Changes in prevalence of parasite intensity following Ivermectin therapy against river-blindness in woven community of Nasarawa State, Central Nigeria

Nigerian Journal of Parasitology, Vol 33(2) September 201

Immune responsiveness associated with experimental Encephalitozoon intestinalis infection in immunocompetent rats

Purpose: Microsporidial infections have been recognized as an increasingly important infection in immuncompromised patients, particularly those infected with HIV/AIDS. This study was designed to study immune responses associated with experimental Encephalitozoon intestinalis infection in immunocompetent rats. Materials and Methods: Thirty-four Rats in 3 groups, A (Control), B (Intraperitoneal) and C (Oral) were given injections of 0.5 ml of 2 x 10 6 of purified spores of Encephalitotozoon intestinalis spores and were observed for serum specific IgG for 21 days using both direct and indirect ELISA. Results: In indirect ELISA, specific lgG were detected on days 7, 14 and 21 for the group B rats and on day 21 for group C and in direct ELISA method, specific lgG were detected in-group B rats on days 7 and 21, for group C rats on day 21 only, while in the control rats, specific lgG were not detected. There was no significant difference between the direct and indirect methods (df=1, X 2 , P>0.05). E. intestinalis was observed in stool samples of rats in 1/12 (08.33%) on days 14 and 21 in group B, and in 4/10 (33.33%), 3/10 (25.00%) and 2/10 (16.67%) on days 7, 14 and 21 respectively in group C. In group A, which is the control rats, no microsporidia were observed on days 0, 7, 14 and 21. Conclusions: There were no changes in the T-lymphocyte counts of rats prior to and after inoculation with spores. Extensive lesions were observed along the intestinal walls especially on the middle and lower sections of group C rats only

Cariage rate of hepatits-B surface antigen (HBsAg)in HIV-infected patients in Jos, Nigeria

No Abstract

Prevalence of Bancroftian Filiariasis in Five Communities of Lau L.G.A, Northern Taraba State, Nigeria

A study was carried out to investigate the age and gender prevalence and clinical significance of bancroftian filariasis in five communities of Lau L.G.A, Taraba State, Nigeria. The Rapid Assessment Method (RAM) for the clinical signs and Standard Parasitological techniques were used for diagnosis. Ninety-five (23.57%) out of the 403 blood samples examined were positive for Wucheria bancrofti. Infection rates among the five communities differed significantly (ANOVA, P< 0.05). There was no significant difference in infection rate according to age, gender and occupational groupings (P> 0.05). However, there was significant difference in infection among ethnic groupings (P< 0.001). Various clinical symptoms of bancroftian filariasis were observed. Pearson correlation analysis showed a close association between the presence of W. bancrofti and Dermatitis (r= 0.73; P< 0.05), Hydrocoel (r= 0.72; P< 0.05) but not Elephantiasis (r= 0.38; P> 0.05). The implications of these findings were discussed and the baseline data collected would be useful in planning, control and management of the disease in these communities.Keywords: bancroftian filariasis, Morbidity, disability, hydrocoel and LymphoedemaNigerian Journal of Parasitology, Vol. 32 [2] September 2011, pp.197-20

Prevalence of hepatitis-B surface antigen among blood donors and human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients in Jos, Nigeria

Information is very scarce on the prevalence of hepatitis-B virus (HBV) infection among blood donors and patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in Nigeria. Hepatitis-B surface antigen (HBsAg) ELISA was used to determined the prevalence of HBsAg among 175 blood donors (aged 20-40 years) and 490 HIV-infected patients (aged 17-60 years) in Jos, Nigeria. Twenty-five (14.3%) of the blood donors and 127 (25.9%) of the HIV-infected individuals were HBsAg seropositive, indicating a higher HBV infection among HIV-infected persons than among healthy blood donors. A slightly higher HBsAg seroprevalence was recorded in the males (14.6%) than females (12.9%) of the blood donors. Among the HIV-infected patients, the males had considerably higher HBsAg seroprevalence than the females (31.8 vs 22.1%) with the highest prevalence of HBsAg occurring in the 51-60 years age group (44%), followed by those of 31-40 years (28.2%). Results confirmed the high endemicity of HBV infection in Jos, Nigeria and the significantly greater prevalence of HBV infection among HIV -infected patients than among blood donors