Vitamin D Metabolites in Mother-Infant Dyads and Associated Clinical Outcomes in a Population of Nigerian Women.

Low levels of vitamin D in maternal and cord blood have been associated with neonatal sepsis. This study assessed the association of vitamin D metabolites (25(OH)D, 3-epi-25(OH)D, and 24,25(OH)D) levels in maternal and cord blood with newborn sepsis evaluation in Nigerian mother-infant dyads. Maternal and cord blood from 534 mothers and 536 newborns were processed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Outcomes and quality of care for women and their babies after caesarean section in Nigeria.

Objective: To describe the outcomes and quality of care for women and their babies after caesarean section (CS) in Nigerian referral-level hospitals.

Design: Secondary analysis of a nationwide cross-sectional study.

Setting: Fifty-four referral-level hospitals.

Phenotypic and molecular characterization of beta-lactam resistant Multidrug-resistant Enterobacterales isolated from patients attending six hospitals in Northern Nigeria.

Infections caused by multi-drug resistant Enterobacterales (MDR-E) are difficult to treat and cause significant mortality, especially in developing countries. This study characterized the phenotypic and genotypic profiles of 49 randomly selected beta-lactam resistant MDR-E previously isolated from patients being managed in hospitals in Nigeria using whole genome sequencing. The study isolates exhibited 85.

Antenatal Dexamethasone for Early Preterm Birth in Low-Resource Countries.

Background: The safety and efficacy of antenatal glucocorticoids in women in low-resource countries who are at risk for preterm birth are uncertain.

Methods: We conducted a multicountry, randomized trial involving pregnant women between 26 weeks 0 days and 33 weeks 6 days of gestation who were at risk for preterm birth. The participants were assigned to intramuscular dexamethasone or identical placebo.

Newborn resuscitation practices and paucity of resuscitative devices in Nigeria; a call to action.

Background: Neonatal resuscitation is a method of preventing morbidities & mortality from asphyxia. Up to 85% of facilities in sub-Saharan Africa lack supplies or skilled personnel for neonatal resuscitation. Relative to the place of birth and the skill of the birth attendant, a variety of resuscitative practice are employed to make babies cry instead of helping the baby breathe.

Comparative outcome of overhead and total body phototherapy for treatment of severe neonatal jaundice in Nigeria.

: In Nigeria, neonatal jaundice is commonly treated by overhead phototherapy with neonates lying supine, often with effective exposure of less than one half of the body surface. Total body exposure in phototherapy has been in use for less than 2 years in Nigeria, but is available in only five neonatal centres.: To compare the effectiveness of total body exposure (TBPE) with the conventional partial exposure (COPT) for treatment of hyperbilirubinaemia.

A new low-cost commercial bubble CPAP (bCPAP) machine compared with a traditional bCPAP device in Nigeria.

: The bubble continuous positive airway pressure (bCPAP) technique is widely applied in neonatal respiratory support. Commercial bCPAP brands are expensive in Nigeria and this has driven Nigerian paediatricians to use potentially risky improvised devices (IbCPAP). : This study aimed to design, produce and trial an appropriate low-cost bCPAP machine which is functionally effective and safe.

Salmonella Bacteremia Among Children in Central and Northwest Nigeria, 2008-2015.

Background: Etiologic agents of childhood bacteremia remain poorly defined in Nigeria. The absence of such data promotes indiscriminate use of antibiotics and delays implementation of appropriate preventive strategies.

Methods: We established diagnostic laboratories for bacteremia surveillance at regional sites in central and northwest Nigeria.

Neonatal hyperthermia and thermal stress in low- and middle-income countries: a hidden cause of death in extremely low-birthweight neonates.

Background: Over 70% of neonatal deaths in Nigeria occur within the first 7 days of life and, despite the millennium development goals, there has been no significant reduction of this figure.

Objective: To investigate how rapid changes of temperature outside the physiologically allowable range in extremely low-birthweight infants are associated with increased mortality.

Methods: Ninety-eight neonatal cases in three Nigerian tertiary-care hospitals were retrospectively recruited; on the basis of birthweight  < 1500 g, this number was reduced to 41 for a two-stage analysis.

Challenges and frugal remedies for lowering facility based neonatal mortality and morbidity: a comparative study.

Millennium development goal target on infant mortality (MDG4) by 2015 would not be realised in some low-resource countries. This was in part due to unsustainable high-tech ideas that have been poorly executed. Prudent but high impact techniques could have been synthesised in these countries.

Immunologic outcomes of antiretroviral therapy among HIV-infected Nigerian children and its association with early infant feeding and nutritional status at treatment initiation.

Objectives: To evaluate immunologic response to antiretroviral treatment (ART) among HIV-infected Nigerian children (<36 months old) and to assess its association with early infant feeding pattern and nutritional status at treatment initiation.

Design: Mixed prospective and retrospective cohort study.

Methods: One hundred fifty HIV-infected children were followed for 12 months from initiation of ART.

The impact of recycled neonatal incubators in Nigeria: a 6-year follow-up study.

Nigeria has a record of high newborn mortality as an estimated 778 babies die daily, accounting for a ratio of 48 deaths per 1000 live births. The aim of this paper was to show how a deteriorating neonatal delivery system in Nigeria may have, in part, been improved by the application of a novel recycled incubator technique (RIT). Retrospective assessment of clinical, technical, and human factors in 15 Nigerian neonatal centres was carried out to investigate how the application of RIT impacted these factors.