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Toxoplasma antibodies amongst HIV/AIDS patients attending the University Teaching Hospital Yaounde in Cameroon

JCN Assob, AL Njunda, DS Nsagha, HL Kamga, PE Weledji, VB Che

 

Abstract

Toxoplasmosis is caused by an obligatory intracellular protozoon. It causes a wide range of diseases with toxoplasma encephalitis commonly encountered in HIV/AIDS patients. This work was carried out to determine the seroprevalence of toxoplasma antibodies (IgM and IgG) in HIV/AIDS patients attending the Yaoundé University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Cameroon. Sera were collected from 133 HIV/AIDS patients at the out-patient department and the ELISA technique was employed serologically to determine toxoplasma antibodies. Of the 133 patients 83 (62.4%) were females and 59 (37.6%) were males; ninety three (69.9%) were positive for toxoplasma antibodies. Fourteen (10.8%) of the 93 of seropositive patients presented with both IgG and IgM-antibodies in their sera while fifty six (42.1%) and 8 (6.0%) were only sero-positive for toxoplasma IgG or IgM-antibody respectively This rate of infection was not dependent on the patient’s sex or age (X2=11.49, P>0.05). The data provides enough evidence to conclude that 64.7% of the positive cases were due to reactivated infection.

Key words: Toxoplasmosis, HIV/AIDS, Pregnancy, Risk factors, Prevalence, Yaounde, Cameroon.

Toxoplasma antibodies amongst HIVAIDS patients attending the University Teaching Hospital Yaounde in Cameroon

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In-Vitro efficacy of antimicrobial agents used in the treatment of bacterial eye infections in Ibadan, Nigeria

DO Ogbolu, OAT Alli, IE Ephraim, FA Olabiyi, OA Daini

 

Abstract

Failure to cure eye infections, and reduced potency in topical antimicrobials had been observed in South Western Nigeria, this study sought to evaluate in vitro, the efficacy of antimicrobial agents in the treatment of ocular infections. A total of 46 ocular bacterial isolates were recovered from the diagnostic laboratory of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, from conjunctival swabs of patients having underlying eye diseases (Cataracts, glaucoma and esotrapia), and from patients presenting with other symptoms of eye infections. The pathogens incriminated were Staphylococcus aureus (73.5%), Coagulase negative Staphylococci (13.3%), Klebsiella species (10.3%), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2.0%). Disc diffusion tests (Bauer-Kirby method) were carried out using ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, augmentin, cefuroxime and levofloxacin. Broth dilution techniques were thereafter performed using gentamicin, chloramphenicol and ciprofloxacin. The microlide- erythromycin was 63.0% efficacious, augmentin and cefuroxime showed 71.1% and 76% efficacy. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of commonly used topical antibiotics however showed different levels of resistance. Resistance to the aminoglycosides was marked, yielding 53.4% with MIC50= 8, MIC90 > 256, Resistance to chloramphenicol was even more marked 69.6% with MIC50= 16, MIC90= 64, the fluoroquinolones showed high efficacy- levofloxacin and ciprofloxacin showed 93.4% and 82.6% susceptibility respectively with MIC50 < 0.5, though slightly demonstrable resistance was observed (MIC90= 8). The study thus recommends the discontinuation of empirical therapy by physicians in order to stem the tide of resistance; it justifies the inclusion of the fluoroquinolones in susceptibility testing of ocular bacterial isolates, and its first line of choice if cure is warranted.

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In-Vitro efficacy of antimicrobial agents used in the treatment of bacterial eye infections in Ibadan, Nigeria

 

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Oral Candidiasis amongst cancer patients at Qods Hospital

SH Afraseyabi, A Afkhamzadeh, H Sabori, F Verdi, N Khaksar, B Mosavei, E Kalantar

 

Abstract

Background: Within the past two decades, Candida species have emerged as major human pathogens and are currently the fourth most common cause of nosocomial infection. Propose of this study was to determine the occurrence of oral Candidiasis among cancer patients at Qods hospitals in Sanandaj.
Materials and Methods: Sixty cancer patients were examined for oral candidiasis. For all patients, the clinical diagnosis had to be confirmed microbiologically by the presence of yeasts and / or hyphae or pseudohyphae on potassium hydroxide–treated smears of oral swabs. Oral samples were obtained and cultured on Sabouraud’s dextrose agar and CHROMagar.
Results: 25 out of the 60 patients (41.7%) were males and 35 (58.3%) were females ranging in age from 15 to 79 years. Gastrointestinal cancer and Breast cancer were the most frequent cancer in the studied group, accounting for 65 % and 18.4 % respectively. The mean weight of the patients was 52.67 Kg (range, 38– 80 Kg). Similarly, the mean of hospital stay was 3.58 days (range; 1-9 days). From these patients, 19 Candida spp were isolated; C. albicans alone outnumbered other species and accounted for 73.68% episodes of trash. For C. albicans isolates, the MIC values ranges from 1 to 9 Z g / ml μg / ml for polyenes and from 0.03 to 16 Z g / ml for the azole antifungals. All the Candida albicans had closely related MFCs values.
Conclusion: In conclusions, the finding of our study strongly suggest that oral candidiasis is a frequent complication among cancer patients, being C. albicans the main etiological agent.

Keywords: Cancer, Oral candidiasis, Candida albicans, Antifungal agents

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Oral Candidiasis amongst cancer patients at Qods Hospital

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Demodecosis in a dog

RIO Nwoha

 

Abstract

Dogs are the most common pet animals worldwide. They sometimes harbour a wide range of parasitic diseases with zoonotic potentials, predisposing humans to health risk. Demodecosis is a parasitic disease that is often seen in young dogs of less than a year, immunodeficient adults and old dogs. Generalized demodecosis when it occurs in a dog may take months and years to treat. Infected animal has persistent puritis due to intense itching from Demodex canis. Such animal often inflicts wounds on the body due to persistent scratching and therefore should not under go aesthetic surgery until demodecosis is completely treated. The constant scratching of the body by the dog could traumatize the surgical site perphaps leading to evisceration and death of the animal if not promptly handled.

Keywords: Dog, evisceration, generalized demodecosis, aesthetic surgery.

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Demodecosis in a dog

 

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Binding to CSA receptor is associated with asymptomatic and mild malaria: a preliminary study using P.falciparum field isolates from Sudan

DA Hassan, HS Mohamed, AM El-Hussein, ME Ibrahim, NH Abdulhadi

 

Abstract

Malaria imposes great socio-economic burden on humanity, and afflicts approximately 90 countries and territories in the tropical and subtropical regions, almost one half of them are in Africa, South of Sahara. Sequestration of parasitized erythrocytes within the small vessels of vital organs is a key event in the pathogenesis of malaria and responsible of virulence of Plasmodium falciparum parasite. To find out whether the ability of infected red blood cells (IRBCs) to adhere to a specific receptor is a risk factor for developing severe clinical manifestation of the disease, in-vitro cytoadhesion and inhibition experiments were performed on field isolates obtained from five symptomatic and five asymptomatic patients inhabiting Gazira State, Central Sudan. The results showed significant lower levels (p<0.02) of cytoadhesion among asymptomatic compared to symptomatic patients. Percent inhibition by FA6-152, a monoclonal antibody for CD36, was comparable between the two study groups. However, the inhibition by CSA protein was less among symptomatic compared to asymptomatic patients. These results shed light on possible role of CSA receptors expressed on endothelial cells in ameliorating the events associated with the severe phenotype of the disease.
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Laboratory diagnosis of malaria in children under five years in a rural community: microscopy versus malaria PF test

CP Enwuru, SI Umeh, UM Abasi, RC Egbuobi

 

Abstract

The morbidity and mortality associated with malaria in children below 5 years is really worrisome especially in the rural communities with little or no laboratory diagnostic facilities. This study was carried out to compare microscopy with Malaria Pf test for the diagnosis of malaria in a rural community in Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State. Two hundred and fifty blood smears of children below 5 years were stained with Giemsa and examined microscopically for malaria parasites. Also the Malaria Pf rapid diagnostic test was used to test the same blood samples for malaria antigens. Thirty two per cent of the blood samples were positive for malaria parasite. Compared with microscopy, the sensitivity of the Malaria Pf test was 90.0%, the specificity was 98.2%. The positive predictive value was 96.0% and negative predictive value was 95.4%. The Malaria Pf test is reliable in the parasite based diagnosis of malaria in children under 5 years. We recommend the application of this test for parasitological confirmation of malaria in all places where it is not possible to provide facilities for good quality microscopy especially in the rural communities.

KEY WORDS: MALARIA, DIAGNOSIS, CHILDREN, MICROSCOPY, MALARIA PF

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Laboratory diagnosis of malaria in children under five years in a rural community microscopy versus malaria PF test

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Multidrug resistant Salmonellae isolated from blood culture samples of suspected typoid patients in Warri, Nigeria

DA Ehwarieme

 

Abstract

This study investigates the prevalence of R-plasmids in Salmonella sp. isolated from blood samples of suspected typhoid patients in Warri, Nigeria. A total of 136 blood samples were collected between May and December,2009 and screened for the presence of Salmonellae using standard blood culture techniques of which 20(14.7%) was positive for the pathogen. The multidrug resistant (MDR) isolates obtained (n=16; 80.0%), exhibiting the Ampicillin, Chloramphenicol, Cotrimoxazole and Tetracyclin (ACCoT) resistance profile, were subjected to plasmid curing. All (100%) of these MDR isolates bore their resistance markers on plasmids, as they lost their resistance sequel to the curing experiment. The low prevalence (14.7%) of the pathogen in the blood samples indicate that a good number of the suspected typhoid cases may not be incidences of the disease afterall. Furthermore, the high prevalence of MDR and plasmid-mediated MDR (80.0% and 100% respectively) isolates, suggest that treatment failures may be rampant if precise susceptibility test is not conducted prior to prescription.

Key words: Multidrug resistant, blood culture, typhoid fever.

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Multidrug resistant Salmonellae isolated from blood culture samples of suspected typoid patients in Warri Nigeria

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Diagnostic accuracy of rapid urease test for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori gastic biopsies in Nigerian with dyspepsia

AC Jemilohun, JA Otegbayo, SO Ola, AO Oluwasola, A Akere

 

Abstract

Background: The strong association of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) with dyspepsia has caused a major paradigm shift in patients’ management. It has been observed that histology is usually employed as the routine test for the diagnosing H. pylori in centres where  Oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGD) is available in Nigeria. Because of the drawbacks attendant to the use of histology, in terms of cost effectiveness and technical expertise, it is necessary to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of a simpler alternative for ease of management of patients with dyspepsia.
Objective: This study evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of rapid urease test (RUT) in the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in patients with dyspepsia.
Methods: Eighty-six consecutive adult patients with dyspeptic symptoms presenting for endoscopy were recruited after giving informed consent. Gastric antral biopsies were collected at endoscopy for RUT and histology. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) of RUT was calculated using histology as the reference
standard.
Results: Of the 86 subjects, there were 39 (45.3%) males and 47(54.7%) females. The mean age was 49.19±13.75 years. The age range was 23 to 85 years. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV of RUT was 93.33%, 75.6 %, 80.76 %, and 91.17 % respectively.
Conclusion: RUT is accurate for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection. Its use will serve as a good alternative to histology in management of patients with dyspepsia in resource poor environments, except in patients who need histology for reasons other than H. Pylori diagnosis.

Key words: Dyspepsia, Helicobacter pylori, Rapid Urease test, Histology.

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Diagnostic accuracy of rapid urease test for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori gastic biopsies in Nigerian with dyspepsia

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Hepatitis B immunization at the University College Hospital, Ibadan: an eight year review of vaccine administration records

SO Ola, A Akere, JA Otegbayo, F Omokhodion, AA Olofin, EA Bamgboye

 

Abstract

Vaccination of health care workers (HCWs) against hepatitis (HBV) infection is highly necessary in Nigeria where the infection occurs in hperendemic proportions. We hereby determine the trends in the administration of HBV vaccine at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Nigeria. The study reviewed the records for the administration of vaccine against HBV at the Staff Medical Services Department of UCH, Ibadan, Nigeria, from 1994 to 2001. A total of 1,437 subjects consisting of 686 (47.7%) males and 751 (52.3 %) females were vaccinated against HBV from 1994 to 2001. They were aged 16 to 64 years and consisted of 356 students (24.8%) and 1081 healthcare workers (HCWs) (75.2%) which comprised Doctors (30.9%), Dentists (1.9%), Paramedics (19.6%), Non-medics (14.6%) and subjects with undisclosed occupational category ((10.7%). About 11% to 100% of the subjects had annual prescreening for HBsAg sero-negativity from 1996 to 2001 but none had post vaccination assay of anti-HBs titre. All the subjects received 1st dose of 0, 1, 2 accelerated HBV vaccination schedule while on annual basis, 16.7% to 91.8% of the subjects received the 3rd dose of the vaccine. Despite the proportional participation of the different occupational groups was highest among the doctors and dentists but lowest among the paramedics, only 59.7% of all the vaccinees had three dose(s) of the vaccine during the 8 year period. In conclusion, although the HBV vaccination programme had shortcomings, it is an established practice at UCH, Ibadan and efforts should be made to improve on its prevailing standard.

Keywords: Immunization, HBV, Healthcare Workers, Nigerians, UCH, Ibadan.

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Hepatitis B immunization at the University College Hospital Ibadan an eight year review of vaccine administration records

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Evaluation of immunity against poliovirus serotypes among children in riverine areas of Delta State, Nigeria

E Donbraye, MO Adewumi, GN Odaibo, AS Bakarey, OO Opaleye, DO Olaleye

 

Abstract

Nigeria remains one of the major reservoirs for wild poliovirus transmission despite the reported success in National Immunization Days and acute flaccid paralysis surveillance. Two hundred children aged ≤ 10 years, were enrolled following parental consent from hard-to-reach riverine areas of Delta state of Nigeria to assess the level of protective immunity to poliovirus. Neutralizing antibodies to the three poliovirus serotypes in the serum samples of the children were determined by the beta method of neutralization.
Eight (4%) of the children had no detectable antibody, 178 (89%), 180 (90%) and 181 (90.5%) were positive for antibodies to poliovirus types 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Overall, 162 (81%) of the children had antibodies to the three poliovirus serotypes at a titre of at least 1:8. The study shows the need for proper monitoring of vaccination coverage in such hard-to-reach riverine areas to achieve the objective of the global eradication of poliovirus.

Keywords: Neutralizing, antibody, poliovirus, serotypes, riverine, Nigeria

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Evaluation of immunity against poliovirus serotypes among children in riverine areas of Delta State Nigeria