Publications by authors named "Ita Okokon"

Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the role of meningitis in child mortality under five years old, particularly focusing on data from six sub-Saharan African countries and Bangladesh.
  • It employs post-mortem minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS) to identify the causes of death and pathogens responsible for meningitis in this age group from December 2016 to December 2023.
  • Findings reveal that meningitis contributed to 7% of child deaths, with common pathogens identified being Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae, particularly affecting neonates and infants.
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Article Synopsis
  • Invasive Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a major factor in early-onset neonatal sepsis and stillbirth, which this study evaluated in seven low- and middle-income countries to determine its impact on infant mortality.
  • The research included the analysis of 2,966 deaths from December 2016 to December 2021 using minimally invasive tissue sampling, identifying GBS as a contributing factor in 2.7% of infant deaths, including 2.3% of stillborn cases.
  • Results showed significant variation in GBS-attributed deaths across countries, particularly affecting low-birth-weight infants, highlighting the need for tailored interventions in different regions to address this issue.
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Food-borne botulism is a rare, acute and potentially fatal neurologic disorder that results from ingestion of food contaminated by botulinum toxin released from the anaerobic, spore-forming, gram-positive bacterium Clostridium botulinum. We reported an unusual cluster of botulism outbreak with high case fatality affecting a family following ingestion of home-made fish. A suspected outbreak of botulism affecting three patients in a family of six was reported to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

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We describe the frequency of Zika and malaria among patients presenting with fever to secondary health facilities in Cross River State, Nigeria. Using a cross-sectional, stratified survey design, we randomly selected nine facilities and consecutively recruited 100 participants (aged ≥ 1 year) who presented with fever. On testing blood samples using Biocan qualitative lateral flow immuno-chromatographic cassettes for Zika IgG and IgM, 10% were seropositive for Zika virus (ZIKV) IgM, 12% for ZIKV IgG and 20% for ZIKV IgM, IgG or both.

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Background: The WHO recommends that all cases of suspected malaria should undergo parasitological test. Currently, the parasitological test comprises the rapid diagnostic test (RDT) or the microscopy. The performance of RDT in relation to microscopy is yet to be fully comprehended.

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The development of an educational concept of a training programme for infection prevention and control (IPC) was seen as a key issue to successfully address the complexity of change processes of professional IPC routines in clinical procedures. Therefore, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Nigeria, and the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany established an interdisciplinary project framework, involving knowledge and competences from different disciplines and professions like health professionals, epidemiologists and educators (MAURICE project). A multi-module training programme for health care workers to improve IPC standards was developed and implemented based on the participatory approach and a systemic view for organizational change.

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Background: In Nigeria, recent reports suggest that dengue viruses could be a major cause of acute fevers. We sought to make a cross-sectional estimate of the prevalence of current and previous dengue infections in patients presenting with fever to healthcare centres in Cross River State Nigeria.

Methodology/principal Findings: This cross-sectional health facility survey recruited persons with temperature ≥38°C.

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Disseminated infection with refers to the massive migration of infective larvae from the gastrointestinal tract to other organs that are not involved in the normal life cycle of the parasite. We describe the case of a Nigerian male with transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder in whom larvae of was identified in the urine. This report involves a 60-year old male Nigerian presenting to the Urology clinic of the Jos University teaching hospital, Nigeria with disseminated The index patient presented with a 5 month history of total haematuria, urinary frequency, urgency, nocturia, straining to pass urine, feeling of incomplete voiding and terminal dribbling.

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Background: Rapid diagnostic tests are frequently used in healthcare settings across Nigeria for diagnosis of Plasmodium falciparum malaria, which is the commonest form of malaria in the country. In this study, the performance of a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) was compared with expert microscopy using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as the reference standard in a tertiary hospital in Jos, Nigeria.

Methods: This study was a prospective, cross-sectional, hospital-based study.

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Backgroud: The aim was to study the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and assess the lung function of fish smokers in Nigeria.

Methods: A case control study was done among fish smokers in Nigeria. Women aged 15 years or older (n=210) involved in fish smoking and equal number of matched controls were interviewed on respiratory symptoms and their peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) measured.

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Background: Prolonged and obstructed labor is a significant cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in Nigeria, one of the six countries contributing significantly to the global maternal mortality crisis. The use of the partograph would engender a remarkable reduction in the number of these deaths since abnormal markers in the progress of labor would be identified early on.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the non-physician obstetric caregivers' (OCGs) knowledge of partograph use, assess the extent of its use, determine the factors that impede its usage, and unravel the relationship between years of experience and partograph use among the respondents (OCGs) in General Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria.

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Background: With the worldwide spread of HIV/AIDS, the absence of a known cure and the challenges associated with existing prevention methodologies, there is need for new prevention technologies. The successful uptake of healthcare products and services depend, to a large extent, on healthcare providers' knowledge, perception and attitude regarding them.

Objectives: To determine the knowledge and perception of healthcare providers regarding microbicides.

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The challenge to maternal well-being with associated maternal wastages especially in labor has remained unsurmountable across the three tiers of health care delivery in Nigeria. This study aimed to determine and compare the factors that influence utilization of the partograph in primary, secondary, and tertiary health care delivery levels in Calabar, Nigeria. This was a descriptive study, using a self-administered semistructured questionnaire on 290 consenting nonphysician obstetric care workers, purposively recruited.

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Symphysiotomy is an operation in which the fibres of the pubic symphysis are partially divided to allow separation of the joint and thus enlargement of the pelvic dimensions thereby facilitating vaginal delivery of the foetus in the presence of mild to moderate cephalopelvic disproportion. It is performed with local anaesthesia, does not require an operating theatre or advanced surgical skills. It can be a lifesaving procedure for both mother and baby in obstructed labour, especially in rural areas and resource-poor settings of developing countries, where a 24 hours availability of a caesarean section cannot be guaranteed.

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Both Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection and AIDS remain major public health crises in Nigeria, a country which harbors more people living with HIV/AIDS than any country in the world, with the exception of South Africa and India. In response to the HIV pandemic, global and international health initiatives have targeted several countries, including Nigeria, for the expansion of antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs for the increasing number of affected patients. The success of these expanded ART initiatives depends on the treated individual's continual adherence to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs.

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