*1Yusuf, L., 1,2Bala, J. A., 1Aliyu, I. A., 1Kabir, I. M., 1Abdulkadir, S., 1,3Doro, A. B., and 1Kumurya A, S.
1Microbiology Unit, Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Faculty of Allied Health Science, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria, P.M.B 3011, Kano, Nigeria
2Virology Unit, Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia, 43400, Serndang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
3Federal Medical Centre Katsina, PMB 2121, Katsina, Nigeria
*Correspondence to: iaaliyu.mls@buk.edu.ng; isahaa97@gmail.com
Abstract:
Human papillomavirus (HPV) has been incriminated as the causal agent of cervical cancer which has been rated as the second most common cancers among women in developing countries and seventh most common cancers in the developed world. In spite of the fact that HPV has been the major cause of cervical cancer, the dilemma lies in finding a cost-effective therapy. Approximately 291 million women are infected with HPV worldwide, 32% of whom are infected with HPV16 or HPV18. The estimated prevalence of HPV in sub-Saharan Africa is 24% and 11.7% globally. There have been studies reporting specific HPV prevalence rates in some part of Nigeria, with 37% in Abuja, 10% in Port Harcourt, and 26.3% in Ibadan. In the Nigeria population, awareness of HPV infections is low, HPV vaccines are inadequate, and the cost of HPV vaccination per person is beyond what an average citizen can afford. It has been suggested that herbal therapy such as Echinacea therapy reduces HPV replication and enhances the immune system. Although there is yet no scientific proof of the efficacy of Echinacea therapy against HPV infections, future emphasis should be placed on scientific research into this alternative therapy. There is need for more studies on development of antiviral agents against HPV, with a prospect of easy accessibility and affordability in Nigeria.
Keywords: Phytotherapy; HPV; Cervical cancer; Nigeria
Received Feb 23, 2020; Revised March 11, 2020; Accepted March 17, 2020
Copyright 2020 AJCEM Open Access. This article is licensed and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attrition 4.0 International License <a rel=”license” href=”//creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/”, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided credit is given to the original author(s) and the source.
La phytothérapie comme alternative au traitement des infections à papilloma virus humain au Nigéria: une revue
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