Agglutination Resistant Ingested Blood from Cimex lectularius Specie of Bed Bug

Bed bugs are parasitic in nature and feed exclusively on blood. Feeding on multiple hosts with different blood groups also means the risk of ingesting incompatible blood that may agglutinate in their gut. Eight groups of ten Cimex lectularius specie of bed bug each starved for 4 days were placed in opaque plastic jar to keep dark. 0.5 ml of citrated blood pre-heated in an incubator to the temperature of 37 degree centigrade was packed in 8 units of silicone free latex material. Each group of 10 bugs was given different blood group type ranging from blood group A+ve, B+ve, AB+ve, O+ve, A-ve, B-ve, AB-ve and O-ve. 5 engorged bugs that attached to the latex and sucked the bloods therein within 24 hours from each group were opened and the blood ingested was harvested and blood group determined by slide method and agglutination verified with microscope. The entire blood grouping conducted in all the groups turned out O-ve. Thirty four young men living alone in a slum area with high prevalence of bed bug infestation volunteered to provide the blood engorged parasites from their rooms for testing of the ingested blood. 19 of the volunteers were blood group O +ve, 6 were B+ve, 5 were AB+ve and 4 were A+ve. All the blood tested turn out O –ve, the complete failure of agglutination reactions to manifest with the corresponding Antisera. A factor(s) possibly exist that ablate the antigenicity of ABO and Rhesus agglutinogens of the blood ingested by Cimex lectularius. Keywords: Bed bug, Cimex lectularius, ingestion, agglutination, Antiser

The Prevalence of Hepatitis B Surface Antigenaemia in Patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection in Gombe, Nigeria

Background: Both Hepatitis Virus B (HBV) and HIV infection are highly endemic in Nigeria and are important causes of morbidity and mortality. Co-infection is known to occur since the two viruses share common modes of transmission. HBV is known to produce a protein X that can stimulate the replication of HIV in vitro, and it has been observed that HIV positive men with HBV infection are at increased risk of liver related mortality. Methods: Two hundred consecutively recruited HIV-infected individuals comprising 97 males and 103 females were screened for HBsAg using ELISA. HIV-negative blood donors in the same area were used as controls. Results: Fifty-three of the patients tested positive for HBsAg giving an overall prevalence rate of 26.5% which was significantly higher (p < 0.001) than the 10.4% recorded among non-HIV-infected individuals. Co-infection rate in males (24.7%) did not differ significantly from that of females (28.2%). Co-infection was highest in the 40-49 years age group (41.6%), while no case of co-infection was recorded in the 64 19 years. Among the different occupational groups businessmen had the highest co-infection rate (44%) followed by long distance drivers (39.5%). In relation to marital status, divorcees/widows had the highest proportion of those with co-infection (53%) followed by those who were unmarried (32.5%) and those married (21.6%). Conclusion: This study confirms the high prevalence rate of HBV co-infection in HIV-infected patients compared to the non-HIV- infected population. Therefore, there is a need to screen all HIV-infected patients for HBV infection

Descriptive features of Lassa fever in Bauchi, Northeastern Nigeria - a retrospective review

Objective: Nigeria records it largest outbreak of Lassa fever in 2018, with 416 confirmed cases by 22nd April 2018 affecting 22 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). This study determines the descriptive features of Lassa fever in Bauchi, Northeastern Nigeria.Methods: A retrospective study that encompasses all the suspected and confirmed cases of Lassa fever managed in Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH), Bauchi, between October 2016 and April 2018. Clinical notes of these patients were used to source information including sociodemographic features, clinical characteristics of the presenting illness, laboratory investigations results, working diagnosis, line of management, and treatment outcomes.Results: A total 127 suspected cases records were reviewed out of which 27(21%) were positive for Lassa fever Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test. Thirteen (48%) of the confirmed cases were males and fourteen (51.9%) females giving a male to female ratio of 1:1.08. their ages ranged from 1 to 60 years with a mean age of 27.5. Most cases were seen between October and April. Fever was the most common clinical presentation, occurring in 23 cases (85%) at presentation. Other clinical features were headache 20 cases (74%), bleeding 19 cases (70%), abdominal pain 14 cases (52%), Nausea/Vomiting 12 cases (44%), Diarrhoea 11 cases (41%), cough 11 cases (41%), encephalitis 9 cases (33%), Chest pain 8 cases (30%), Hypotension 7 cases (26%), Sore throat 5 cases (19%) and Facial and or Neck swelling 3 cases (11%). Mortality among the confirmed cases was (44.4%) with all deaths occurring within 72hours of presentation and had bleeding and or encephalitis as presenting symptoms.Conclusion: Lassa fever is relatively common in Bauchi state and affects people of all age groups and sexes. Late presentation, bleeding and encephalitis were common features among mortality cases.Keywords: Lassa Fever, clinical features, mortality, Nigeri