Depression amongst healthcare workers in Maiduguri, north-eastern Nigeria

Objective: Very few studies reported the high prevalence of emotional reactions amongst healthcare workers, in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of depression among health care workers in two tertiary health institutions in Maiduguri, north-Eastern Nigeria.Methods: In this comparative, cross-sectional study, we used a stratified sampling technique to recruit 370 healthcare workers (clinical and non-clinical staff) from university teaching hospital, and Federal Neuro-psychiatric Hospital, Maiduguri, Borno State, north-east Nigeria. The participants completed a semi-structured socio-demographic questionnaire and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II).Results: Twenty (10.7%) and 14 (7.6%) clinical and non-clinical health care workers, respectively had depression (÷2 = 1.096, df = 1, ñ = 0.295). The prevalence of depression in males and females were 7.8% and 26.9%, respectively. Gender had a significant association with depression (÷2 = 3.427, df = 1, ñ =0.043).Conclusion: For an effective healthcare delivery service, the psychological well-being of hospital workers must be improved. Hospital workers require skills on stress management techniques.Keywords: Depression, healthcare workers, Maiduguri, Nigeri

Relocation risky for bumblebee colonies-Response

peer reviewe

Climate change impacts on bumblebees converge across continents

peer reviewedFor many species, geographical ranges are expanding toward the poles in response to climate change, while remaining stable along range edges nearest the equator. Using long-term observations across Europe and North America over 110 years, we tested for climate change-related range shifts in bumblebee species across the full extents of their latitudinal and thermal limits and movements along elevation gradients. We found cross-continentally consistent trends in failures to track warming through time at species' northern range limits, range losses from southern range limits, and shifts to higher elevations among southern species. These effects are independent of changing land uses or pesticide applications and underscore the need to test for climate impacts at both leading and trailing latitudinal and thermal limits for species

Lipoglycans Contribute to Innate Immune Detection of Mycobacteria

Innate immune recognition is based on the detection, by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), of molecular structures that are unique to microorganisms. Lipoglycans are macromolecules specific to the cell envelope of mycobacteria and related genera. They have been described to be ligands, as purified molecules, of several PRRs, including the C-type lectins Mannose Receptor and DC-SIGN, as well as TLR2. However, whether they are really sensed by these receptors in the context of a bacterium infection remains unclear. To address this question, we used the model organism Mycobacterium smegmatis to generate mutants altered for the production of lipoglycans. Since their biosynthesis cannot be fully abrogated, we manipulated the biosynthesis pathway of GDP-Mannose to obtain some strains with either augmented (∼1.7 fold) or reduced (∼2 fold) production of lipoglycans. Interestingly, infection experiments demonstrated a direct correlation between the amount of lipoglycans in the bacterial cell envelope on one hand and the magnitude of innate immune signaling in TLR2 reporter cells, monocyte/macrophage THP-1 cell line and human dendritic cells, as revealed by NF-κB activation and IL-8 production, on the other hand. These data establish that lipoglycans are bona fide Microbe-Associated Molecular Patterns contributing to innate immune detection of mycobacteria, via TLR2 among other PRRs

A decade experience with the use of clozapine in a Nigerian tertiary hospital

Background: Clozapine as the prototypical atypical antipsychotic has proven benefits in treatment-refractory schizophrenia as well as reduced propensity for extrapyramidal side effects. Literature is lacking from Nigeria on experience with clozapine use, the characteristics of patients and white blood cell (WBC) counts monitoring practices. This study looks at the demographic and clinical characteristics as well as WBC monitoring practices of patients on clozapine. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective, descriptive study that surveyed all patients on clozapine in the center for a decade. Descriptive statistics as well as inferential statistics, such as Chi-square, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and correlation coefficient, were used to analyze the data using IBM SPSS Statistics 20. Results: In the period covered by the study, 70 patients were found to have been on clozapine. The mean age of the patients was 39.4 years with standard deviation (SD) of 13.7 years. The majority of the patients were males making up 61.4% of the study sample. The predominant ethnic group of the patients was Kanuri making 60% of the sample. Up to 60% of the patients had at least primary school education while the remaining 40% had no formal education. The majority of the patients had a diagnosis of schizophrenia, which made up 65.7%. The mean number of WBC count checks was 4.1 (SD = 4.8). ANOVA shows that there was no statistically significant association between the number of WBC count checks and the educational attainment of patients or their diagnosis (education: F = 1.354, P = 0.266; diagnosis: F = 2.07, P = 0.097). Conclusion: Clozapine still remains the antipsychotic of last resort in a number of psychiatric patients which, therefore, underscores the importance of studying the patients on the medication

A Report of Personality Disposition and Pentazocine Abuse in Sickle Cell Anemia Patients: A report of two cases

Pentazocine abuse among sickle cell anemia patients is a major concern for health care providers. This study hopes to expose the addictive potential, associated problems and personality disposition of individuals with sickle cell disease that depend mainly on pentazocine as an analgesic drug and to emphasize on the necessary treatment procedure for health care providers. Two case reports of pentazocine abuse at the rehabilitation unit of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Maiduguri Nigeria were made. It was found that both patients who were sickle cell anemia (HbS) were given intramuscular pentazocine in a government hospital during an episode of bone pain crises became dependent on the substance along side with other behavioral problems. In conclusion, we suggest that standard guideline should be made available for health care providers on the management of chronic pain. Mild form of analgesic should be considered first before considering stronger analgesic that has been found to have high potential for addiction and a comprehensive psychological assessment should always be done for all patients with sickle cell anemia co-morbid with substance use to determine any behavioral problems