Prevalence, intensity and complications of Microsporidium spores amongst HIV-positive hospital patients in Ilorin, Nigeria.

Background: Microsporidiasis, which is of great concern for immunocompromised patients, is poorly studied in developing countries.

Objectives: A study was carried out amongst HIV-positive hospital patients and HIV-negative hospital controls in Ilorin, Nigeria, between January 2009 and July 2010 to determine the prevalence and intensity of spores and the complications associated with their presence.

Method: Stool samples from 750 HIV-positive patients and 375 HIV-negative patients were studied using the Chromotrope-2R staining technique.

Nigeria's triumph: dracunculiasis eradicated.

This report describes how Nigeria, a country that at one time had the highest number of cases of dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) in the world, reduced the number of cases from more than 653,000 in 1988 to zero in 2009, despite numerous challenges. Village-based volunteers formed the foundation of the program, which used health education, cloth filters, vector control, advocacy for safe water, voluntary isolation of patients, and monitored program interventions and cases reported monthly. Other factors in the program's success were strong governmental support, advocacy by a former head of state of Nigeria, technical and financial assistance by The Carter Center, the U.

Validity of leopard skin manifestation in community diagnosis of human onchocerciasis infection.

The validity and reliability of onchocercal leopard skin (LS) when used as a screening criteria in community diagnosis of human onchocerciasis is reported. Between March and May, 1991, 1,302 persons were skin snipped and examined for LS from all households in Mballa, Isuochi in Isuikwuato L.G.

Mobilization strategy for guinea worm eradication in Nigeria.

The transformation of dracunculiasis from an obscure and neglected rural disease to the highly visible target of a national eradication campaign in Nigeria is described in this report. This process progressed through four overlapping stages: documentation of the extent and nature of the disease as a national problem, demonstration in Nigeria that dracunculiasis could be effectively prevented by targeted provision and use of protected rural water supplies, mobilization for community participation in, and political support of, the eradication effort, and implementation of interventions nationwide. The conduct of the first national village-by-village search for cases and documentation of the adverse socioeconomic impact of the disease (e.

Schistosoma haematobium: a neglected common parasitic disease of childhood in Nigeria. Incidence and intensity of infection.

A prospective and cross-sectional study was carried out in various communities in Kwara State, Nigeria, to access the status and implications of urinary schistosomiasis among schoolchildren. Of 425 pupils examined in nine communities, 193 (45.4%) were infected.

The elimination of dracunculiasis in Igbon, Oyo State, Nigeria: the success of self-help activities.

Guinea worm disease, dracunculiasis, is widespread in rural Nigeria, where an estimated 2.5 million cases occur every year. This study documents the use of multiple intervention strategies, based on community self-help in collaboration with health researchers, to eliminate Guinea worm in the village of Igbon, in Oyo State, Nigeria.

Lack of efficacy of pyrimethamine prophylaxis in pregnant Nigerian women.

To evaluate the efficacy of pyrimethamine on the blood stage (suppressive prophylaxis) and liver stage (causal prophylaxis) of Plasmodium falciparum in pregnant women, in vivo and in vitro field studies were conducted in Ilorin, Nigeria, from Jan 1 to June 30, 1988. For pregnant women with P falciparum infections who received 25 mg of pyrimethamine weekly for suppressive prophylaxis, 67% (59/88) of in vivo and 60% (6/10) of in vitro tests showed pyrimethamine resistance. A second group of parasitaemic and parasite-free pregnant women was enrolled to evaluate the efficacy of pyrimethamine as a primary tissue schizonticide; after receiving a curative dose of chloroquine (25 mg/kg), half the women were given 25 mg of pyrimethamine weekly and half received no prophylaxis.

Outbreak of cutaneous larva migrans in a family household.

An outbreak of cutaneous larva migrans in a household is described. The attention of practising physicians, health authorities and the populace is directed at the increasing prevalence of this otherwise rare disease, as well as the need for a comprehensive programme to rid the community of unwanted domesticated animals.

Schistosoma haematobium infection among schoolchildren in the Babana district, Kwara State, Nigeria.

A study was carried out in the Babana District of Borgu Local Government Areas in Kwara State, Nigeria, to determine the prevalence and intensity of urinary schistosomiasis among schoolchildren. Of 425 pupils found and examined in nine communities, 193 (45.4%) were infected.

The impact of a UNICEF-assisted rural water project on the prevalence of guinea worm disease in Asa, Kwara State, Nigeria.

This paper demonstrates that protected water supplies, in the form of boreholes, can reduce the prevalence of dracunculiasis (guinea worm disease) in affected communities from a point prevalence of greater than or equal to 50% to 0% or near 0% within 3 years of intervention. Studies in Nigeria show that boreholes sited within a village and used exclusively for drinking water are most effective, while less accessible or malfunctioning boreholes have a less dramatic impact on prevalence. In contrast to the situation in villages served with boreholes, the prevalence of guinea worm in the unserved villages remained almost unchanged.

The distribution of dracunculiasis in Nigeria: a preliminary study.

This paper presents a preliminary assessment of the distribution and endemicity of dracunculiasis in Nigeria. The disease is found in all 19 States of the Federation and in the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja. It occurs in areas with a dry season of more than nine months as well as those with a dry season of less than four months; the seasonal distribution of rainfall influences the peak period of disease transmission and patency.

'Leopard skin' as a rapid diagnostic index for estimating the endemicity of African onchocerciasis.

A study was made in five rural districts of Kwara State, Nigeria to assess the possible use of 'leopard skin' (Ls) as a rapid diagnostic technique for estimating the endemicity of African onchocerciasis. The findings revealed that there is a positive association between the percentage of subjects with skin microfilariae (mf) and the percentage with Ls. The prevalence of Ls less than 1% suggests communities with sporadic infection, 1-6% suggests hypoendemic communities and greater than 6% suggests meso- or hyperendemic communities, using mf rates of less than 10%, 10-39%, 40-69% and 70% or greater as the standard to classify sporadic, hypoendemic, mesoendemic and hyperendemic levels of the infection, respectively.

Endemicity and striking manifestations of onchocerciasis in Shao, Kwara State, Nigeria.

A house-to-house screening exercise was carried out in Shao, Kwara State, Nigeria, to determine the status of onchocerciasis in the town. The results of skin snips taken from 2018 subjects revealed that, with an overall infection rate of 54.6%, the community is mesoendemic for river blindness.

The status of human onchocerciasis in the Kainji reservoir basin areas 20 years after the impoundment of the lake.

A study was made in January 1985 to assess the post-impoundment status of onchocerciasis around the man-made Lake of Kainji, Nigeria, about 20 years after the formation of the lake. The overall prevalence of the infection in the 13 major villages surveyed was 28.5%.

A method of rapid assessment of the distribution and endemicity of dracunculiasis in Nigeria.

This paper describes how information was collected at a national conference in Nigeria and a map compiled to give an initial assessment of the distribution and endemicity of dracunculiasis (guinea worm disease) throughout the country. The map provided a stimulus for further studies of the status of the disease and for the consideration of national control strategies. A map created along the same lines could be used for obtaining an initial assessment of the extent and endemicity of dracunculiasis, or other diseases, in countries for which such data was not readily available.

Epidemiological assessment of the distribution and endemicity of guinea worm infection in Asa, Kwara State, Nigeria.

An investigation was made in 1983 to determine the distribution and endemicity of dracunculiasis in Asa, Kwara State, Nigeria. The findings revealed that the disease was widespread and highly prevalent. The house to house survey conducted in 11 of the 20 villages where recent cases had been identified gave an overall prevalence of 53% during the peak period of infection.

Parasitologic survey of onchocerciasis (river blindness) in Babana District, Kwara State, Nigeria.

This study, made between November 1982 and January 1983 to ascertain the prevalence of onchocerciasis in the Babana District of Borgu Local Government Area, Kwara State, Nigeria, showed that 483 (48.6%) of the 993 subjects skin-snipped in 12 communities were infected. The infection rate was significantly higher (P less than 0.

Dracunculiasis in Igbon, Oyo State, Nigeria.

Studies conducted between 1978 and 1979 to determine the prevalence and site of guinea-worm transmission in Igbon, Nigeria, showed that in less than 5 years of the introduction of dracunculiasis into this community, the infection rate had reached over 75% among the economically active group. Multiple infections were rampant and the frequency of occurrence of severe incapacitation was correspondingly high as reflected by prolonged and excessive absenteeism from schools, inability to engage in farming, trading and domestic work. The peak of transmission occurred in November which coincided with the retreat of rain and the abundance of Thermocyclops nigerianus in the two adjacent ponds where active transmission occurred.

An outbreak of dracunculiasis in a peri-urban community of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria.

An outbreak of dracunculiasis was investigated at Egbejila, a peri-urban community near the city of Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, Nigeria. Of 589 persons examined in June 1983, 265 (45.0%) had active ulcers with protruding guinea worms.

Babana Parasitic Diseases Project. I. The study area and a preliminary assessment of onchocercal endemicity based on the prevalence of "leopard skin".

A prevalence survey of "leopard skin" (LS) was carried out in 24 villages to assess the distribution of onchocerciasis in the Babana District of Nigeria. The findings suggested that onchocerciasis is highly endemic in this community. Of 1,310 adults examined for the presence of the characteristic onchocercal depigmentation, 26.

Babana Parasitic Diseases Project. II. Prevalence and impact of dracontiasis in Babana district, Kwara State, Nigeria.

An epidemiological survey of dracontiasis conducted in Babana district, Kwara State, Nigeria revealed that of 669 subjects examined in the three communities where active transmission occurred, 366 (54.7%) were infected. Multiple infections were common (85.

Cutaneous myiasis due to tumbu-fly, Cordylobia anthropophaga in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria.

The occurrence and public health significance of cutaneous myiasis were investigated in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria between June and September, 1981. The findings indicated that human myiasis caused by the maggot of African tumbu-fly, Cordylobia anthropophaga was relatively common and constituted potential public health problems in the affected parts of the state capital. The importance of animal myiasis due to larvae of sheep bot-fly, Oesteris ovis and the cattle grubs, Hypoderma bovis, was assessed and discussed.

Granuloma formation around exogenous eggs of Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma japonicum in mice.

Hepatic granulomata which were qualitatively and quantitatively similar to those seen in infections established with cercariae were induced by surgical injection of exogenous eggs of Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma japonicum via the mesenteric veins of previously unexposed albino mice. Thereafter, their comparative histopathologic studies were made. The maximum mean sizes of granulomata were attained on Day 32 with viable eggs of these parasite species.