Antifertility Efficacy of n-Hexane Seed Extract of Ricinus communis Var Minor in Wistar Rats Uterus In Vitro

The seed of Ricinus communis var minor (RICOM 1013-J) is a popular contraceptive among the tribal women in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria. Several reports have confirmed the efficacy and safety of different fractions of RICOM 1013-J, particularly the n-Hexane fraction. RICOM 1013-J appears to possess a unique contraceptive effect. This study aimed to provide further insight into the impact of RICOM 1013-J on the reproductive organs compared with the activity profile of some uterotonic drugs. A total of 20 adult albino rats (15 females and five males) weighing 150-200 g were initially divided into five groups of 3 female rats each with treatments via the oral route as follows: Groups A (2ml olive oil), others n-Hexane extract of Ricinus communis seeds (RICOM 1013-J) B (5 mg/kg), C (10 mg/kg), D (20 mg/kg) and E (30 mg/kg). After three days, the five male rats were introduced into each group (ratio of 3 females to 1 male per cage) till the end of experiments for mating. The effect of the pretreatment with the n-hexane extract of RICOM 1013-J on the rat uterus was evaluated after days 10, 30, 60 and 90. RICOM 1013-J (20 mg/kg and 30 mg/kg) demonstrated potent anti-conceptive effects, protecting female Wister albino rats against pregnancy for over five gestational periods. RICOM 1013-J statistically altered the regular basal activity of the uterus in a time-dependent manner (10, 30, 60 and 90 days pretreatment). Furthermore, pretreatment with RICOM 1013-J decreased the reactivity of the uterus to some uterotonic drugs, including oxytocin (2x10-3 iu/ml), ergometrine (1x10-3 mg/ml), misoprostol (2x10-3 mg/ml), Ach (1x10-5 gm/ml) and potassium chloride (1x10-3 gm/ml). The contraction to misoprostol and potassium chloride in the uterus was abolished on day 90 of pretreatment. This study has demonstrated the dose-dependent efficacy of RICOM 1013-J in protecting against pregnancy for over five gestation periods in rats. This protective effect may be due to the alterations in the activity profile of smooth muscle quiescence and inertia in the uterus. In addition, the changes in the responsiveness of the uterus to the uterotonic drugs further confirm the anti-conceptive effects of RICOM 1013-J

The Pandemonium of Cysticercosis in Human

The pandemonium of cysticercosis in human has pulled the focus of WHO to develop a guideline and promote actions to prevent the causes of epilepsy by taenia worms affecting human health, leading to stigmatization and discrimination and increases public health interventions. In most developing countries such as Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, cysticercosis mainly affects the health and livelihoods of agrarian farmers, resulting in devastating effects on their health through the ingestion of the parasite’s larval cysts in undercooked infected pork or contaminated water. Though, as one of the neglected zoonotic diseases, potentially eradicable yet it is now becoming an emerging disease with approximately 50 million people globally infected

Serological Qualitative Diagnoses of Helicobacter pylori in Patients Accessing Care at the Bingham University Teaching Hospital Jos, Nigeria

The widespread Helicobacter pylori infection is a substantial global health problem affecting approximately 50% of the worldwide population, with 50% infection rates in developed countries and 80% in developing countries, mainly concentrating in resource-limited settings. The mode of transmission is through the faecal-oral route, contamination of food and water, where inadequate sanitation practices, low socioeconomic status and overcrowdedness seem to relate to the high prevalence of H. pylori infections. This study sought to serologically determine the prevalence of H. pylori and the disease-associated burden in patients accessing care in a Tertiary Hospital. This hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted at the Bingham University Teaching Hospital, North-Central Nigeria, for four months (September to December 2022). There, 551 blood specimens were collected from the patients into plain tubes and spun to obtain serum for the serological qualitative analysis. Out of the 551 screened specimens for H. pylori, 79% (n=437) were 58.4% reactive female and 41.6% male. Ages 15-49 had 62%, 50-70 yrs had 26.5%, and less than 14 yrs had 11.4% respectively. Furthermore, 64.3% of female patients presented with burning pains, nausea/vomiting, and trouble breathing.In comparison, 35.5% of the male counterparts presented symptoms of dyspepsia, and 32.1% had either taken one of the Nonsteroidal-inflammatory drugs. 86.7% of the suspected patients were hand washed after using the toilet, 83.3% had a loss of appetite, 55.4% reported alcohol intake and 35.9% smoked instead. 47.7% ate from mama-put, 30.1% from street-vended foods and 22.2% from classified restaurants, while 94.7% got their drinking water from sachet, bottled, borehole or tap, and well water, respectively.Serum antibody detection of H. pylori infection was higher in female than male patients accessing care at the Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Jos. This revealed that gender could be considered a potential risk factor. Thus, early risk identification factors, such as other transmission routes, are urgently needed in defining clinical and epidemiological characteristics to facilitate appropriate supportive care and prompt treatment

Perceptions of working conditions amongst health workers in state-owned facilities in northeastern Nigeria

Background: The health care sector depends to a large extent on human labor. Poor worker motivation can greatly affect health outcomes and patient safety. There is little information on the health workers\u2032 perceptions of working conditions in resource-poor settings. Method: Three state-owned facilities in each state were selected by simple random sampling technique. The selected facilities were visited on weekdays between 9 and 10 a.m. A self-administered structured questionnaire was given to all health care workers on duty in the facility at the time of visit. Results: A total of 299 questionnaires were returned. The response rate was 85.43%. Two hundred four (68.2%) workers experienced general satisfaction with their current jobs. The relationships between general job satisfaction and presence of conflict at work ( P = 0.001), freedom of expression ( P > 0.001), managerial support for staff welfare ( P > 0.001), managerial support for staff career development ( P > 0.001), availability of tools and consumables in the workplace ( P > 0.001) and progress towards personal professional goals ( P = 0.001) were statistically significant. Conclusion: The level of general job satisfaction was high. Though salaries were important, presence of conflict at work, freedom of expression, managerial support for staff welfare, managerial support for staff career development, availability of tools and consumables in the workplace and progress towards personal professional goals appear to play a role in worker motivation

Reducing the burden of diarrhea among children under five years old: lessons learned from oral rehydration therapy corner program implementation in Northern Nigeria

Background: In Nigeria, diarrhea remains one of the leading causes of death among children under five years old. Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) corners were introduced to health facilities in Bauchi and Sokoto states to serve as points of treatment for sick children and equip caregivers with necessary skills in case management of diarrhea and diarrhea prevention. Objectives: The operations research study examined the effect of facility-based ORT corners on caregivers\u2019 knowledge and skills in management of simple and moderate diarrhea at home, as well as caregivers\u2019 and service providers\u2019 perceived facilitators and barriers to utilization and delivering of ORT corner services. It also examined whether ORT activities were conducted according to the established protocols. Methods: This quantitative study relied on multiple sources of information to provide a complete picture of the current status of ORT corner services, namely surveys with ORT corner providers (N = 21), health facility providers (N = 23) and caregivers (N = 229), as well as a review of service statistics and health facility observations. Frequency distribution and binary analysis were conducted. Results: The study revealed that ORT corner users were more knowledgeable in diarrhea prevention and management and demonstrated better skills for managing diarrhea at home than ORT corner non-users. However, the percentage of knowledgeable ORT users is not optimal, and providers need to continue to work toward improving such knowledge. ORT corner providers identified a lack of supplies as the major barrier for providing services. Furthermore, the study revealed a lack of information, education and communication materials, supportive supervision, and protocols and guidelines for delivering ORT corner services, as well as inadequate documentation of services provided at ORT corners. Recommendations: Recommendations for ORT corners program planners and implementers include ensuring all ORT corners have oral rehydration salt (ORS) packages and salt, sugar, and zinc tablets in stock, a secured commodity supply chain to avoid stockouts, and adequate policies and procedures in place

Food Safety Cultures: A Study of Food Vendors in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Nigeria

Food is considered safe when it is free from substances that might compromise individual or populations' health and well-being, and is realizable with appropriate food safety cultures. This study accessed 150 food vendors across four of twelve political wards of the Abuja Municipal Area Council, AMAC who consented to the exercise. Results indicated no significant relationship between location with perception and practices of vendors on food safety, which had mean scores of 0.593, and 0.139 respectively. With p value (< 0.05), there is clearly a significant difference between the options measuring food safety (yes = good, and not sure = fair), and option no (poor) having the highest observed count of 78, the null hypothesis was rejected. As a result, it was concluded that, the food safety culture of food vendors in Abuja will not deliver safe foods to consumers. High market prices of food supplies, complex/cumbersome processes involved with meeting government regulations on food safety with weighted means of 3.3133 and 2.8667 respectively, were identified as the prevalent constraints on food safety cultures among food vendors in Abuja. In assuring safety, while maintaining the benefits of food vending to both sellers and buyers, emphasis should be given in to promoting food safety rather than mere revenue generation among both vendors and local government officials who register these vendors

Countdown to 2015: Tracking Maternal and Child Health Intervention Targets Using Lot Quality Assurance Sampling in Bauchi State Nigeria.

Improving maternal and child health remains a top priority in Nigeria's Bauchi State in the northeastern region where the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR) are as high as 1540 per 100,000 live births and 78 per 1,000 live births respectively. In this study, we used the framework of the continuum of maternal and child care to evaluate the impact of interventions in Bauchi State focused on improved maternal and child health, and to ascertain progress towards the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5.At baseline (2012) and then at follow-up (2013), we randomly sampled 340 households from 19 random locations in each of the 20 Local Government Areas (LGA) of Bauchi State in Northern Nigeria, using the Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) technique. Women residents in the households were interviewed about their own health and that of their children. Estimated LGA coverage of maternal and child health indicators were aggregated across the State. These values were then compared to the national figures, and the differences from 2012 to 2014 were calculated.For several of the indicators, a modest improvement from baseline was found. However, the indicators in the continuum of care neither reached the national average nor attained the 90% globally recommended coverage level. The majority of the LGA surveyed were classifiable as high priority, thus requiring intensified efforts and programmatic scale up.Intensive scale-up of programs and interventions is needed in Bauchi State, Northern Nigeria, to accelerate, consolidate and sustain the modest but significant achievements in the continuum of care, if MDGs 4 and 5 are to be achieved by the end of 2015. The intentional focus of LGAs as the unit of intervention ought to be considered a condition precedent for future investments. Priority should be given to the re-allocating resources to program areas and regions where coverage has been low. Finally, systematic considerations need to be given to the design of strategies that address the demand for health services

The Impact of Integrated Community Case Management of Childhood Diseases Interventions to Prevent Malaria Fever in Children Less than Five Years Old in Bauchi State of Nigeria.

BACKGROUND:Malaria accounts for about 300,000 childhood deaths and 30% of under-five year old mortality in Nigeria annually. We assessed the impact of intervention strategies that integrated Patent Medicines Vendors into community case management of childhood-diseases, improved access to artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) and distributed bed nets to households. We explored the influence of household socioeconomic characteristics on the impact of the interventions on fever in the under-five year olds in Bauchi State Nigeria. METHODS:A cross-sectional case-controlled, interventional study, which sampled 3077 and 2737 under-5 year olds from 1,588 and 1601 households in pre- and post-intervention periods respectively, was conducted from 2013 to 2015. Difference-in-differences and logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the impact attributable to the interventions: integrated community case management of childhood illness which introduced trained public and private sector health providers and the possession of nets on the prevalence of fever. RESULTS:Two-week prevalence of fever among under-fives declined from 56.6% at pre-intervention to 42.5% at post-intervention. Fever-prevention fraction attributable to nets was statistically significant (OR = 0.217, 95% CI: 0.08-0.33). Children in the intervention group had significantly fewer incidence of fever than children in the control group had (OR = 0.765, 95% CI: 0.67-0.87). Although being in the intervention group significantly provided 23.5% protection against fever (95% CI: 0.13-0.33), the post-intervention likelihood of fever was also significantly less than at pre-intervention (OR = 0.57, 95% CI: 0.50-0.65). The intervention protection fraction against fever was statistically significant at 43.4% (OR = 0.434, 95% CI: 0.36-0.50). Logistic regression showed that the odds of fever were lower in households with nets (OR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.60-0.88), among children whose mothers had higher education, in the post-intervention period (OR = 0.39, 95% CI: 0.33-0.46) and in the intervention group (OR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.48-0.66). The odds of fever increased with higher socio-economic status of households (17.9%-19.5%). Difference-in-differences showed that the interventions significantly reduced occurrence of fever in the intervention group (OR = 1.70, 95% CI: 1.36-2.14). CONCLUSION:The interventions were effective in reducing the prevalence and the likelihood of childhood malaria fever. Taken to scale, these can significantly reduce the burden of malaria fever in the under-five year old children

Perceptions of working conditions amongst health workers in state-owned facilities in northeastern Nigeria

Background: The health care sector depends to a large extent on human labor. Poor worker motivation can greatly affect health outcomes and patient safety. There is little information on the health workers′ perceptions of working conditions in resource-poor settings. Method: Three state-owned facilities in each state were selected by simple random sampling technique. The selected facilities were visited on weekdays between 9 and 10 a.m. A self-administered structured questionnaire was given to all health care workers on duty in the facility at the time of visit. Results: A total of 299 questionnaires were returned. The response rate was 85.43%. Two hundred four (68.2%) workers experienced general satisfaction with their current jobs. The relationships between general job satisfaction and presence of conflict at work ( P = 0.001), freedom of expression ( P > 0.001), managerial support for staff welfare ( P > 0.001), managerial support for staff career development ( P > 0.001), availability of tools and consumables in the workplace ( P > 0.001) and progress towards personal professional goals ( P = 0.001) were statistically significant. Conclusion: The level of general job satisfaction was high. Though salaries were important, presence of conflict at work, freedom of expression, managerial support for staff welfare, managerial support for staff career development, availability of tools and consumables in the workplace and progress towards personal professional goals appear to play a role in worker motivation

Trends in newborn umbilical cord care practices in Sokoto and Bauchi States of Nigeria: the where, who, how, what and the ubiquitous role of traditional birth attendants: a lot quality assurance sampling survey

Abstract Background Neonatal infections caused by unsafe umbilical cord practices account for the majority of neonatal deaths in Nigeria. We examined the trends in umbilical cord care practices between 2012 and 2015 that coincided with the introduction of chlorhexidine digluconate 7.1% gel in Bauchi and Sokoto States. Methods We obtained data from three rounds of lot quality assurance samples (LQAS) surveys conducted in 2012, 2013 and 2015. Households were randomly sampled in each round that totaled 1140 and 1311 households in Bauchi and Sokoto States respectively. Mothers responded to questions on cord care practices in the last delivery. Coverage estimates of practice indicators were obtained for each survey period. Local Government Area (LGA) estimates for each indicator were obtained with α ≤ 5%, and β ≤20% statistical errors and aggregated to State-level estimates with finite sample correction relative to the LGA population. Results Over 75 and 80% of deliveries in Bauchi and Sokoto States respectively took place at home. The proportion of deliveries in public facilities reported by mothers ranged from 19% in 2012 to 22.4% in 2015 in Bauchi State and from 12.9 to 13.2% in 2015 in Sokoto State. Approximately 50% of deliveries in Bauchi and more than 80% in Sokoto States were assisted by traditional birth attendants (TBAs) or relatives and friends, with little change in the survey periods. In Bauchi and in Sokoto States, over 75% and over 80% of newborn cords were cut with razor blades underscoring the pervasive role of the TBAs in the immediate postpartum period. Use of chlorhexidine digluconate 7.1% gel for cord dressing significantly increased to the highest level in 2015 in both States. Health workers who attended deliveries in health facilities switched from methylated spirit to chlorhexidine. There were no observable changes in cord care practices among the TBAs. Conclusion Unsafe umbilical cord care practices remained prevalent in Bauchi and Sokoto States of Nigeria, although a recent introduction of chlorhexidine digluconate 7.1% gel positively changed the cord care practices toward safer practices among public health providers. TBAs, friends and relatives played the strongest immediate postpartum roles and mostly retained the unsafe cord care practices such as use of ash, cow dung and hot compress. We recommend that existing TBAs are retrained and refocused to forge stronger links between communities and the primary health centers to increase mothers’ access to skilled birth attendants