The pattern of infection and in vivo response to Chloroquine by uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in northwestern Nigeria

The pattern of infection and in vivo response of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria to Chloroquine as first line drug and Quinine, Halofantrine or Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine as second line medications was evaluated at nested sentinel points, including Government and Private Practices, for three consecutive months. 559 cases were evaluated of which 22.5% failed on Chloroquine therapy. The age range of P. falciparum malaria cases was 4 months to 48 years, with a mean and median age of 9.2 and 3 years, respectively. There were significantly more female patients than male. Also, ages 5 years and below accounted for 63.2% of cases and as a group had an increased risk of treatment failure with Chloroquine compared to older patients. In general, male patients also had a higher relative risk of treatment failure on Chloroquine. Patients treated in Government practices were more likely to fail than those treated in Private practices. All cases of failure to Chloroquine treatment responded to Quinine, Halofantrine or Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine. Key Words: Plasmodium falciparum malaria, Chloroquine, resistance. African Journal of Biotechnology Vol.4(1) 2005: 79-8

Designing and optimizing a micromanipulator-controlled surgical tool for reproducible nerve crush injuries in mice

Poster presented at the 2017 Health Sciences Research Day which was organized and sponsored by the University of Missouri School of Medicine Research Council and held on November 9, 2017.Introduction: Recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury, even if temporary, is a devastating complication of anterior cervical surgical procedures, resulting in debilitating dysphonia and dysphagia. During surgery, injury can be imparted by stretching, crushing, cauterizing, and/or transecting the laryngeal nerves. The injury can be temporary or permanent, depending on the severity and mechanism of insult. Treatment of the injury is generally palliative in nature and includes feeding tubes, voice and swallowing therapy, and diet modifications. The underlying pathophysiology of RLN is not completely understood. To effectively investigate various treatment strategies in mouse models, we need to improve the current translational animal model by standardizing the widely-used manual nerve crush techniques that apply variable force and may unintentionally add traction injuries. To control for these potential confounds, we are developing a micromanipulator-controlled surgical tool that (1) reliably applies a calibrated crush force injury, and (2) minimizes secondary injuries, such as traction, induced by manual methods

Sequential mechanisms underlying concentration invariance in biological olfaction

Concentration invariance—the capacity to recognize a given odorant (analyte) across a range of concentrations—is an unusually difficult problem in the olfactory modality. Nevertheless, humans and other animals are able to recognize known odors across substantial concentration ranges, and this concentration invariance is a highly desirable property for artificial systems as well. Several properties of olfactory systems have been proposed to contribute to concentration invariance, but none of these alone can plausibly achieve full concentration invariance. We here propose that the mammalian olfactory system uses at least six computational mechanisms in series to reduce the concentration-dependent variance in odor representations to a level at which different concentrations of odors evoke reasonably similar representations, while preserving variance arising from differences in odor quality. We suggest that the residual variance then is treated like any other source of stimulus variance, and categorized appropriately into “odors” via perceptual learning. We further show that naïve mice respond to different concentrations of an odorant just as if they were differences in quality, suggesting that, prior to odor categorization, the learning-independent compensatory mechanisms are limited in their capacity to achieve concentration invariance

The Incidence of Anemia and the Impact of Poor Glycemic Control in Type-2 Diabetic Patients with Renal Insufficiency

Background: Anemia is a common finding in patients with diabetes and renal insufficiency but the effect of poor glycemic control in such patients is not clearly defined. Aim: To determine the impact of poor glycemic control in the incidence of anemia in type-2 diabetic patients with renal insufficiency. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2012 and comprised 72 type-2 diabetic patients and 32 non-diabetic controls recruited from diabetes clinics of the Igbinedion University Teaching Hospital, Okada, Edo state, Nigeria. Patients were divided into groups according to glycemic control and renal function. Serum creatinine, hemoglobin concentration, blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin of subjects were measured. The pre­sence of anemia was defined by hemoglobin level <13.0 g/dL in men and <12.0 g/dL in women. Renal insufficiency was defined as serum creatinine level >1.5 mg/dL. Results: Incidence of anemia in the study population was 27%. Diabetic patients with poor glycemic control had greater odds (OR = 3.71; 95% CI, 1.09 – 12.56) for anemia compared to those with good glycemic control irrespective of renal function. Furthermore, patients with poor glycemic control and renal insufficiency were at a greater risk of anemia compared to those with normal renal function (OR = 5.78; 95% CI, 1.34 – 24.92). Conclusion: Higher incidence of anemia is associated with poor glycemic control especially in diabetic patients with renal insufficiency. Keywords: Anemia, Type-2 diabetes mellitus, Glycemic control, Renal insufficienc

Evaluating Trichomonas vaginalis infection in pregnant women from two health facilities, Sokoto, Nigeria

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and factors that promote the transmission of Trichomonas vaginalis among pregnant women in Sokoto metropolis using High Vaginal Swab (HVS) and urine samples. Samples were collected from 100 pregnant women within the age of 18-50 years in Mabera Clinic and Maryam Abacha Women and Children Hospital (MAWCHS) using sterile speculum for HVS and sample bottles for urine. Participation was voluntary. Of the 100 women, 17(17%) were infected overall, while 7(7.0%) had infection only in their vaginal swab, 3 (3.0%) only in their urine and 7 (7.0%) in both urine and vaginal swab. Vaginal swabs significantly recorded more infections than urine samples (p<0.05). Women aged 32-38 had highest prevalence, 6(30.0%) and those in 1st trimester were more infected than others. Women who use pit latrine were more infected, 15(22.1%) than those who use water system and open space, and those from polygamous marriages of 3 wives to one husband recorded highest infection rates 5(33.3%). The difference in infection rates based on age, trimester, lavatory type and form of marriage were however not statistically significant (p>0.05). Women age, lack of proper toilet facilities, and form of marriage with multiple sexual partners could be factors’ influencing the disease transmission in the study area and adequate health education is recommended, especially amongst young women and those from polygamous forms of marriage.Keywords: T. vaginalis; vaginal swabs; pregnant wome

Knowledge, attitude and practices on malaria among the rural communities in Aliero, Northern Nigeria

Objective: Families′ perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes about malaria causation, symptom identification, treatment of malaria, and prevention are often overlooked in malaria control efforts. This study was conducted to understand these issues, which can be an important step towards developing strategies, aimed at controlling malaria. Materials and Methods: A community based descriptive cross-sectional study in four villages: Danwarai, Gehuru, Jiga, and Kashin Zama of Aliero local government area in Kebbi Sate, in northern Nigeria. Two hundred household were randomly selected and interviewed using standardized questionnaire. Results: Knowledge of the role of mosquitoes in malaria transmission (11.8%) and cause of malaria (9.6%) was observed to be low among the study population. Comprehensive knowledge about malaria prevention measures was high (90%), but not reflecting in their practice (16%). They have good knowledge of mosquito behavior (breeding areas (64.5%), resting places (70%) and biting time (81%)). Seeking hospital care for a febrile child was a good practice (68.5%) observed. Attitudes regarding the "best antimalarial therapy" was limited (56.7%) to chloroquine. Conclusions: Misconceptions about malaria transmission and its cause still exist. Knowledge about preventive measures does not necessarily translate into improvement in practices. There is a need for targeted educational programs to increase the communities′ efforts to develop desirable attitude and practices regarding malaria and their participation for malaria control

Postpartum Depression Screening Tools: A Review

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the accuracy of screening tools in detecting postpartum depression (PPD). METHODS: A review of the literature was conducted using PubMed, Clinical Key, and Google Scholar from the years 2001-2016 with a modified PRISMA method. The keywords, postnatal depression screening, antenatal depression screening, and maternal depression were used in the search. Sixty-eight articles were reviewed, and 36 further analyzed. RESULTS: The accuracy of screening tools was dependent upon a number of factors. The studies reviewed differed in the types of screening tools tested, the combination of screening tools administered, the timing in which screening tools were administered, the geographic location of patients screened, and the reference standard(s) used. CONCLUSIONS: No tool could be deemed best at accurately detecting PPD on the basis of sensitivity and specificity. Additionally, there was no recommended time duration in which screening should be done. Thus, further research is needed to elucidate the accuracy of PPD screening tools, and the best criteria to determine this

Larvicidal efficacy of stock Bacillus sphaericus on local species of Anopheles mosquito in Sokoto, Nigeria

Graded concentrations (15, 30, 60, 90, 100, 120 mg/l) of stock, water dispersed powder of Bacillus sphaericus (SPH88: lot number BSP247) and potency of 17001TU/mg obtained from Pasteur Institute in Paris, France was tested against fourth instar larvae of local breed of Anopheles gambiae for larvicidal efficacy. LC50 value obtained was 60 mg/l or 0.016 ìg/l on the probate graph. Larval mortality increased with increased concentration of larvicide but F-statistics at 5% confidence limit, showed no significant difference (p>0.05) between efficacies of the different concentrations of larvicide at causing mortality of the malaria vector. Time of exposure to larvicide also had insignificant influence (p>0.05) on rate of larval mortality. It was concluded that employed larvicide had limited activity against local breed of mosquito with risk of early resistance against this biological agent. Keywords: larvicide, Bacillus, mosquito. Nigerian Journal of Parasitology Vol. 29 (2) 2008: pp. 103-10

Epidemiological and parasitological studies on lymphatic filariasis in Argungu Local Government Area of Kebbi State, Nigeria

Mass Medicine Administration (MMA) with albendazole and ivermectin has been going on in Argungu Local Government Area of Kebbi State for over six years. Apart from the baseline mapping conducted by the state ministry of health in 2010 to identify communities eligible for MDA, no comprehensive study has been carried out on this disease in the area. This study is necessary to determine if transmission has been halted or not. A total of 425 volunteers in 6 rural villages were examined using Immunochromatographic Card Test (ICT) and routine microscopy . Physical manifestations and entomological studies were also carried out. Nine inhabitants, 9(0.4%) were positive using ICT with no microfilaria of W. bancrofti. Infection was significantly higher in Matan Fada Village (7.14%) (p<-0.5), while three villages recorded 0.00% infection rate. Infection was higher in males than females, age group 10-19, in singles than married participants, pupils/students than other occupations (p>0.5). There was weak negative correlation between ICT and hydrocele(r = -0.14) as well as lymphoedema (r = -0.012). 436 mosquitoes were dissected and none harboured microfilaria of W. bancrofti. It is concluded that transmission has been halted in 3 of the villages since they have met the WHO’s criteria of less than 1% seropositivity, and MMA should therefore be stopped in those villages. There is however continued surveillance, morbidity management and vector control. Keywords: Entamological studies; microfilaria; mobidity management