintended event, following a therapeutic intervention