Preparation and use of plant medicines for farmers' health in Southwest Nigeria: socio-cultural, magico-religious and economic aspects

Agrarian rural dwellers in Nigeria produce about 95% of locally grown food commodities. The low accessibility to and affordability of orthodox medicine by rural dwellers and their need to keep healthy to be economically productive, have led to their dependence on traditional medicine. This paper posits an increasing acceptance of traditional medicine country-wide and advanced reasons for this trend. The fact that traditional medicine practitioners' concept of disease is on a wider plane vis-à-vis orthodox medicine practitioners' has culminated in some socio-cultural and magico-religious practices observed in preparation and use of plant medicines for farmers' health management. Possible scientific reasons were advanced for some of these practices to show the nexus between traditional medicine and orthodox medicine. The paper concludes that the psychological aspect of traditional medicine are reflected in its socio-cultural and magico-religious practices and suggests that government should fund research into traditional medicine to identify components of it that can be integrated into the national health system

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

A review of the use of Computer and Internet Services in a Lagos Tertiary Institution

The availability of information on medicine and related subjects cannot be over estimated on the Internet. Some tertiary institutions in most of the developing countries, in particular Nigeria, do not have access to the Internet. This may be due to the high cost of the Internet connectivity, inadequate basic infrastructure and also to the lack of knowledge on the use of the computer and Internet. The penetration of computers and Internet technology into all corners of professional life will influence the way students and members of staff communicate and work. This article presents basic information on the application of Internet in the fields of medicine, nutrition and health, furthermore identifies the attitude of students and staff of the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos (CMUL) to the newly introduced computer Laboratory and Internet Services. The CMUL is a modern tertiary institution, situated in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria. The methodology employed in this study was stratified distribution of questionnaires to both students and members of staff of different categories. The knowledge of the existence of the Computer laboratory and Internet services on the third floor of the Medical Library, and previous computer experience was sought. The attitude of users to current price charge, location as well as the staff providing the services was also studied. The major findings indicate that many were computer literate and also users of the services provided in the CMUL. The major activity performed on the Internet was e-mail. This study shows the need to introduce measures for improved services by eliminating the telephone dialing time delay and power outages from public electric supply. Key words: Internet, Information Technology, Library and Medical Education [Nig. Jnl Health & Biomedical Sciences Vol.1(1) 2002: 13-21

Characterization of non-fermenting Gram-negative Bacilli at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital - A Preliminary report

No Abstract. NQJHM Vol. 6 (3) 1996: pp. 178-18

Bacterial pathogens and their antimicrobial susceptibitily patterns in the Out-Patient setting in Lagos

No Abstract. NQJHM Vol. 8 (4) 1998: pp. 256-26

Bacterial pathogens causing neonatal sepsis in an out-born neonatal unit in Lagos, Nigeria

No Abstract. NQJHM Vol. 6 (3) 1996: pp. 149-15