Assessment of gross malnutrition among primary school children using body mass index as an assessment tool in abakaliki metropolis of Ebonyi State, South-East Nigeria.

Background: Obesity and overweight are emerging major health problems in developing countries in the background of undernutrition. These have been linked to a substantial increase in mortality and morbidity.

Objectives: This cross-sectional survey was aimed at determining the prevalence of underweight, overweight, and obesity using body mass index (BMI) in primary school pupils in Abakaliki metropolis of Ebonyi State, south-east Nigeria.

Containing a Lassa fever epidemic in a resource-limited setting: outbreak description and lessons learned from Abakaliki, Nigeria (January-March 2012).

Objectives: Despite the epidemic nature of Lassa fever (LF), details of outbreaks and response strategies have not been well documented in resource-poor settings. We describe the course of a LF outbreak in Ebonyi State, Nigeria, during January to March 2012.

Methods: We analyzed clinical, epidemiological, and laboratory data from surveillance records and hospital statistics during the outbreak.

Culture and biomedical care in Africa: the influence of culture on biomedical care in a traditional African society, Nigeria, West Africa.

Background: Biomedical Care in Africa and the influence of culture on the health-seeking behaviour of Africans can not be underestimated; many African cultures have different understanding of the causes of disease which more often affect our public health system, policy, planning and implementations. The traditional African healer unlike a doctor trained in western biomedicine, looks for the cause of the patient's ailments as misfortune in relationship between the patient and the social, natural and spiritual environments. The complexity of African society with different cultural and religious practices also reflects on the people's attitude and understanding of their health matters.

Cerebral palsy among children seen in the neurology clinic of Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a non-progressive disorder of motor function caused by irreversible damage to the immature brain. The disorder may be associated with seizure, mental retardation, visual and hearing defects. This study was designed to determine the types of CP, the risk factors and the co-morbidities associated with the disorder.