Correlation of Features of Allergic Rhinitis and Allergic Conjunctivitis with Treatment Modalities

Introduction: Allergic Rhinitis (AR) is a chronic, symptomatic allergic disorder of the nose that is usually caused by IgE-mediated inflammatory response following exposure to an allergen. The allergen could be in the form of dust, pollen, flower, animal dander, mold, cold, food allergens or insect. Clinically, AR occurs when there are recurrent nasal symptoms which are reversible either spontaneously or with medication in the preceding one year. Such symptoms include at least two of the following; excessive sneezing, running nose, nasal itching, nasal discharge, nasal congestion or obstruction. Previous studies have linked AR to be co-existed with another form of allergic disorders including AC, Atopic dermatitis and Allergic Asthma. This study is aimed at assessing the feature of AR patients with coexistent AC as well as evaluating the effectiveness of the treatments offered to them. Objectives: The study was aimed at finding the correlation between the nasal and eye features in a patient who has co-existing allergic rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted between August 2018 and November 2019 among 38 patients who presented to ENT and Ophthalmology departments of Federal Teaching Hospital Ido-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Southwestern Nigeria and was diagnosed with both allergic rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis. Relevant data obtained were analyzed using SPSS version 20. P ≤ 0.05 was taken as significant. Results: The patients’ age range between 8 and 81 years with a median age of 33 years. The majority were less than 45 years (63.2%) with the male to female ratio of almost. Eye pain, itching, and redness account for 97.4% of all the eye features, while the presence of Cobblestone-like papillae is the least and accounted for 5%. Nasal itching (92.1%) was the commonest nasal symptom. Sleep disturbance was found to be the most common among those with eye itching (29.7%). Conclusion: This research was conducted to correlate the features of allergic rhinitis with those of conjunctivitis and common management and preventive measures offered to the patients seen in our clinics. The majority of the patients were less than 45 years with almost equal sex ratio. Eye pain, itching, and redness account for the majority of all the eye features, while the presence of Cobblestone-like papillae is the least eye feature. Nasal itching was the commonest nasal symptom and this was seen in the majority of the patients with eye symptoms

Psychological, Socioeconomic Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic and Associated Prevalent Self-Reported Vulnerability Factors among Residents of Southwest Nigeria

Background: Infectious diseases wrecked havoc in global economies, especially when outbreak or pandemic occurs. The present  COVID‑19 pandemic has not only caused disruption to global activities but also of businesses, trades, movements, and academic activities. Southwest Nigeria has the highest burden of COVID‑19 of all the six geopolitical zones in the country. This study, therefore, aims at determining the psychological, socioeconomic effect of COVID‑19 pandemic and associated vulnerability factors among residents of Southwest Nigeria.Methods: This survey is a cross‑sectional study in the six southwest states of Nigeria via Google questionnaire sent electronically to obtaininformation from respondents. Targeted sampling and snowball techniques were used to reach the respondents. Data were analyzed using SPSS 23, and the level of statistical significance was at P < 0.05. Results: The mean age of the respondents is 32.89 ± 9.59 years and age range of 16–57 years. Majority of the respondents were males, married with tertiary education. Majority (83.9%) of the respondents have severe psychological effects, 78.2% have their family income affected, while diabetes, asthma, cardiovascular diseases, cancers,  previous contact with a confirmed case and travel history outside Nigeria were among the self‑reported vulnerable factors of COVID‑19.  Conclusion: The study concluded that the psychological and economic effects of COVID‑19 are high in Southwest Nigeria and major self‑reported vulnerable factors include cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, asthma, and cancers. Scale‑up of public awareness,  subsidization of personal protective equipment, and financial stimulus are recommended measures against the disease. Keywords: COVID‑19, effect, Nigeria, vulnerabilit

Correlation of Features of Allergic Rhinitis and Allergic Conjunctivitis with Treatment Modalities

Introduction: Allergic Rhinitis (AR) is a chronic, symptomatic allergic disorder of the nose that is usually caused by IgE-mediated inflammatory response following exposure to an allergen. The allergen could be in the form of dust, pollen, flower, animal dander, mold, cold, food allergens or insect. Clinically, AR occurs when there are recurrent nasal symptoms which are reversible either spontaneously or with medication in the preceding one year. Such symptoms include at least two of the following; excessive sneezing, running nose, nasal itching, nasal discharge, nasal congestion or obstruction.Previous studies have linked AR to be co-existed with another form of allergic disorders including AC, Atopic dermatitis and Allergic Asthma.This study is aimed at assessing the feature of AR patients with coexistent AC as well as evaluating the effectiveness of the treatments offered to them. Objectives: The study was aimed at finding the correlation between the nasal and eye features in a patient who has co-existing allergic rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis.Methodology: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted between August 2018 and November 2019 among 38 patients who presented to ENT and Ophthalmology departments of Federal Teaching Hospital Ido-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Southwestern Nigeria and was diagnosed with both allergic rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis. Relevant data obtained were analyzed using SPSS version 20. P ≤ 0.05 was taken as significant.Results: The patients’ age range between 8 and 81 yearswith a median age of 33 years. The majority were less than 45 years (63.2%) with the male to female ratio of almost. Eye pain, itching, and redness account for 97.4% of all the eye features, while the presence of Cobblestone-like papillaeis the least and accounted for 5%. Nasal itching (92.1%) was the commonest nasal symptom. Sleep disturbance was found to be the most common among those with eye itching (29.7%).Conclusion: This research was conducted to correlate the features of allergicrhinitis with those of conjunctivitis and common management and preventive measures offered to the patients seen in our clinics. The majority of the patients were less than 45 years with almost equal sex ratio. Eye pain, itching, and redness account for the majority of all the eye features, while the presence of Cobblestone-like papillaeis the least eye feature. Nasal itching was the commonest nasal symptom and this was seen in the majority of the patients with eye symptoms. Keywords: Allergy; rhinitis; conjuctivitis.1. INTRODUCTIONAllergic Rhinitis (AR) is a chronic, symptomatic allergic disorder of the nose that is caused by IgE-mediated inflammatory response following exposure to an allergen. [1] The allergen couldbe in form of dust, pollen, flower, animal dander, mold, cold or insect. [2] Clinically, Allergic rhinitis occurs when there are recurrent nasal symptoms which are reversible either spontaneously or with medication in the preceding one year. [3] Such symptoms include at least two of the following; excessive sneezing, running nose, nasal itching, nasal discharge, nasal congestion or obstruction. [3].The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between clinical features of Allergic Rhinitis (AR) with Allergic conjunctivitis (AC). The availability of such data will be necessary, not only for epidemiological purposes but also for clinical diagnosis and treatment of the affected individuals.2. METHODOLOGYThis is cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted between August 2018 and November 2019 among 38 patients who presented to ENT and Ophthalmology departments of Federal Teaching Hospital Ido-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Southwestern Nigeria and were diagnosed with both allergic rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis. Sample size was obtained using G*Power version 3.1.9 software to calculate the power analysis and determine the optimal sample size. The type of power analysis chosen within G*Power is “a priori: computer required sample size –given α, power, and effect size” and the test family chosen was Chi square tests. The statistical test chosen was Goodness of fit tests: contingency tables. The effect size identified was 0.5 (large effect size), the alpha level was 0.05 while the power level was 0.80. The total sample size calculated was 32 however all 38 patients that presented to ENT and Ophthalmology with both allergic rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis between August 2018 and November 2018 were enrolled into the study. Relevant history was taken and clinical examinations were carried out on the patients. Adequate treatment was offered and each patient was followed up for 3 months to evaluate the response to the treatment given. The data collected from thepatients were entered into the computer software and analyzed using SPSS version 20. P ≤ 0.05 was taken as significant