A Rapid Review of the Reopening of Schools in this COVID‐19 Pandemic? How Ready are We in Nigeria?

Reopening schools raise several ethical issues, including safety, privacy, autonomy, vulnerability. Some countries have gradually reopened their schools with explicit guidelines for safety. The safe reopening of schools demands sensitivity to community inequities. We aimed to conduct a rapid review of the strategies adopted in the reopening of schools in some countries amid the Covid-19 and highlight the lessons learned and to consider the feasibility of some of the existing Nigerian guidelines on school reopening. A rapid review technique using PubMed search was conducted using the combination of the following keywords: Covid-19, school, reopening along with a Google search using the phrase ‘schools reopened in COVID-19 pandemic.’ Ten articles met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Eight countries namely China, Taiwan, South Korea, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Australia, and Israel were identified. All the countries started with phased reopening and a reduction in class size. Wearing masks was mandatory in some countries. Hand hygiene and strict cleaning of high-touch surfaces were ensured. The Nigerian government’s guidelines towards the reopening of schools sound good, but the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness need to be objectively assessed and contextualized across all tiers of the government and at all levels of development to avoid COVID-19 resurgence

In vivo studies on the prebiotic effects of Vernonia amygdalina leaf extracts

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Correlations between antibiotic intake and resistance of some enteric gram negative bacilli to antibiotics

Some enteric Gram negative bacteria were isolated over a three – year (2006 – 2008) period from two human populations designated as population on therapy (OD) and population not on therapy (ND). Isolates were analyzed forsusceptibility to a panel of ten antibacterial agents. Results showed that OD isolates were generally more resistant to test drugs than ND isolates but the differences were not significant at both 0.01 and 0.05 levels. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the correlation in resistances among the OD and ND isolates was systematic and significant at both 0.01 and 0.05 levels, suggesting that resistance emergence and sustenance may not be an exclusive consequence of intake and misuse of antibiotics

Immuno-modulatory properties of prebiotics extracted from Vernonia amygdalina

Background: Vernonia amygdalina, commonly called bitter-leaf, is widely consumed in many parts of Africa, and Nigeria, in particular. The leaf extract has been reported to have antimicrobial, anti-plasmodial, anti-helminthic, as well as prebiotic properties, but its immuno-modulatory effects have not been well-studied, neither have the prebiotics been identified. This study evaluated the immuno-modulatory properties of the aqueous leaf extract and identified the prebiotic components.Methods: The immuno-modulatory potential was evaluated by monitoring the effects of oral administration of the extract on immunological, haematological and lipid profiles of Rattus norvegicus, while the prebiotic components were identified by thin layer chromatography (TLC), following liquid-liquid fractionation of the extract.Results: Consumption of the extract caused significant increases in CD4+-, white blood cell-, total lymphocyte- and high density lipid (HDL) counts; decreases in low density lipid (LDL) and triglycerides and no significant effect on haemoglobin (Hb) and packed cell volume (PCV) in the blood of test animals. The water-soluble fraction of the extract contained most of the phytoconstituents of the extract and Thin Layer Chromatographic analysis of the fraction revealed the presence of fructo-oligosaccharide and galacto-oligosaccharide prebiotics.Conclusion: The results from this study have shown that the aqueous leaf extract of V. amygdalina has positive immune-modulatory and haematologic effects and contains some important prebiotic compounds.Keywords: Vernonia amygdalina, prebiotic, fructo-oligosaccharide, galacto- oligosaccharide, haematolog

Evaluating the Dermal Properties of Toilet Soaps Incorporated with Different Herbal Extracts

Toilet soaps were produced with the incorporation of three herbal extracts from basil, aloevera and guava leaves singly and in combination. Volunteers were drawn from Community Secondary School Ehandiagu, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria, to use the soaps and provide feedback on their qualities and various properties. The research was experimental, however the major instrument used in collecting information (data) needed was questionnaires. The population from which the data was drawn involved 400 students under which 150 students were used as the population sample size. The data collected was statistically analyzed by the use of percentage and mean values of user’s response. The findings in the experiment involved discovery of the effectiveness of various herbal soap on skin infection, smoothness of skin, the highest cleaning tendency and the best combination of local herbal extracts for quality toilet soap most suitable to various skin. The required information was gotten from the answers supplied by the voluntary users of these soaps. From the result of this research, the most effective herbal extract incorporated soap on skin infection was that containing guava leaves with percentage and mean values of positive respondents as 16.8% and 4.2 + 0.92, the best herbal extract incorporated soap responsible for skin smoothness was combined herbal extract soap (Guava, Aloevera & Basil leaves extract) with 16.79% positive response or mean + standard deviation value of 3.0 + 0.08. Moreover, in the cleansing aspect, it was observed that soaps incorporated with aloevera had the highest percentage positive response as the best cleansing soap with percentage and mean value of 14.11% and 3.5 + 0.74. Lastly, the soap produced by combination of the three local herbal extracts (guava, basil leaf and aloevera) was most suitable to various skin types with positive respondent values of 15.2% or 3.8 + 0.69 (mean + standard deviation). The toilet soaps containing herbal extracts generally gave better result than that without incorporation of the herb(s) (control) from the response of the users. Keyword: herbal soap, incorporated, extract, skin, aloevera, basil leaves, guava leaves

Teratoma in a tertiary hospital in south-east Nigeria: a fifteen year retrospective study at Fetha, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State

Any neoplastic growth within a tissue or an organ harboring components derived from more than one germ layer is called a teratoma. Teratoma may be monodermal or polydermal in origin and they can also be classified as mature or immature teratomas. In a retrospective study of teratomas histologically diagnosed in the Department of Pathology, Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki (FETHA), Ebonyi State, the entire specimens received at the Department for histological assessment over a fifteen-year period (2000-2014), was 6,548. However, only 28 (0.4%) of the entire specimens represented teratoma. Twenty five (89.3%) of the teratomas were females and only 3(10.7%) were males, giving a male to female gender ratio of 1:8.3. The most common site of occurrence was the ovary accounting for 18(64.3%) followed by the sacrococccyx representing 4(14.3%) cases. All the 28(100%) cases of teratomas were benign neoplasm (mature cystic teratomas) containing two or three germ cell layers with one of the cases noted as a giant teratoma. We observed an important bimodal age distributions; with a first peak occurring between 0-10 years (in the first decade of life) and a second peak (in the 3rd decade) between 20-30 years of age.Keywords: Teratoma, Germ cell

Construction And Testing Of Ultrasonic Bird Repeller

The threat posed by birds to economic crops in the farms or at storage facilities requires the deployment of an effective bird deterrent in such locations.  Many attempts have been made to develop successful bird deterrent systems with only a few achieving desired results. The ultrasonic frequency range 15-25 kHz is known to be disturbing to birds and a device operating at that range was developed. The output of the integral oscillator was fed to 4 piezo transducers, placed 90O to each other to produce a dispersion of overlapping fans of sound for full 360o coverage. The power of the first device was 7.98W and the intensity of the sound pressure at 1m was calculated to be 6.35x10-1W/m2 at 118dB. A second device was constructed which had a power of 23.98W and intensity of the emitted sound at 1m, 1.91W/m2 at 123dB. The devices were tested and the results obtained showed that the ultrasonic beam from the piezo speakers was able to drive birds away from designated areas. Further tests conducted with the unit showed a wider reach of the waves on a dull day than on a sunny day. About 5-6 of the second device is expected to cover one hectare of field. The device is solar powered, eliminating the cost of fuel, the inconvenience of regular attention and its protection from environmental perturbation. It is environmentally friendly. Keywords: Pest birds, Bird repeller, Solar powered, Ultrasonic, Frequency range, Environmentally friendly

Prevalence of hepatitis B virus infections among blood donors in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria

Background: Transfusion of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infected blood represents a major but avoidable means of HBV transmission, which unfortunately still account for millions of global HBV infections annually.Method: This study determined the prevalence of HBV infection among 550 blood donors aged 18 to 60 years from selected hospitals and blood transfusion centres within the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria, using hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) rapid diagnostic test (RDT) kit and Enzyme linked Immuno-sorbent Assay (ELISA). Representative positive and negative samples for RDT and ELISA were tested by both conventional and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assayResults: Forty nine (8.9%) and 14 (2.8%) out of the 550 blood donors tested positive for HBsAg with the RDT and ELISA respectively. Replacement donors had higher prevalence rate of the HBV infection than voluntary donors. The highest prevalence of HBV infection was recorded among the 30–39 year age group. The difference in the rate of infection between the males and the females was not statistically significant (p>0.05). A perfect agreement between RDT and PCR and fair agreement between ELISA and PCR were observed.Conclusion: This study report a high prevalence of hepatitis B virus infections among blood donors in Abuja, Nigeria which underscores the need for proper screening of blood for transfusion to completely eliminate the incidence of transfusion transmitted HBV infections.Keywords: Blood, Malaria, Hepatitis, Rapid, Immuno-sorbent, Polymeras

Intestinal candidiasis and antibiotic usage in children: case study of Nsukka, South Eastern Nigeria.

Background: Overgrowth of candida results from factors that disrupt the intestinal microbial balance, such as the use of antibiotics. Unregulated antibiotic use and rampant practice of self-medication in Nigeria, is a cause for concern.Methods: A total of 314 stool specimens were collected from children <1 to 12 years of age in Nsukka, South Eastern Nigeria and screened for candida species using standard methods. Questionnaires were used to collect relevant information on the participants.Results: Out of the 314 participants, 31.2% had candidiasis, indicated by growth of ≥105 CFU/ml. Four different species of candida were identified. Candida albicans had the highest prevalence (59.0%), while Candida krusei had the least prevalence (6.0%). Of the 314 participants, 46.5% had diarrhoea, out of which 58.9% had intestinal candidiasis while only 14.3% of the non-diarrhoeic children had candidiasis. Of 208 participants who had taken antibiotics within three weeks of the study, 42.3% had candidiasis compared to 20.8% of those with no recent history of antibiotic use.Conclusion: The results of this study showed a high prevalence of intestinal candidiasis among children in Nsukka. Strong associations were observed between the presence of intestinal candidiasis and diarrhoea, age and use of antibiotics (p<0.001).Keywords: Intestinal candidiasis, children, antibiotic use, diarrhe