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Spleen Weight, Liver Weight And Levels Of Circulating Immune Complexes In Vitamin Deficient Mice Infected With Plasmodium berghei

OG Arinola, DI Onubogu, LS Salimonu

 

Abstract

Three groups of mice viz: well fed mice, vitamin deficient mice and vitamin deficient Plasmodium berghei infected mice were studied. In these groups of mice, the weights of the liver and spleen were determined using a weighing balance and the levels of circulating immune complexes (CICS) measured spectrophotometrically using polyethylene glycol precipitation method. The mean spleen weight, liver weight and CICs of vitamin deficient mice or vitamin deficient P. berghei infected mice were reduced compared with those of well-fed mice. However, the reduction in spleen weight was significant in vitamin deficient mice from day 15-post vitamin deficiency compared with well-fed mice. Also, the reduction in liver weight was significant in vitamin deficient mice at day 5- and day 10-post vitamin deficiency compared with well-fed mice while the reduction in liver weight was significant in vitamin deficient P. berghei infected mice at day 5-, day 10-, day 15- and day 20- post P. berghei infection compared with well-fed mice. The reductions in the levels of CICs were significant in both vitamin deficient mice and vitamin deficient P. bergheiinfected mice compared with well-fed mice from day 5-post P. berghei infection or day 5-post vitamin deficiency. The observed decreased CICs in vitamin deficient mice accompanied by reduction in liver and spleen weights showed that vitamin is essential in mounting effective immune response against malaria.

Afr. J. Clin. Exper. Microbiol. 2005; 6(2): 95-99

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Use Of Injectable Anti-Malarials Among Patients In Selected Health Facilities In Ilorin, Nigeria

TM Akande, SO Kolawole, GF Medubi

 

Abstract

Irrational use of injectable antimalarial is commonplace in developing countries. This descriptive survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of injectable antimalarials use and factors related to this practice in selected health facilities in Ilorin, Nigeria. A total of 356 outpatients were interviewed in the selected health facilities and available clinical records checked. Awareness of both oral and injectable antimalarials is fairly high among the respondents. Injectable antimalarial was the most preferred form by the patients. Request for injectable antimalarial was significantly more among educated patients and those attending private clinics and health centers. Among respondents 90.3% had ever used injectable antimalarial. Use of injectable antimalarial irrespective of clinical indications is common practice. Rational practices in the prescription of antimalarial and promotion of oral therapy need to be widely encouraged among health workers in developing countries. This will reduce the hazards associated with unnecessary injections and also reduce cost.
Key words: Injectable antimalarial, use, health facilities.

Afr. J. Clin. Exper. Microbiol. 2005; 6(2): 101-105

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Review Article: Epidemiology of Malaria in Africa

TM Akande, IO Musa

 

Abstract

Malaria is a life threatening parasitic disease transmitted by female anopheles mosquitoes. There are four types of human parasites; Plasmodium vivax, P. malariae, P ovale and P. falciparum. P. falciparum and P. vivax are the most common and P. falciparum, the most deadly type of infection, is most common in sub-Saharan Africa. A large number of environmental factors affect the distribution, seasonality and transmission intensity of malaria. Rainfall provides breeding sites for mosquitoes and increases the humidity, which enhances their survival. While malaria is largely endemic in Africa, varying proportion of countries in the continent are at risk of endemic malaria. Today, approximately 40% of the world population, mostly those living in the world’s poorest countries, is at risk of malaria. This is mostly in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. There are at least 300 million acute cases of malaria each year globally resulting in more than a million deaths, around 90% of these occur in Africa, mostly young children. In areas of stable malaria transmission, very young children and pregnant women are the population at highest risk for malaria morbidity and mortality. The populations most at risk of epidemics are those living in highlands, arid and desert-fringe zones and those living in areas where successful control measures have not been consolidated or maintained.
Key words: Epidemiology, Malaria, Africa

Afr. J. Clin. Exper. Microbiol. 2005; 6(2): 107 – 111

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Review Article: Recent Advances in Childhood Antimalaria Chemotherapy

SK Ernest, OA Mokuolu

 

Abstract

As malaria continues to kill many people in our world and spreading into areas that were never known to have it before, it becomes necessary to make occasional reviews of what therapeutic measures are effective in areas of malaria endemicity. There is a global concern as to reducing malaria morbidity and mortality worldwide. Malaria eradication had been viewed as impossible with the mechanisms used against it and the world has settled for just a control. One of the critical areas of this control is effective case management. As it was the case with tuberculosis, leprosy and bacterial infections, there is a paradigm shift from the monotherapy that have been used for nearly three centuries (Quinine) and nearly 60 years after other drugs were discovered (Chloroquine, since early 1940s and subsequently others) with no remarkable drop in the global morbidity and mortality. The World Health Organization (WHO) now advocates combination therapy, which are mainly Artemisinin–based. We in this article made an extensive review of the combination chemotherapeutic possibilities and advocacy for it to achieve increase survival, reduced disease burden through effective parasitaemic clearance with reduced chance of early recrudescence. A necessary overview has been made of the life cycle and clinical presentation of malaria which has not changed significantly over the years. Also, the combination chemotherapy including Artemisinin-based, Sulphadoxine/Pyrimethamine–based and the non-Artemisinin non-Sulphadoxine/Pyrimethamine-based chemotherapy have all been reviewed and concluded that their use will lead to effective case management and reduced mortality. We therefore advocate for a therapeutic paradigm shift to these combination therapy.
Key words: Combination chemotherapy, antimalaria, childhood, review

Afr. J. Clin. Exper. Microbiol. 2005; 6(2): 129-137

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Review Article: Vaccine for Malaria – How Far?

GO Oyeyinka

 

Abstract

This is a review of the progress made so far in the effort to produce a malaria vaccine. The problems that have made it impossible to get an effective vaccine for malaria are discussed. Also examined are the current efforts to produce the vaccine and the prospects for an effective vaccine in the future.
Key words: Vaccine, malaria, review.

Afr. J. Clin. Exper. Microbiol. 2005; 6(2): 139-143

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Review Article: Prospect and Progress of Malaria Vaccine Development

OA Adeyeba, AF Fagbenro-Beyioku, O Ojurongbe

 

Abstract

Malaria kills one child every 30 seconds in Africa. The development of a safe vaccine remains an urgent unmet need which could greatly control and even lead to the eradication of the disease. The success recorded in the recent vaccine trials have given some ray of hope that a safe and effective vaccine against malaria will soon be produced. In this article, we bring together important published information on the status of malaria vaccine development and reviewed some field trials and the obstacles as well as prospect for effective malaria vaccination.
Key words: Malaria vaccine, prospect, review

Afr. J. Clin. Exper. Microbiol. 2005; 6(2): 145-152

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Review Article: ‘Miasma’ Theory and the Possibility of Malaria Eradication

Ademola O Awoyemi

 

Abstract

Malaria as a disease entity caused by plasmodium species only became recognized towards the end of the 19th Century. Prior to that time, Mal’aria or ‘bad air’ was believed to be the cause of fevers or paludal. This article traces the history of ‘Miasma’ theory which had been accepted for Centuries before the ‘Germ’ theory became established. Comparing the ‘Miasma’ theory with current understanding of Africans about disease causation, it was concluded that there are great similarities. It is therefore recommended that concurrent application of both the ‘Germ’ theory and the ‘Miasma’ theory could lead to a more effective control or even global eradication of malaria.
Key words: Miamsa, malaria, eradication

Afr. J. Clin. Exper. Microbiol. 2005; 6(2): 153-158

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Epidemiological Study Of Asymptomatic Bacteriuria Among Nursery School Children In Ahvaz, Iran

M Jalali, T Asteraki, E Emami-Moghadam, E Kalantar

 

Abstract

This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of asymptomatic bateriuria in preschool children of different age and sex groups and to isolate the organisms responsible for asymptomatic bacteriuria and determine their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern. A total of 475 children from 17 nurseries in Ahvaz city, Iran were screened by collecting mid-stream urine samples for the presence of causative organisms. Asymptomatic bacteriuria was observed in 16 cases (3.36%). The isolated pathogens included Escherichia coli (50 %), Proteus mirabilis (25 %) and coagulase negative staphylococcus (25 %). The antibiograms indicated that Gentamicin (100 %), Nalidixic acid (100 %), Amikacin (75%), Kanamycin (75 %), Nitrofurantoin ( 62.5 %), Tobramycin ( 62.5 %), Tetracycline ( 50 %) and Chloramphenicol (37.5%), were in that order the most effective of the antibiotics tested against E. coli isolates. Proteus mirabilis showed 100% sensitivity to Amikacin, Gentamicin, Kanamycin, Nalidixic acid and Tobramycin followed by Nitrofurantoin (75%), Cephalotin (50%) and Chloramphenicol (50%). Similarly, antibiogram of coagulase negative staphylococcus showed 75% sensitivity to both Nalidixic acid and Kanamycin. This result indicated a significant rise in the frequency of Escherichia coli in asymptomatic bacteriuria.
Key words: Asymptomatic bacteriuria, children, urinary tract infections

Afr. J. Clin. Exper. Microbiol. 2005; 6(2): 159-161

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Characteristics of Nosocomial MRSA in Assir Central Hospital, Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

T Al-Azraqi, CSS Bello

 

Abstract

The objective of this study is to determine the characteristics of nosocomial methicillin-resistant and sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA & MSSA) and their minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) to vancomycin and oxacillin. Over a six-month period a study of Staphylococcus aureusisolates from clinical specimens of patients with nosocomial infections in Assir Central Hospital (ACH), Abha, Saudi Arabia, between September 2003 and February 2004, was carried out. Isolation and identification of Staphylococcus aureus was performed using standard microbiological methods. MIC to vancomycin and oxacillin was carried out using the E-test strips. Eighty-five Staphylococcus aureus isolates were identified. These were made up of 39 (45.9%) MRSA and 46 (54.1%) MSSA. The MIC to oxacillin showed that 37/39 (94.9%) MRSA had MIC >256 µg/ml and only 2/39 (5.1%) had MIC of 4 and 32 µg/ml. Thirty of forty six (65.2%) of the MSSA had MIC < 0.50 µg/ml and 16/46 (34.8%) had MIC of between 0.50 -2 µg/ml. All the 85 isolates were fully sensitive to vancomycin (MIC breakpoint < 4 µg/ml). There is even distribution of sensitivity pattern to vancomycin among MRSA and MSSA isolates. 31/39 (79.5%) of MRSA had MIC of 2 µg/ml while 34/46(74.0%) of MSSA had MIC of 2 µg/ml. The prevalence of MRSA in nosocomial infections in ACH is 45.9%. Thirty-seven out of thirty-nine (94.9%) of the MRSA strains show high resistance to oxacillin (MIC > 256 µg/ml). The use of oxacillin-related drugs to treat nosocomial Staphylococcal infections in ACH should be reviewed and infection control practices should be intensified so as to stem any future increase in MRSA prevalence in the hospital.
Key words: MRSA, Characteristics, MICs, Vancomycin, Oxacillin.Afr. J. Clin. Exper. Microbiol. 2005; 6(2): 163-166

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Mycobacterium africanum – A Review

AO Onipede, B de Jong, RA Adegbola

 

Abstract

Tuberculosis, a curable infectious disease, remains the leading cause of adult death. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has greatly exacerbated the already grave situation in the developing world by creating a deadly synergy each worsening the course of the other. Mycobacterium africanumis a subspecies of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MBC) and is isolated from tuberculous patients in certain parts of Africa. Genotypically, members of the MBC are closely related, exhibiting 99.9% similarity at the nucleotide level and identical 16s RNA gene (rDNA) and 16s-23s rDNA spacer sequences. However, identification and discrimination between members of the MBC are important for epidemiological purposes. This paper reviewed current knowledge about this subspecies.

Afr. J. Clin. Exper. Microbiol. 2005; 6(2): 167-175