Bacterial isolates from blood cultures of children with suspected septicaemia in Calabar, Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Septicaemia is a common cause of morbidity and mortality among children in the developing world. This pattern has changed little in the past decade. Physical signs and symptoms, though useful in identifying possible cases have limited specificity. Definitive diagnosis is by bacteriologic culture of blood samples to identify organisms and establish antibiotic susceptibility. These results are usually not available promptly. Therefore a knowledge of epidemiologic and antimicribial susceptibility pattern of common pathogens is useful for prompt treatment of patients. This report highlights the pattern of bacterial isolates in our environment from a retrospective study of our patients' records. METHODS: One thousand, two hundred and one blood samples were analysed from children aged 0–15 years, admitted into the children's wards of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria with features suggesting septicaemia. Samples were collected under aseptic conditions and cultured for aerobic and anaerobic organisms. Isolates were identified using bacteriologic and biochemical methods and antibiotic sensitivity determined by agar diffusion method using standard antibiotic discs. RESULTS: Bacteria was isolated in 552 (48.9%) of samples with highest rates among newborns (271 : 50.8). The most frequent isolates were Staphylococcal aureus (48.7%) and Coliforms (23.4%). Results showed high susceptibilities to the Cephalosporins (Ceftriazone- 100%:83.2%, Cefuroxime-100%:76.5%) and Macrolides (Azithromycin-100%:92.9%) for S. aureus and coliforms respectively. This study underscores the importance of septicaemia as a common cause of febrile illness in children and provides information on common prevalent aetiologic agents and drug susceptibilities of the commonest pathogens. CONCLUSION: Staphylococcus aureus and coliforms were the leading causes of septicaemia in children in this locality, and the third generation cephalosporins and azithromycin were shown to be effective against these pathogens

Regional patterns and correlates of HIV voluntary counselling and testing among youths in Nigeria

Prevalence of Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) for HIV among young people in Nigeria is low with implications on the epidemic control. Using the 2003 Nigerian National Demographic and Health Survey, we examined the regional prevalence, pattern and correlates of VCT for HIV among youths aged 15 to 24 in Nigeria. Analysis was based on 3573 (out of 11,050) observations using logistic regression model to estimate the effects of identified predictors of volunteering for HIV testing. Results show that national prevalence of VCT is low (2.6%) with regional variations. Generally, the critical factors associated with VCT uptake are age, sex, education, wealth index and risk perception with North (sex, education, religion, occupation and risk perception) and South (age and education) variance. It is recommended that Nigerian HIV programmers should introduce evidence based youth programmes to increase the uptake of VCT with differing approaches across the regions.La prévalence du Conseil et du Testing Volontaire (CTV) pour les jeunes gens au nigérian est base, ayant des implications pour le contrôle de l'épidémie. En nous servant de l'Enquête Nationale sur la Démographie et la Santé de 2003, nous avons examiné la prévalence régionale, les mod138les de corrélats du CTV pour le VIH chez les jeunes gens âgés de 15 à 24 ans au Nigéria. L'analyse a été basée sur 3573 (sur 11050) observations à l'aide d'un modèle de la régression logistique afin d'estimer les effets des indices identifiés pour se présenter pour le test du VIH. Les résultats ont montré que la prévalence nationale du CTV est basse (2,6%) avec des variations régionales. En général, les facteurs critiques qui sont liés à l'acceptation du CTV sont l'âge, le genre, l'éducation, l'indice de la richesse et la perception de risque avec la variance du nord (le genre, l'éducation, la religion, l'occupation et la perception de risque) et du sud (l'âge et l'éducation). Nous préconisons que les programmes nigérians du VIH introduisent des programmes des jeunes qui sont basés sur l'expérimentation afin d'augmenter l'acceptation du CTV fondées sur des approches différentes à travers les régions

Interventions for improving coverage of childhood immunisation in low- and middle-income countries

CITATION: Oyo-Ita, A. et al. 2016. Interventions for improving coverage of childhood immunisation in low- and middle-income countries. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 7: CD008145, doi:10.1002/14651858.CD008145.pub3.The original publication is available at https://www.cochranelibrary.comBackground: Immunisation is a powerful public health strategy for improving child survival, not only by directly combating key diseases that kill children but also by providing a platform for other health services. However, each year millions of children worldwide, mostly from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), do not receive the full series of vaccines on their national routine immunisation schedule. This is an update of the Cochrane review published in 2011 and focuses on interventions for improving childhood immunisation coverage in LMICs. Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of intervention strategies to boost and sustain high childhood immunisation coverage in LMICs.https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD008145.pub3/fullPublisher's versio