Risk Factors, Threats And Prevention Of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) In African Countries

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is a viral disease that affects the digestive, nervous and respiratory systems of all domestic and wild birds with high morbidity and mortality. It is highly contagious disease which can be fatal in humans. The avian influenza viruses (AIVs) are classified as types A, B and C with 15 subtypes of the type A. To date, all disease causing HPAI Viruses belong to H5 or H7 subtypes; and affect pigs and humans with the pigs serving as a mixing vehicle for re-assortment of the virus. The domestic ducks get infected without showing clinical signs and serve as a source of infection for domestic poultry. Outbreaks of HPAl in Europe, Asia and Turkey are reported to be associated, with the presence of wet lands and lakes where migratory birds rest. In some African countries like Nigeria, such wet lands exist with free flying wild birds and domestic ducks visiting and resting. The possible source of introduction into a country could be through importation or smuggling of infected poultry products across the borders and through migratory birds that fly through identified pathways. The status of HPAl in many African countries including Nigeria is still under investigation so that appropriate strategies / measures to prevent introduction of the disease into the country can be implemented and / or strengthened through restriction of importation of poultry and poultry products from high risk countries, effective disease surveillance, functional National Veterinary services, quarantine and community based participatory epidemiological system for HPAI surveillance and control. This article reviewed the global epidemiology and risk factors of HPAI infection in Nigeria and other African countries with emphasis on specific preventive measures that can reduce introduction of the virus into the country and the epidemiological surveillance for case detection / identification, screening and management. This review provides useful information and updates for health workers in tropical countries on the trends of AIVs and HPAI, diagnostic criteria using case definitions for both community and health facility levels and management protocols for confirmed cases as recommended by the World health Organization. African Journal of Clinical and Experimental Microbiology Vol. 10 (2) 2009: pp.99-11

Spatial distribution and factors associated with modern contraceptive use among women of reproductive age in Nigeria: A multilevel analysis.

BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests that in countries with high fertility and fecundity rates, such as Nigeria, the promotion of modern contraceptive use prevents approximately 32% and 10% of maternal and child mortality, respectively. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the spatial distribution of modern contraceptive use and its predictors among women of reproductive age in Nigeria. METHODS: The study employed a cross-sectional analysis of population-based data involving 24,281 women of reproductive age in Nigeria. The study adopted both multilevel and spatial analyses to identify the predictors of modern contraceptive use and its spatial clustering among women in Nigeria. RESULTS: Modern contraceptive use among the study population in Nigeria ranged from 0% to 75%, with regional variations. The spatial analysis showed that areas with a low proportion of modern contraceptive use were Sokoto, Yobe, Borno, Katsina, Zamfara, Kebbi, Niger, Taraba and Delta. Areas with a high proportion of modern contraceptive use were Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Federal capital territory, Plateau, Adamawa, Imo, and Bayelsa. The multilevel analysis revealed that at the individual level, women with secondary/higher education, women from the Yoruba ethnic group, those who had four children and above, and those exposed to mass media had higher odds of using modern contraceptives. On the other hand, women who were 35 years and above, those who were married, and women who were practicing Islam were less likely to use modern contraceptives. At the household/community level, women from the richest households, those residing in communities with medium knowledge of modern contraceptive methods, and women residing in communities with a high literacy level were more likely to use modern contraceptives. CONCLUSION: There were major variations in the use of modern contraception across various regions in Nigeria. As a result, areas with low contraceptive rates should be given the most deserving attention by promoting contraceptive education and use as well as considering significant factors at the individual and household/community levels

A multilevel analysis of prevalence and factors associated with female child marriage in Nigeria using the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey data.

BACKGROUND: Globally, there has been a decline in female child marriage (FCM) from 1 in 4 girls married a decade ago to approximately 1 in 5 currently. However, this decline is not homogenous because some regions are still experiencing a high prevalence of FCM. As such, the United Nations reiterated the need for concentrated efforts towards ending FCM to avoid more than 120 million girls getting married before their eighteenth birthday by 2030. Following this, we examined the prevalence and factors associated with FCM in Nigeria using multi-level analysis. METHODS: We used cross-sectional data from the women's file of the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) conducted in 2018. A sample of 4143 young women aged 20-24 was included in the study. Our analysis involved descriptive, chi-square (χ2) and multi-level analyses. Results were presented in percentages, frequencies, and adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with their respective confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: The prevalence of FCM in 2018 was 65.30%. Young Muslim women aged 20-24 [aOR = 1.40; 95% CI (4.73-7.52)], those with parity between one and two [aOR = 5.96, 95% CI 4.73-7.52], those residing in North East [aOR = 1.55; 95% CI (1.19-2.10)] and North West [aOR = 1.59; 95% CI (1.18-2.16)] had a higher odd of practicing FCM respondents with secondary education and above [aOR = 0.36; 95% CI (0.29-0.46)], those within the richer wealth index [aOR = 0.35; 95% CI (0.23-0.54)] and young women living in communities with high literacy level [aOR = 0.74; 95% CI (0.59-0.92)] were less likely to get married before age 18 years. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that FCM is high in Nigeria. Formal education, being rich and living in communities with high literacy levels were some protective factors that can be strengthened to ensure that FCM is reduced or eliminated in Nigeria. On the other hand, residing in North-East or North-West and having children between one and two were some prevailing factors that exacerbated the odds of experiencing FCM in Nigeria. Therefore, attention should be channelled towards mitigating these prevailing negative factors

Relationship between age, radiographic normal heart size and cardio-thoracic ratio in a Nigerian population

Background: Cardio-vascular disease (CVD) is now on the increase. The precise diagnosis of CVD is of immense clinical importance to the cardiac surgeons, pathologist and also for cardiologists. However, information on normal values for various cardio-vascular structures in Nigeria, a country with the highest population of blacks in the world is sparse. In this regard the age-related radiographic sizes of a Nigerian cohort of patients with non-cardiogenic complaints or consultations were therefore assessed.Objectives: To evaluate the limits of normal cardiac size in our environment , determine if there was a relationship between the age and size of the heart and to evaluate the relationship between sex and cardiac size and cardio-thoracic ratio.Design: A cross-sectional study.Setting: The Radiology department of University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, North Central Nigeria between January to June 2012.Subjects: One Hundred patients were consecutively recruited and their chest radiographs examined after fulfilling the inclusion criteria.Results: Males accounted for 55% of the study population. The age range was 1 month to 73 years, (Mean = 29.3, SD =2.41668). The mean cardiac size was 11.7cm. The average cardiac size for adult males and females, were 11.6cm and 11.5cm respectively while that of thoracic size was 29.0cm and 26.8cm respectively. Correlation between age and cardiac size was 0.66; age and thoracic size was 0.64 and between cardiac size and thoracic size was 0.89. The paired sample t-test for age and cardiac size was less than 0.05 (p value <0.05).Conclusion: knowing the average values of cardiac size for adult males and females (11.6cm and 11.5cm) and thoracic size (29.0cm and 26.8cm) respectively from this study presents a base line for early detection of variation from normal cardiac measurements in this environment

Vaccine Storage and Handling Practices among routine immunization service providers in a metropolitan city of North-Central Nigeria

Background: The efficacy of vaccines can be compromised by faulty transport, storage, and handling. This study was conducted to assess the knowledge and practice of vaccine storage and handling among Primary Health Care Workers (PHCWs) offering routine immunization (RI) services in static health facilities in Ilorin metropolis, North-central Nigeria.Methodology: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out among 457 Primary Health Care Workers (PHCWs) in 2 Local Government Authorities in Kwara State, north central Nigeria, using multi stage sampling technique. The research instruments were pretested self-administered questionnaire and observational checklist. The data generated were analyzed using EPI-INFO version 3.5.1 software package. Level of significance was predetermined at p-value of less than 0.05 at 95% confidence interval.Results: About half of the respondents (52.1%) knew the optimal vaccine storage temperature, 35.4% knew that freezing is harmful to certain vaccines. Although, 67.8% were aware of the 'shake test', only 48.4% of them knew how to conduct it. Up to 367 (80.3%) acknowledged that heat is harmful to vaccines. Even though, 267 (58.4%) knew the vaccine vial monitor (VVM) stages, only 248 (45.3%) could interpret the VVM correctly. About 30% of the health facilities (HFs) had adequate vaccine storage equipments while less than one third (28.6%) refrigerators were used exclusively for vaccine storage. However, functioning thermometers were present in all the refrigerators devoted to vaccine storage.Conclusions: Vaccine storage and handling practices among PHCWs providing routine immunization (RI) services in the study area was still sub-optimal. There is need for periodic on the job training and supportive supervision of health workers by middle cadre immunization officers in the local government to improve on the vaccine storage and handling practices of RI service providers.Keywords: Routine immunization, knowledge, vaccine handling, Nigeria, practice

Multi-Level Analysis and Spatial Interpolation of Distributions and Predictors of Childhood Diarrhea in Nigeria.

Background: Diarrhea is one of the health problems contributing to Nigeria's under-5 mortality rate, ranked as the eighth highest globally. As our search is concerned, there is limited evidence on the spatial distribution of childhood diarrhea in Nigeria. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the spatial distribution and predictors of diarrhea among under-5 children in Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Using data from the child's recode file of the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, a sample of 28 583 children of women of reproductive age was considered as the sample size for this study. The outcome variable used in this study was childhood diarrhea. We employed both multilevel and spatial analyses to ascertain the factors associated with childhood diarrhea as well as its spatial clustering. Results: The regional distribution of the prevalence of diarrhea among children in Nigeria ranged from 0% to 62%. The hotspots for childhood diarrhea were in Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, Kano, Sokoto, Imo, and Taraba. The likelihood of a child having diarrhea in Nigeria was higher among women whose partners have secondary education and above [aOR = 1.18; 95%CI = 1.05-1.33], women currently working [aOR = 1.24; 95%CI = 1.13-1.35], women practicing Islam [aOR = 1.24; 95%CI = 1.04-1.46], and women who were exposed to mass media [aOR = 1.29; 95%CI = 1.18-1.42], compared to women whose partners had no formal education, women not currently working, women practicing Christianity, and those who were not exposed to mass media. Children born to mothers who reside in North East [aOR = 2.55; 95%CI = 2.10-3.10], and communities with medium socioeconomic status [aOR = 1.44; 95%CI = 1.09-1.91] were more likely to experience diarrhea compared to those born to mothers residing in the North Central and in communities with low socioeconomic status. Conclusion: High proportions of childhood diarrhea among under-5 children in Nigeria were located in Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, Kano, Sokoto, Imo, and Taraba. Policies and interventions that seek to reduce or eliminate diarrhea diseases among under-5 children in Nigeria should take a keen interest in the factors identified as predictors of childhood diarrhea in this study as this will help in achieving the aims of WASH, ORT corners, and SDG 3 by the year 2030

Self-reported sleep parameters among secondary school teenagers in middle-belt Nigeria

Background: Available evidences seem to suggest increasing trend in sleep deficit among teenagers worldwide, and there is limited information on this among Nigerian teenagers. This study was carried out to determine the basic sleep schedule and sleep duration among schooling teenagers in Ilorin, Nigeria.Methods: This is a descriptive cross‑sectional study conducted among 20 selected public secondary schools in Ilorin, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to randomly select participating schools.Result: A total of 1033 students participated in the study; of these 47.3% were males and 51.7% females. Students mean age (standard deviation) was 15.3 ± 1.6 years with a range of 12–19 years. Majority (76.2%) of participants co‑share bed with at least one person and some (23.8%) slept alone in bed. The three leading reasons given for going to bed were: Tiredness ‑ 31.1%, completion of house assignment ‑ 20.5%, and parental directive ‑ 12.4%. 10% of teenagers do make regular phone calls at night and 5.5% surf internet and use computers at night. Regular habits of daytime sleepiness were reported by 8.2% of study participants. Students’ mean sleep duration during school days was 9.33 ± 2.29 h compared to 10.09 ± 1.32 h at weekend (P < 0.05). The duration of night time sleep was adequate (>9 h) in 41% of students; borderline (8–9 h) in 44.3% while 13.3% of the students had insufficient nighttime sleep duration (<8 h) P < 0.05.Conclusion: A substantial number of students had borderline nighttime sleep duration and so had potentials to transit into the problematic insufficient range. To prevent this, there is a need to educate schooling teenagers on the dangers associated with prolonged sleep insufficiency.Key words: Bedtime, schooling, sleep duration, teenagers, wake‑up‑tim

Prevalence and predictors of long-acting reversible contraceptive use among sexually active women in 26 sub-Saharan African countries.

BackgroundLong-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) are associated with high efficacy rates and continuity of use. Based on the foregoing, we sought to examine the prevalence and factors associated with LARC use among sexually active women in 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa(SSA).MethodsSecondary data from Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 26 countries in SSA between January 2010 and December 2019 were pooled and analysed. A total of 56 067 sexually active women 15-49 y of age met the inclusion criteria. Bivariate and multivariate regression analyses were performed to examine the association between selected factors and the use of LARCs in SSA. Results were presented as crude odds ratios and adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with statistical precision at ResultsThe prevalence of LARC use was 21.73%, ranging from 1.94% in Namibia to 54.96% in Benin. Sexually active women with secondary or higher education (aOR 1.19 [95% confidence interval {CI} 1.08 to 1.32]), those cohabiting (aOR 1.25 [95% CI 1.06 to 1.47]) and those with four or more children (aOR 2.22 [95% CI 1.78 to 2.78]) were more likely to use LARCs compared with those without education, never married and with no biological child.ConclusionsThe use of LARCs in the 26 countries in SSA was relatively low. Hence, the identified contributory factors of LARC use should be tackled with appropriate interventions. These include continuous campaigns on the efficacy of LARCs in reducing unintended pregnancy, maternal mortality and morbidity

Mapping Evidence of Impacts of COVID-19 Outbreak on Sexual and Reproductive Health: A Scoping Review

Introduction: The emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has rapidly transformed the pre-existing worldwide sexual and reproductive health environment. The provision and supply of contraceptives, and a wide variety of sexual health, new-born, and maternal health services have been seriously affected. Thus, this scoping review mapped the available evidence on the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on sexual and reproductive health. Methods: Arksey and O’Malley’s methodological framework guided this scoping review. A search was conducted from the following databases: Embase, PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, WOS, and AJOL. The preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) chart and PRISMA extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist were used to document the review process. The McMaster critical review checklist was used to determine the quality of the included studies. Thematic analyses were conducted using NVivo version 12. Results: Three studies showed evidence on the impact of COVID-19 and family planning services, six studies reported on maternal and child services and eleven studies reported on sexual health (sexual behavior). Limited access to family planning use, reduction in multiple sexual partnership, decreased transactional sex, and maternal and child services disruption were some impacts reported in the included studies. Conclusion: This study has demonstrated the impacts of COVID-19 on family planning access, multiple sexual partnership, transactional sex, and disruption of maternal and child health services. Interventions that will consider the immediate availability of and access to all sexual and reproductive health services should be prioritized

Health facility delivery among women of reproductive age in Nigeria: Does age at first birth matter?

BackgroundHigh maternal mortality ratio in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been linked to inadequate medical care for pregnant women due to limited health facility delivery utilization. Thus, this study, examined the association between age at first childbirth and health facility delivery among women of reproductive age in Nigeria.MethodsThe study used the most recent secondary dataset from Nigeria's Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) conducted in 2018. Only women aged15-49 were considered for the study (N = 34,193). Bi-variate and multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine the association between age at first birth and place of delivery. The results were presented as crude odds ratios and adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Statistical significance was set at pResultsThe results showed that the prevalence of health facility deliveries was 41% in Nigeria. Women who had their first birth below age 20 [aOR = 0.82; 95%(CI = 0.74-0.90)] were less likely to give birth at health facilities compared to those who had their first birth at age 20 and above.ConclusionOur findings suggest the need to design interventions that will encourage women of reproductive age in Nigeria who are younger than 20 years to give birth in health facilities to avoid the risks of maternal complications associated with home delivery. Such interventions should include male involvement in antenatal care visits and the education of both partners and young women on the importance of health facility delivery