Sexual practices of people living with HIV in south eastern Nigeria

Couples could be in serodiscordant or seroconcordant sexual relationship. The seroconcordant could be seroconcrdant positive or negative in a heterosexual or homosexual or bisexual relationship. The various sexual practices include vaginal sex; anal sex fisting; oral sex fellatio, cunnilingus; masturbation mutual or exclusive and a host of others. These sexual practices outside safer sex guidelines will lead to HIV transmission among couples. The study is set to determine the sexual practices of people livingwithHIV(PLWHA) in SoutheastNigeria. This is an analytical epidemiological study. A total of 300 subjects were studied using interviewer administered questionnaires. Data is presented in tables and figures. Analysis was done using SPSS 11.0 statistical package. Most respondents were in heterosexual relationship (97%). The married couples in serodiscordant relationship were 25.3% while the singles in serodiscordant relationship were 20%. About 56% do not use condom for the adopted sexual practice although 65% believe that condom use would protect against HIV transmission. Couples in seroconcordant seronegative relationship have it as a challenge to remain so. This study suggests that the PLWHA are very important in the spread of HIV infection as they are still sexually active, in non-cohabiting conjugal unstable relationship, and they do not use the condomconsistently. There is an urgent need to target this population with effective behavioural change communications thatwill translate to safer sexual behaviour. The practice of safer sex should be taught in every health care center, in schools and in village gatherings by qualified health care workers. This will help curb the transmission of HIV.

Effects of deposition time and post-deposition annealing on the physical and chemical properties of electrodeposited CdS thin films for solar cell application

CdS thin films were cathodically electrodeposited by means of a two-electrode deposition system for different durations. The films were characterised for their structural, optical, morphological and compositional properties using x-ray diffraction (XRD), spectrophotometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) respectively. The results obtained show that the physical and chemical properties of these films are significantly influenced by the deposition time and post-deposition annealing. This influence manifests more in the as-deposited materials than in the annealed ones. XRD results show that the crystallite sizes of the different films are in the range (9.4 – 65.8) nm and (16.4 – 66.0) nm in the as-deposited and annealed forms respectively. Optical measurements show that the absorption coefficients are in the range (2.7×104 – 6.7×104) cm-1 and (4.3×104 – 7.2×104) cm-1 respectively for as-deposited and annealed films. The refractive index is in the range (2.40 – 2.60) for as-deposited films and come to the value of 2.37 after annealing. The extinction coefficient varies in the range (0.1 – 0.3) in asdeposited films and becomes 0.1 in annealed films. The estimated energy bandgap of the films is in the range (2.48 – 2.50) eV for as-deposited films and becomes 2.42 eV for all annealed films. EDX results show that all the films are S-rich in chemical composition with fairly uniform Cd/S ratio after annealing. The results show that annealing improves the qualities of the films and deposition time can be used to control the film thickness. Keywords: Electrodeposition; two-electrode system; CdS; annealing; deposition time; thin-film

Maternal death and obstetric care audits in Nigeria: A systematic review of barriers and enabling factors in the provision of emergency care.

Acknowledgements We would like to thank Yutaka Osakabe for co-ordinating the retrieval of full text articles. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation supported this study, grant number 12-100074-000-INPPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Seroprevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen among antenatal clinic attendees in a private specialist hospital in Onitsha, Southeast Nigeria

Background and Objective: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is endemic in many regions of the world including Africa, Asia and Western Pacific [1],[2] . In Southeast Nigeria information on the seroprevalence of HBV infection among pregnant women is limited. This study was carried out to determine the seroprevalence of HBsAg among pregnant women attending antenatal care at an Onitsha specialist (private) hospital Anambra state, Southeast Nigeria. Method: HBsAg was tested for in consenting women who attended antenatal care at Grace Specialist hospital Nkpor, Onitsha. The study women were recruited longitudinally from the hours of 8.00am to 12noon on each antenatal care day which held twice a week. Results: The seropositivity of HbsAg in the pregnant women was 2.2%. There was no significant association between the HBsAg screening result and age or parity. Conclusion: The seroprevalence of HBsAg in the pregnant women was 2.2% irrespective of their age, parity, or sociodemographic or biological factors. There is intermediate endemicity of HBsAg among pregnant women in Onitsha, Southeast Nigeria

Gestational trophoblastic disease in a tertiary hospital in Nnewi, southeast Nigeria

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of GTD and describe its clinical features and management in a tertiary level hospital inNnewi SoutheastNigeria. Methods: We studied retrospectively the cases of GTD that were proved histologically and managed in the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi over a 5 years period (200 - 2008). Results: The frequency of GTD inNnewi is 4.6 per 100 deliveries. Ten (66.7%) of the cases were choriocarcinoma while 5(33.3%) were hydatidiform mole. There was no case of invasive mole or placental site trophoblastic tumour (PSTT). The age range of the patients was 15 - 46 years with a mean of 31&@177; 8.6 years. There was no significant association between age and GTD (X2 = 4.5; p = 0.609) and between Parity and GTD (x2 =1.87; p = 0.171 ). Most of the patients (73.3%) presented in late second trimester and the comm onest mode of presentation was abnormal vaginal bleeding. The symphysio - fundal height was more than the estimated gestational age in 9(60%) of cases. All the patients made an earlier presentation in different peripheral hospitals and were managed as incomplete miscarriage prior to presentation in our hospital. The average duration of follow - up in these patients was 2.4 =3.2 weeks. Contraception use was documented in 3 (20%) of the patients. Conclusion: There was a high prevalence of GTD and notably choriocarcinoma. The associated mortality was high. There was lack of suspicion of the pathology among the primary healthcare providers. This study suggests that all cases of evacuation products should be subjected to histopathological examination. There is the need to emphasize the role of adequate and appropriate counselling in the management of the patients with GTD. Call and recall system should be introduced in the management of patients with GTD to improve their compliance to recommended management standard. This will improve the prognosis of the condition in our women