Incidence of hepatitis B and C viruses among the scavengers in Kwara State, Nigeria

Background:  Poor economic situations in developing nations had made scavenging a mean of livelihood for millions of youth and women across the globe. Lack of proper source segregation of wastes in developing countries has increased the potential for the transmission of pathogens like hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Objectives. This study aimed to assess the potential risk in waste scavenging work and seroprevalence of hepatitis B and C viruses and its relationship with wastes scavenging among wastes scavengers in Kwara State. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the scavengers working for major scrap dealers in the three senatorial districts of Kwara State. Consequently, to accomplish the objectives, both primary and secondary data sources were used. The primary data were collected via questionnaires, interviews, blood test and field observations. Whereas the secondary data were extracted from different published and unpublished materials. Two hundred fourty (240) respondents were administered with questionnaires and undergone hepatitis surface antigen test for both hepatitis B and C in nine of the sixteen local government area in the state. The data were analyzed using statistical package for social science (SPSS version 23) for descriptive and inferential at 5% level of significance. The prevalence of an HBV and HCV infection biological markers (HBsAg and HCsAg) (hepatitis B surface antigen and anti HCV antibodies) and their associations with exposure to bio-medical waste, socio-demographic factors, and history of occupational injuries was examined.  Results. The seroprevalence of HBV and HCV infection among the scavengers were found to be 8.3% and 5% respectively indicating that scavengers are at risk of HBV and HCV infection. Conclusions. It was discovered that there are incidences of hepatitis B and C virus co-infection among scavengers. Also, awareness and compliance to the usage of  personal protective equipment (PPE) was found to be an important factor for protection scavengers against the virus. Therefore, vaccination against HBV, enforcement of usage of PPE, good hygiene practices, regular trainings on occupational safety, proper monitoring by regulatory agency and inclusion of scavengers in mandatory health insurance scheme will help to control risk of HBV and HCV infection among scavengers

Determinants of Low Back Pain among Health‑care Providers in a Federal Tertiary Hospital in Ekiti State, SouthWestern Nigeria

Introduction: Low back pain (LBP) is a usual musculoskeletal system disorder among the working population, especially among health‑care providers (HCPs). It is a significant contributor to work disability, work absenteeism, and lost hours globally. The study objectives are to find the prevalence and determinants of LBP among HCPs in a Federal Tertiary Hospital in Ido‑Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. Subjects and Methods: A cross‑sectional study was done among HCPs in a Federal Tertiary Hospital, Ido‑Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. The study included 336 participants working in the hospital. The respondents were selected using stratified sampling. Data were collected through an adapted questionnaire, which was pretested, semi‑structured, and self‑administered. The data were analyzed using STATA  version 12. Univariate, bivariate, and binary logistic analysis was used to find the prevalence and determinants of LBP. The significance level was set at 95% confidence interval and P ≤ 0.05. Results: The point prevalence, period prevalence, and lifetime prevalence were 39.9%, 44.6%, and 67.6%, respectively. The findings showed that the prevalence of LBP was higher among respondents who turn patient on the bed regularly (>3 times weekly) (odds ratio [OR] =18.46, 95% CL [6.84–49.81], P < 0.0001); and pulls and pushes object or people (more than 10 kg thrice a week) (OR = 8.22, 95% CL  [3.46–19.56], P < 0.0001) were statistically significant. Conclusion: The study revealed that HCPs suffered from a high prevalence of LBP, and the identified risk factors (turning of the patient and pulling and pushing of an object or  people) can be modified using an informed health intervention program (health education and ergonomics)

Awareness and Practice of Proper Health Seeking Behaviour and Determinant of Self-Medication among Physicians and Nurses in a Tertiary Hospital in Southwest Nigeria

There is generally a lack of good health-seeking practices among health professionals due to a variety of factors, including the intensity of the medical practice itself. Doctors and nurses are perceived to have a good knowledge of ideal health-seeking behaviors and as such, it is important to determine the level of their awareness and estimate whether this knowledge is put into practice. This study, therefore, aimed to determine the level of awareness and practices of proper health-seeking behavior and to identify the factors responsible for self-medication among doctors and nurses in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria. Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted between April and may 2018 among 106 doctors and 164 nurses in a tertiary health facility in Ido-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Southwestern Nigeria. A simple random sampling technique by balloting was performed from the list of doctors and nurses in the hospital to select doctors and nurses that participated in the study. A pretested semi-structured self-administered questionnaire was designed and used to collect data. The data were entered into the computer software and analyzed using SPSS version 20. P ≤ 0.05 was taken as significant. Result: Out of 106 doctors and 164 nurses recruited, only 102 doctors and 143 nurses filled the questionnaire completely and returned for analysis. One hundred and four respondents (42.4%) fall within the ages of 31 - 40 years with a male to female ratio of 1:1.23. Awareness of proper health seeking behavior among both doctors and nurses was high among the two groups with no statistically significant difference between them. Twenty-nine (28.0%) doctors compared with thirty-four (23.8%) nurses go for a regular medical check-up with no statistically significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.411). Out of these, 5 (17.2%) doctors and 7 (23.8%) nurses visit at an interval of less than 6 month (p = 0.736). There is a statistically significant difference in the number of doctors (60.8%) compared with nurses (41.3%) that have consulted a doctor in the last one year (p = 0.003). More than half (51.6%) of this consultation among doctors was over the phone whereas 64.4% of such among nurses were via clinic appointment (p = 0.008). More doctors (90.2%) comply with their treatment prescription from physicians compared with nurses (77.6%) (p = 0.010). More nurses compared with doctors self-medicate when ill [Doctor 61.8% (63), Nurses 78.3% (112)] (p = 0.005) and had also self-medicated in the last one year [Doctor 34.3% (35), Nurses 42.7% (61)] (p = 0.187). Decreasing age, decreasing years of experience, increasing working hours, lack of health insurance, fear of confidentiality and lack of satisfaction with health services are factors that significantly increased the likelihood of self-medication among doctors and nurses within the last one year. Conclusion: Awareness of proper health seeking behavior was high but this did not translate into proper health-seeking practices among doctors and nurses. There is apathy for regular medical check-up and self-medication was also high among this group of health workers. Decreasing age and years of experience, increasing working hours, lack of health insurance, fear of confidentiality and lack of satisfaction with health services were factors were identified to significantly increase the likelihood of self-medication

PERCEPTION AND WILLINGNESS TO THE UPTAKE OF COVID-19 VACCINE AMONG HOUSEHOLD-HEADS IN A RURAL COMMUNITY OF SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIA

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and its vaccine have been met with varying perceptions that may have both negative and positive effects on the willingness to uptake the COVID-19 vaccine. The study is set to determine the perception and willingness of the household heads to the uptake of COVID-19 vaccine in a rural community in Southwestern, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 409 household heads selected through a multistage sampling technique. The instrument of data collection was a semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire using the Health Belief model constructs. Data were analyzed with IBM SPSS version 21.0 and Pearson's Chi-square test was used to determine the association between perception and willingness to uptake vaccine. P<0.05 was taken as significant at 95% confidence interval. Results: The majority of the unvaccinated respondents in the study were not willing to take the COVID-19 vaccine (60.1%). There was a poor perception of the susceptibility/severity of unvaccinated respondents to COVID-19 infection and a poor perception of the benefit/barrier to the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine. Perception of susceptibility and severity of COVID-19 infection were statistically related to the willingness to uptake the COVID-19 vaccine. Conclusion: There should be an increase in awareness campaigns to change the perception of people positively to COVID-19 infection and uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine

Radiometric survey of natural radioactivity concentration and risk assessment on dwellers around Ijako active dumpsite in Ogun State

Radiometric assessment of natural radioactivity concentration around Ijako dumpsite was done using hand held gamma spectrometer. A total of 10 in situ measurements were taken at the site. The U-238, Th-232, and K-40 radioactivity concentration obtained were used to assess the radiological hazard level in the area. Comparing the mean results of radiological parameter obtained with world average; Radium equivalent was far less than 370Bqkg-1, External hazard was less than 1, Annual effective dose equivalent was less than 0.08mSvy-1, Gamma index was less than 1, and Excess life cancer risk was less than 0.29 × 10-3. This implies that Ijako dumpsite poses no radiological hazard to the general public

Determination of Gestational Age by Tibial Length using Ultrasound in A Nigerian Tertiary Hospital

BACKGROUND: Determining fetal gestational age accurately is important to good obstetric care and outcome. Methods like measurement of symphysio-fundal height have been used but not accurate. With the advent of ultrasound, various fetal biometric parameters e.g. BPD, FKL, and fetal limbs are now being used. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to ultrasonographically evaluate the usefulness of fetal tibial lengths as an alternate to femur lengths in predicting gestational age from the second to third trimesters. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 500 pregnant Nigerian women between the GA of 13 to 41 week had ultrasound scan evaluation done at the fetal assessment unit of a Teaching Hospital. Fetal biometric parameters BPD, FL, and TL were measured and recorded against the calculated gestational age from the last menstrual periods. RESULTS: There was a strong relationship between TL and EGA with a significant positive linear correlation (r= 0.915 P<0.05). For FL, r= 0.900 and for BPD r=0.906, all related to GA. The study has also shown a good correlation between TL and the other measured variables. For TL and FL, r=0.889 while TL and BPD r=0.867, making TL a substitute limb for limb measurement and as a pointer to a skeletal anomaly or delayed bone growth or dwarfs. The mean TL ranged from 13.47 mm at 13 week to 74.64 mm at 41 weeks of gestation. CONCLUSION: This study has been able to justify the tibia as an important substitute for femur in the prediction of GA especially where the femur is susceptible to errors. (Int J Biomed Sci 2019; 12 (4): 104-111

Bioaccumulation of Heavy Metals by Clarias gariepinus (African Catfish) in Asa River, Ilorin, Kwara State

Background. Harmful wastes and other dangerous industrial by-products constitute major sources of environmental pollutants in Nigeria. Industrial pollutants discharged into the environment contain organic and inorganic pollutants in dissolved, suspended and insoluble forms. Fishes are known for their innate potential to bioaccumulate heavy metals in their muscles and various organs. Objectives. The present study aimed to assess the bioaccumulation status of heavy metals in selected organs and tissues of African catfish in Asa River, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. Methods. Three sampling points (A (upstream), B (point of discharge) and C (downstream)) were selected in relation to industrial effluents that enter the river. African catfish were randomly harvested from each site using fishing nets at the three sampling points. The samples were digested and subjected to atomic absorption spectrophotometric analysis. Statistical analysis of data was carried out using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to compare data among sites and organs. Results. The present study found that the bioaccumulation level of heavy metals in selected organs and tissues of African catfish in Asa River, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria was very high and the level of accumulation of heavy metals increased downstream. Accumulations were much higher during the dry season (especially in the month of February) and relatively low during the peak of the rainy season. Conclusions. Heavy metals at elevated levels in the aquatic environment can accumulate in fish tissues and organ, and therefore fish from the Asa River are not fit for human consumption. Competing Interests. The authors declare no competing financial interests

Perception and willingness to the uptake of covid-19 vaccine among household-heads in a rural community of south-western Nigeria

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and its vaccine have been met with varying perceptions that may have both negative and positive effects on the willingness to uptake the COVID-19 vaccine. The study is set to determine the perception and willingness of the household heads to the uptake of COVID-19 vaccine in a rural community in Southwestern, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 409 household heads selected through a multistage sampling technique. The instrument of data collection was a semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire using the Health Belief model constructs. Data were analyzed with IBM SPSS version 21.0 and Pearson's Chi-square test was used to determine the association between perception and willingness to uptake vaccine. P<0.05 was taken as significant at 95% confidence interval. Results: The majority of the unvaccinated respondents in the study were not willing to take the COVID-19 vaccine (60.1%). There was a poor perception of the susceptibility/severity of unvaccinated respondents to COVID-19 infection and a poor perception of the benefit/barrier to the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine. Perception of susceptibility and severity of COVID-19 infection were statistically related to the willingness to uptake the COVID-19 vaccine. Conclusion: There should be an increase in awareness campaigns to change the perception of people positively to COVID-19 infection and uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine

Attitude and predictors of exclusive breastfeeding practice among mothers attending under-five welfare clinics in a rural community in Southwestern Nigeria.

BackgroundMuch previous research on exclusive breastfeeding has focused on urban and semi-urban communities, while there is still a paucity of data from rural areas. We assessed the attitude and practice of exclusive breastfeeding and its predictors among mothers attending the under-five welfare clinics in a rural community.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among consecutively recruited 217 mothers attending the three health facilities under-five welfare clinics in Ido-Ekiti, Southwest, Nigeria. Information was collected with a semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire adapted from previously published research works. Descriptive and inferential statistics were carried out using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0.ResultsMore than half of the mothers, 117(53.9%) were ≥30 years old, and 191(88.0%) were married. Almost all, 216 (99.5%) attended an ante-natal clinic; however, 174(80.2%) delivered in the health facility. The respondent's mean ± SD exclusive breastfeeding attitudinal score was 29.94 ± 2.14 (maximum obtainable score was 36), and the proportion of mothers that practiced exclusive breastfeeding was 40.6%. Married mothers were more likely to practice exclusive breastfeeding than their unmarried counterparts (AOR:6.324, 95%CI:1.809-22.114). The common reasons for not practicing exclusive breastfeeding were work schedule 57(26.3%), cultural beliefs and the need to introduce herbal medicine 32(14.7%), and insufficient breast milk 30(13.8%).ConclusionThis study revealed a good disposition with a suboptimal practice towards exclusive breastfeeding. Also, being married was a positive predictor of exclusive breastfeeding. Therefore, we recommend policies that will improve exclusive breastfeeding among mothers in rural areas, especially those targeting the unmarried, to achieve the World Health Organization's target