4 research outputs found
Cariage rate of hepatits-B surface antigen (HBsAg)in HIV-infected patients in Jos, Nigeria
No Abstract
Immune responsiveness associated with experimental <i>Encephalitozoon intestinalis</i> infection in immunocompetent rats
Immune responsiveness associated with experimental Encephalitozoon intestinalis infection in immunocompetent rats
Purpose: Microsporidial infections have been recognized as an
increasingly important infection in immuncompromised patients,
particularly those infected with HIV/AIDS. This study was designed to
study immune responses associated with experimental Encephalitozoon
intestinalis infection in immunocompetent rats. Materials and Methods:
Thirty-four Rats in 3 groups, A (Control), B (Intraperitoneal) and C
(Oral) were given injections of 0.5 ml of 2 x 10 6 of purified spores
of Encephalitotozoon intestinalis spores and were observed for serum
specific IgG for 21 days using both direct and indirect ELISA.
Results: In indirect ELISA, specific lgG were detected on days 7, 14
and 21 for the group B rats and on day 21 for group C and in direct
ELISA method, specific lgG were detected in-group B rats on days 7 and
21, for group C rats on day 21 only, while in the control rats,
specific lgG were not detected. There was no significant difference
between the direct and indirect methods (df=1, X 2 , P>0.05). E.
intestinalis was observed in stool samples of rats in 1/12 (08.33%) on
days 14 and 21 in group B, and in 4/10 (33.33%), 3/10 (25.00%) and 2/10
(16.67%) on days 7, 14 and 21 respectively in group C. In group A,
which is the control rats, no microsporidia were observed on days 0, 7,
14 and 21. Conclusions: There were no changes in the T-lymphocyte
counts of rats prior to and after inoculation with spores. Extensive
lesions were observed along the intestinal walls especially on the
middle and lower sections of group C rats only
Prevalence of hepatitis-B surface antigen among blood donors and human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients in Jos, Nigeria
Information is very scarce on the prevalence of hepatitis-B virus (HBV) infection among blood donors and patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in Nigeria. Hepatitis-B surface antigen (HBsAg) ELISA was used to determined the prevalence of HBsAg among 175 blood donors (aged 20-40 years) and 490 HIV-infected patients (aged 17-60 years) in Jos, Nigeria. Twenty-five (14.3%) of the blood donors and 127 (25.9%) of the HIV-infected individuals were HBsAg seropositive, indicating a higher HBV infection among HIV-infected persons than among healthy blood donors. A slightly higher HBsAg seroprevalence was recorded in the males (14.6%) than females (12.9%) of the blood donors. Among the HIV-infected patients, the males had considerably higher HBsAg seroprevalence than the females (31.8 vs 22.1%) with the highest prevalence of HBsAg occurring in the 51-60 years age group (44%), followed by those of 31-40 years (28.2%). Results confirmed the high endemicity of HBV infection in Jos, Nigeria and the significantly greater prevalence of HBV infection among HIV -infected patients than among blood donors