Prevalence and intensity of urinary schistosomiasis in Abarma village, Gusau, Nigeria: A preliminary investigation

A study was conducted to determine the prevalence and intensity ofurinary schistosomiasis in Abarma district of Gusau Local GovernmentArea of Zamfara State, Nigeria. A total of 400 urine samples were collected and analyzed for the eggs of Schistosoma haematobium using the standard filtration technique out of which 296 (74.0%) were found to be infected. The mean egg intensity of infection was 77.63 eggs/10ml of urine. The infection rate was higher among males 81.7% than the females 68.6%, although the difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The males had higher mean egg intensity of 139.36 eggs/10ml of urine compared to the females with 38.16%eggs/10ml of urine. The highest infection was recorded in the age group 10-19 years, with 86.8% and egg mean intensity of 102.7 eggs/10ml of urine while the least infection rate occurred within the 30- 39 years and 50-59 years age groups, with 55.0 and 50.0 eggs/10ml of urine respectively indicating infection to be age specific (p < 0.05). Statistical analysis indicated the infection to be higher in lower age  group (p < 0.05). With respect to occupation, students were the highest infected (87.65%), followed by farmers (85.7%), traders (75.0%), housewives (58.7%) and civil servants (12.5%). Prolonged contact with water was a factor aiding infection as the people engaged in farming had the highest infection rate of 100.0% while those that went to the river to fetch water had the least infection rate of 52.7%. Those thatwent to the river for fishing had the highest mean egg intensity of 112.18 eggs/10ml of urine, while the least mean egg intensity occurred among those that engaged in swimming with 32.13 eggs/10ml of urine. These findings indicate that the area is endemic to urinary schistosomiasis and therefore prompt intervention in the study area is needed

Studies on Urinary Schistosomiasis in Selected Villages around Gusau Dam Site, Zamfara State, Nigeria

A study on urinary schistosomiasis was conducted to determine its prevalence and intensity in five villages around Gusau Dam, Gusau Local Government Area, Zamfara state. A total of five hundred (500) urinesamples were examined for the eggs of Schistosoma haematobium using standard filtration technique. The overall prevalence was 47%. However, the highest prevalence (65.47%) of the infection was recorded in Bokawa. The mean egg count for the whole study area was 237.94 eggs/10ml of urine. Koramar Gora had comparatively high mean egg count of 330.46 eggs/10ml, than other villages. Prevalence of the infection based on the sources of drinking water has indicated that, those persons who use river (60.00%), pond (50.37%) and dam (46.15%), respectively as their sources of water had higher prevalence than those who use well (38.05%), borehole (19.35%) and others (18.75%) who use tap and packaged water, at Gusau (capital city) during their business. However, a highly significantassociation (x2 = 36.571; df=5; P<0.01) was found between prevalence of infection and source of drinking water. This study revealed that, the study area is endemic for urinary schistosomiasis and there is therefore, the need for government intervention to effectively control the disease in the area.Keywords: Urinary, S. haematobium, Inhabitants, Gusau, Dam Sit

Isolation of Enterovirus from Feacal Samples of Patients with Diabetes Mellitus in Maiduguri, Nigeria

In this study, 150 patients were recruited out of which 63(42%) were male while 87(58%) were female subjects. Patients with type 1 diabetes were 2(1.3%), those with type 2 were 142(94.7%) while those with GDM were 4(4%). Only one sample from type 2 was positive by virus isolation and identified to be Echovirus 1 and 21 by microneutralization tests as described in WHO polio laboratory manual, 2004. It has been demonstrated that enterovirus infections were significantly more common in recently diagnosed diabetic patients, compared to control subjects. The question if enterovirus could cause beta cell damage and diabetes mellitus has become more and more relevant when recent studies have provided new evidence supporting this scenario especially in type 1 diabetes. This is an important issue since it opens the possibility to develop new, preventive and therapeutic strategies to fight the disease. The purpose of this study is to investigate if enterovirus can be isolated from the stool samples of diabetic patients as a study.Key words: Isolation, enteroviruses, faeces, diabetes mellitus, patients

Gender and Age-Specific Prevalence of Urinary Schistosomiasis in selected Villages near a Dam Site in Gusau Local Government Area, Zamfara State, Nigeria

Urinary schistosomiasis study was conducted to determine its prevalence and intensity in five villages around Gusau Dam, in Gusau Local Government Area, Zamfara State. A total of five hundred (500) urine samples were examined for the eggs of Schistosoma haematobium, using standard filtration technique. People within the age group of 10-19 years had the highest prevalence of infection 63.51% and the prevalence decreasing steadily thereafter. Males with a prevalence of 56.41% were significantly more infected than females with a prevalence of 31.38%. Mean egg count for the whole study area was 237.94 eggs/10ml of urine. Koramar Gora had comparatively high egg mean count, 330.46 eggs/10ml, than other villages. The age-specific prevalence showed that age group 10-19 years had the highest egg mean count of 367.06 eggs/10ml. Gender-specific prevalence indicated higher egg mean count 247.57 eggs/10ml in males than in females with 209.22 eggs/10ml. This study revealed that, the study area was endemic for urinary schistosomiasis, higher among males than females and higher among ages of 10-19 years. Therefore, the need for Government intervention to effectively control the disease in the area.Keywords: Age-specific, Urinary Schistosomiasis, filtration technique, Mean egg count, interventionNigerian Journal of Parasitology, Vol. 32 [1] March 2011, pp. 55-5

Community Perception on the Cause of Malaria and Childhood Convulsion Associated with Malaria in Selected Local Government Areas of Zamfara State, Nigeria

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected mosquitoes. Plasmodium is by far the best known of all protozoan parasites, because of the life threatening nature of the disease it causes to both humans and other animals. Fever with convulsion remains an important and one of the commonest emergencies among children in the tropics. The present research was carried out in six Local Government Areas of Zamfara State selected at random, two Local Government Areas (LGAs) from each of the three zones. Questionnaires were administered to 600 (100/LGA) subjects who were asked or assisted to fill them. Out of 600 persons interviewed, majority- 488(81.33%) had correct knowledge of the cause of the malaria, because they associated the disease with mosquito bites. There was highly significant variations between people’s perceptions on the cause of malaria in the study area (x2=634.79; df=10; p>0.01) (Table 1). Out of the 600 persons interviewed on childhood convulsion, majority of them 353(58.83%) associated the symptom with malaria. 247 (41.17%) of the respondents have different views as to the causes ofchildhood convulsion. Health education campaign is necessary to enlighten the general public in the study area about the cause of malaria as well as cause of childhood convulsion associated with malaria towards finding better preventive and control measures against the world number one cause of infant mortality.Key words: Community, perception, malaria, convulsion, Zamfara Stat

Open inguinal herniotomy: Analysis of variations

Background: Repair of congenital groin hernia/hydrocele is the most common surgical procedure performed by paediatric surgeons. There is dearth of literature comparing the outcomes of open herniotomy in children using various surgical approaches. This study was aimed at evaluating the efficacy of open herniotomy by comparing external ring incision, hernial sac twisting and whether or not double ligation has benefit over a single suture application. Materials and Methods: A multi-centre prospective randomised clinical trial was conducted with a total of 428 patients having congenital inguinal hernia and/or hydrocele. Patients were randomly assigned into four groups: RO (had external ring opened, hernial sac twisted and doubly ligated), ST (had hernial sac twisted and doubly ligated without opening the ring), DL (had double ligation of hernial sac without ring opening nor twisted) while SL (had single ligation of hernial sac with neither ring opening nor sac twisting). Results: A total of 458 repairs were done. Patients′ age ranged from 0.25 years (3 months) to 21 years in group RO with mean of 4.87 × 4.07 (median, 4), 0.069 years (24 days) to 17 years in group ST with mean of 4.23 × 4.03 (median, 3), 0.5 years (6 months) to 16 years in group DL with mean of 4.59 × 3.87 (median, 4) and 1 year to 19 years in group SL with mean of 5.00 × 4.19 (median, 4). Operation time per repair was 26.50 × 5.46 min, range 16-40 min (median, 27 min) in group RO, 22.18 × 5.34 min, range 12-39 min (median, 21 min) in group ST while 17.98 × 3.40 min with range of 12-39 min (median, 17 min) in group DL and 15.27 × 4.18 min, range 7-40 min (median, 15 min) in group SL P < 0.0001. The mean paracetamol dose/patient was 3.96 × 1.43, 2.94 × 0.81, 2.18 × 0.69, 1.87 × 0.78 in group RO, ST, DL and SL, respectively, P < 0.0001. Conclusion: Congenital inguinal hernia repair with opening of the external ring, hernia sac twisting and double ligation of the processus vaginalis confers no advantage

Ticagrelor in patients with diabetes and stable coronary artery disease with a history of previous percutaneous coronary intervention (THEMIS-PCI) : a phase 3, placebo-controlled, randomised trial

Background: Patients with stable coronary artery disease and diabetes with previous percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), particularly those with previous stenting, are at high risk of ischaemic events. These patients are generally treated with aspirin. In this trial, we aimed to investigate if these patients would benefit from treatment with aspirin plus ticagrelor. Methods: The Effect of Ticagrelor on Health Outcomes in diabEtes Mellitus patients Intervention Study (THEMIS) was a phase 3 randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial, done in 1315 sites in 42 countries. Patients were eligible if 50 years or older, with type 2 diabetes, receiving anti-hyperglycaemic drugs for at least 6 months, with stable coronary artery disease, and one of three other mutually non-exclusive criteria: a history of previous PCI or of coronary artery bypass grafting, or documentation of angiographic stenosis of 50% or more in at least one coronary artery. Eligible patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to either ticagrelor or placebo, by use of an interactive voice-response or web-response system. The THEMIS-PCI trial comprised a prespecified subgroup of patients with previous PCI. The primary efficacy outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (measured in the intention-to-treat population). Findings: Between Feb 17, 2014, and May 24, 2016, 11 154 patients (58% of the overall THEMIS trial) with a history of previous PCI were enrolled in the THEMIS-PCI trial. Median follow-up was 3·3 years (IQR 2·8–3·8). In the previous PCI group, fewer patients receiving ticagrelor had a primary efficacy outcome event than in the placebo group (404 [7·3%] of 5558 vs 480 [8·6%] of 5596; HR 0·85 [95% CI 0·74–0·97], p=0·013). The same effect was not observed in patients without PCI (p=0·76, p interaction=0·16). The proportion of patients with cardiovascular death was similar in both treatment groups (174 [3·1%] with ticagrelor vs 183 (3·3%) with placebo; HR 0·96 [95% CI 0·78–1·18], p=0·68), as well as all-cause death (282 [5·1%] vs 323 [5·8%]; 0·88 [0·75–1·03], p=0·11). TIMI major bleeding occurred in 111 (2·0%) of 5536 patients receiving ticagrelor and 62 (1·1%) of 5564 patients receiving placebo (HR 2·03 [95% CI 1·48–2·76], p<0·0001), and fatal bleeding in 6 (0·1%) of 5536 patients with ticagrelor and 6 (0·1%) of 5564 with placebo (1·13 [0·36–3·50], p=0·83). Intracranial haemorrhage occurred in 33 (0·6%) and 31 (0·6%) patients (1·21 [0·74–1·97], p=0·45). Ticagrelor improved net clinical benefit: 519/5558 (9·3%) versus 617/5596 (11·0%), HR=0·85, 95% CI 0·75–0·95, p=0·005, in contrast to patients without PCI where it did not, p interaction=0·012. Benefit was present irrespective of time from most recent PCI. Interpretation: In patients with diabetes, stable coronary artery disease, and previous PCI, ticagrelor added to aspirin reduced cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and stroke, although with increased major bleeding. In that large, easily identified population, ticagrelor provided a favourable net clinical benefit (more than in patients without history of PCI). This effect shows that long-term therapy with ticagrelor in addition to aspirin should be considered in patients with diabetes and a history of PCI who have tolerated antiplatelet therapy, have high ischaemic risk, and low bleeding risk