Presence of pathogenic yeasts and fungi on schools playing-grounds: Danger posed to public health

No Abstract

Prevalence of Schistosomiasis in Wurukum, Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria

Schistosomiasis was surveyed in Wurukum, situated in Makurdi Local Government Area, of Benue State, between the months of April and July 2001. A total of 400 samples, made up of 200 urine and 200 stool samples were collected. The stool samples were prepared using the formol-ether concentration technique, while the urine samples were prepared using the sedimentation technique. Samples were examined microscopically for eggs of schistosomes. The overall prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis (Schistosoma haematobium) in the study area was 23.0%. Schistosoma mansoni infection was not detected. Males were slightly more infected (23.7%) than females (22.4%) (p > 0.05). Among the occupational groups examined, students/pupils were the most infected followed by individuals in other trades. Individuals that made use of streams were the most infected (prevalence 43.3%), while none of those who use pipe borne and bore-hole water exclusively was infected (p < 0.05). Key words: urinary schistosomiasis, prevalence, water sources Journal of Medical Laboratory Science Vol.12(2) 2003: 47 - 5

Survey of snail intermediate hosts of trematodes in Jos South Local Government Area, Plateau state, Nigeria

Streams and irrigation schemes in selected areas of Jos South Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria were surveyed for snail intermediate hosts of Trematodes. A total of 1045 snails were collected from streams with long handled scoop net and in some areas manually with hand in gloves. The snails were put in wide-mouthed universal bottles, screwed loosely and taken to the laboratory for examination. Examination was carried out by exposing groups of ten in beakers containing water to sunshine for 30 minutes and the water examined for cercariae. Snails in any group that showed positivity were washed, re-exposed as above and the water examined after which the snails were crushed in normal saline and examined for cercariae. Out of the total 1045 snails, only 85(8.13%) Lymnea snaisl were positive with cercariae, while other species, Bulinus and Biomphalaria were not infected. Gymnocephalous cercariae were found in the infected snails. No snail was found in the irrigation schemes. The infected Lymnea snails were collected from a stream at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies Kuru/Vom, while the Lymnea snails collected from other sites were not infected. The result indicated that the inhabitants of these areas may not harbor schistosomes as their snail hosts, &#8211; Bulinus and Biomphalaria were not harboring the infective stage of the parasites, while domestic animals, especially sheep and cattle around NIPSS/Vom were at risk of being infected with Fasciola species as the intermediate host of the parasites harbored the infective stages, cercariae.Keywords: Trematodes, intermediate hosts, snail, streams, irrigation schemesInternational Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences, 6(2): 151-154, 201

A survey of the prevalence of Schistosomiasis among pupils in Apata and Laranto areas in Jos, Plateau State

Prevalence of Schistosomiasis in apparently healthy primary school pupils in Apata and Laranto areas of Jos was surveyed using 300 samples of stool and 300 samples of urine. The stool samples were processed using formol ether concentration techniques while the urine samples were processed by ordinary centrifugal sedimentation technique. The overall prevalence of urinary (Schistosoma haematobium) and intestinal (Schistosoma mansoni) schistosomiasis was 0.67%, with three samples (1% prevalence) positive for intestinal (Schistosoma mansoni) and one sample (0.33% prevalence) positive for urinary (Schistosoma haematobium) schistosomiasis respectively. Two of the three cases positive for Schistosoma mansoni were males in the age group of 11?15 years and the one positive for Schistosoma haematobium was a male patient. Prevalence in the studied area is therefore very low and immigration, sex and age dependen

From farm to fork: lipid oxidation in fish products. A review

Lipid oxidation is a very complex and important event threatening the quality of foods especially of those containing highly unsaturated fats. Fish are the main source of polyunsaturated fatty acids that, unfortunately, are highly susceptible to degradation process, such as oxidation. Fish supply chain generally involves many steps and each of them together with their interaction might play a central role in muscle quality maintenance. From this review emerged that antioxidants supplementation diet can play a central role to limit the detrimental effects of stress (pre-slaughter or at killing) and storage. In this sense, lycopene shows the best antioxidant activity during stressful conditions while α-tocopherol acts preferentially in long-term frozen storage. Stress just before or at slaughter can greatly threaten flesh quality both immediately and after storage by inducing numerous metabolic pathways, that often involve the production of very reactive molecular species, such as hydroperoxides. A common operation such as bleeding can significantly reduce both reactive molecules and haemoglobin (Hb), which is recognised as a great pro-oxidant. Temperature and duration are two critical points of storage phase which has to be considered even by consumers. Frozen storage at very low temperatures (−30 °C, −40 °C) confirms to be the best storage practise. Finally, cooking can compromise aromatic profile of cooking fillets. Thus, feeding antioxidant, reducing stress both during pre-slaughter practise and at killing, good storage practises, if associated with an appropriate cooking method (low temperature, short time) seems to be the clues for preserving the fragile lipid fraction from farm to fork