Effect Of Instructions About The Method Of Urine Collection And Storage On The Isolation Rate Of Urinary Bacteria In Children

A study of 65 children (29males and 36females) and aged between four weeks and 15years with significant bacteriuria was undertaking over a six month period to determine the effects of instruction received about the methods of urine collection and storage on the prevalence of urinary tract infection. The commonest clinical presentation was fever (64.6%). Only 22(35.4%) of the patients had specific symptoms suggestive of urinary tract infections. The instructions about urine collection were given to 48(73.8%) care givers. This instruction was given by the attending doctors (84%). Despite the explanation, 15(23.1%) of the patients collected the urine samples wrongly and 44(67.7%) stored the samples for longer than one hour. Significant bacteriuria was more prevalent in 74.2% of patients who submitted their urine samples more than one hour after collection. Communication skill is important and should be emphasized in the trainings of health workers in procedure on the patients

Methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and their antibiotic sensitivity pattern in Kano, Nigeria

Background: Nosocomial infection caused by methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) presents with management difficulties in infected patients due to their resistance to a number of other frontline antibiotics and constitutessignificant epidemiological problems. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of methicillin resistant S. aureus and antibiotic sensitivity pattern in clinical isolates in Kano. There is dearth of  information onthis subject in Kano.Method: One hundred and eighty five (185) S. aureus isolates from various clinical specimens obtained over a 12-month period in the Microbiology Department of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) were subjected to methicillin susceptibility testing, while including susceptibility testing to other antibiotics by the disc diffusion methods.Result: Out of 185 S. aureus isolates tested, 53(28.6%) were found to be methicillin resistant. While 38(62%) isolates were obtained from in-patients, 15(28%) were from out-patients. Surgical wound infection had the highest prevalence of 32(60%) isolates. Antibiotics sensitivity results of methicillin susceptible staphylococcus aureus MSSA) and MRSA with the third generation cephalosporins and the quinilones were encouraging. AllMRSA isolates were sensitive to vancomycin.Conclusion: A prevalence of 28.6% MRSA in this environment calls for urgent intervention strategies due to its possible rapid spread and therapeutic problem

A comparative cross-sectional study of prevalence and intensity of soil-transmitted helminthic infection between healthy and severe acutely malnourished pre-school aged children in Kano, Northern Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Soil-transmitted helminthic (STH) infections are common in Sub-Saharan Africa. One method used for control of these helminths is mass anti-helminthic administration in populations at risk of STH infections. In this regard, empiric treatment of children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) for STH infection is practiced in this region. It is however unclear if children with SAM suffer more from STH infection than healthy children. The objective of this study was to compare prevalence and intensity of STH infection between pre-school aged children with SAM and healthy children. METHODS: We approached 1114 pre-school aged children attending care in two health facilities in Kano, Nigeria to partake in this study. Of this number, we recruited 620 (55.7%) children, comprising 310 well-nourished children from well-baby clinics and 310 children with SAM from Community Management for Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) centres in these facilities. We assessed their nutritional status using World Health Organisation (WHO) growth charts and collected stool samples which we analysed using Formal-Ether Concentration technique to identify STH infection and Stoll's technique to assess intensities of STH infection. We fitted a logistic regression model to determine if there was any association between nutrition status and helminthic infection, adjusting for the confounding effects of socio-economic status and age. We compared intensity of STH infection (measured as eggs per gram of faeces) between both nutrition groups using the independent t-test. RESULTS: Overall STH prevalence in our population was low (2.7%) and we found no significant association between nutritional status and presence of STH infection (OR = 1.10, 95% CI 0.38 to 3.21). Majority of our study participants had either low or moderate (94.2%) and there was no statistically significant difference between intensity of STH infection (t value = - 1.52, P value = 0.13) in children with SAM and those who were well-nourished. CONCLUSIONS: The overall STH prevalence among pre-school children was low in Kano and we did not find prevalence and intensity of STH infection to differ significantly between preschool children with SAM and well-nourished children. Our findings confirm the WHO recommendation that at low levels of prevalence and intensity, interventions to control STH are unnecessary

Dermatophytosis among Itinerant Quranic Scholars in Kano (Northwest) Nigeria

Dermatophytosis is a major public health problem in Nigeria. This is a cross – sectional descriptive study. A multistage sampling technique was used in selecting five Quranic schools for the study. A total of 2,150 scholars were examined. Two hundred and five (9.5%) were found to be infected with dermatophytes. The age groups mostly affected were 10 – 14 years. A total of 215 isolates of dermatophytes were recovered. Five species of dermatophytes were isolated from all the species. Trichophyton rubum (50.2%) being the most prevelant followed by Microsporum audouinii (26.5%). Trichophyton rubrom was the only dermatophyte that was recovered from all sites apart from the buttocks. Periodic inspection of the Quranic schools just as it is expected of the primary school children will reduce the incidence of dermatophytosis. It is therefore suggested that the Quranic schools should be integrated into the western system of education. Keywords: Dermatophytoses, Quranic School Children, KanoNigerian Medical Practitioner Vol. 53 (3) 2008: pp. 33-3

Soil transmitted helmeinthiasis among apparently healthy children in Kano municipality

The prevalence of soil transmitted helminth infections in apparently healthy children of mean age 12.2 years drawn randomly from one school in each of the four local government areas of Kano, northern Nigeria were evaluated. Stool sample from 570 children were analyzed using formol ether concentration technique. 130(22.8%) of the subject were infected by soil transmitted helminthes (STH). The overall prevalence by species were Ascaris Lumbricoides (7.9%), Hookworm (5.3%) and trichuris trichiura (3.5%) respectively. 35(6.1%) of the subjects were infected with two or more soil transmitted helminthes. The prevalence in males (24.2%) was generally higher than that of females (22%), Hookworm infection was high(45.5%) in the 15-20 years old age group, while Ascaris Lumbricoides infection was high (100%) in the 6-10 years old age group. The mean number of eggs per gramme (epg) of faeces was moderate. The study shows that subjects had high intensity of infections for Ascaris Lumbricoidesas hook worm, trichuris trichiura as epg of faeces counted were high in them compared to what was obtained for mixed infections. It also reveals a moderately high prevalence across board for all soil transmitted helminth (STH) in Ungogo local government Keywords: Soil transmitted helminthes, Children, prevalence African Journal of Clinical and Experimental Microbiology Vol. 8 (1) 2007: pp.77-8