Prevalence and impact of sickle cell trait on the clinical and laboratory parameters of HIV infected children in Lagos, Nigeria.

Introduction: sickle cell disease and HIV infection are prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa. While Haemoglobin S (HbS) contributes to significant morbidity and mortality in the homozygous or double heterozygous states, in the carrier state it confers a survival advantage in disease conditions such as malaria. However the interaction between sickle haemoglobin and HIV infection, especially in children remains largely unknown.

Contributions of different mosquito species to the transmission of lymphatic filariasis in central Nigeria: implications for monitoring infection by PCR in mosquito pools.

Background: Members of the Anopheles gambiae complex are important vectors of lymphatic filariasis (LF) in sub-Saharan Africa, but little is known about the relative contributions of all mosquitoes to lymphatic filariasis transmission in this area.

Methods: Over a 28 month period, mosquitoes were collected from 13 villages in Plateau and Nasarawa states in central Nigeria and dissected to determine W. bancrofti infection status.

Integration of mass drug administration programmes in Nigeria: The challenge of schistosomiasis.

Problem: Annual mass drug administration (MDA) with safe oral anthelminthic drugs (praziquantel, ivermectin and albendazole) is the strategy for control of onchocerciasis, lymphatic filariasis (LF) and schistosomiasis. District health officers seek to integrate treatment activities in areas of overlapping disease endemicity, but they are faced with having to merge different programmatic guidelines.

Approach: We proceeded through the three stages of integrated MDA implementation: mapping the distribution of the three diseases at district level; tailoring district training and logistics based on the results of the mapping exercises; and implementing community-based annual health education and mass treatment where appropriate.

Urban lymphatic filariasis in central Nigeria.

Wuchereria bancrofti and the other mosquito-borne parasites that cause human lymphatic filariasis (LF) infect over 120 million people world-wide. Global efforts are underway to stop transmission of the parasites, using annual, single-dose mass drug administrations (MDA) to all at-risk populations. Although most MDA to date have been in rural settings, they are also recommended in urban areas of transmission.

Mass ivermectin treatment for onchocerciasis: lack of evidence for collateral impact on transmission of Wuchereria bancrofti in areas of co-endemicity.

There has long been interest in determining if mass ivermectin administration for onchocerciasis has 'unknowingly' interrupted lymphatic filariasis (LF) transmission where the endemicity of the two diseases' overlaps. We studied 11 communities in central Nigeria entomologically for LF by performing mosquito dissections on Anopheline LF vectors. Six of the communities studied were located within an onchocerciasis treatment zone, and five were located outside of that zone.

Significant decrease in the prevalence of Wuchereria bancrofti infection in anopheline mosquitoes following the addition of albendazole to annual, ivermectin-based, mass treatments in Nigeria.

A prospective entomological survey was conducted in four sentinel villages in central Nigeria from 1999-2002, to assess the impact of annual, single-dose, mass drug administrations (MDA), with a combination of ivermectin and albendazole, on the transmission of Wuchereria bancrofti. As they were also endemic for human onchocerciasis, the four villages had received annual MDA based on ivermectin alone for 7 years prior to the addition of albendazole. Resting Anophelines gambiae s.

Disposal of children's faeces and implications for the control of childhood diarrhoea.

Unhygienic disposal of children's faeces is one of the key factors responsible for the high incidence of childhood diarrhoea in developing countries. The aim of this project was to study household behaviours relating to the disposal of faeces of children under the age of five. The study was conducted in Ife South Local Government Area of Osun State, Nigeria, where 320 households, containing 540 mothers with children under the age of five were randomly selected.

Evaluation of an innovative approach to community-based medical undergraduate education in Nigeria.

Context: Although innovative, community-oriented and PHC-focused medical education programmes have been in operation in some medical schools in Nigeria for over a decade, they are yet to be comprehensively evaluated.

Objective: This study therefore aimed at evaluating some impacts of the programmes on medical education in the country.

Methods: The study was conducted in three innovative medical schools in South-Western Nigeria.

Rapid assessment for lymphatic filariasis in central Nigeria: a comparison of the immunochromatographic card test and hydrocele rates in an area of high endemicity.

The rapid immunochromatographic card test (ICT) for Wuchereria bancrofti circulating filarial antigen is being used to map areas endemic for lymphatic filariasis. However, the ICT is expensive; thus, surveys based on this test must be relatively limited. Our study was conducted to determine if village-based hydrocele surveys could be used to supplement the ICT surveys in the mapping activities.

Lymphatic filariasis elimination and schistosomiasis control in combination with onchocerciasis control in Nigeria.

This paper describes a pilot initiative to incorporate lymphatic filariasis (LF) elimination and urinary schistosomiasis (SH) control into a mature onchocerciasis control program based on community-directed ivermectin treatment in central Nigeria. In the same districts having onchocerciasis we found LF (as determined by blood antigen testing in adult males) in 90% of 149 villages with a mean prevalence of 22.4% (range 0-67%).

Modification and improvement of nutritive quality of cornpap "Ogi" with cowpea and groundnut milk.

The study aimed at improving the nutritive quality of cornpap, "Ogi", the most popular infant feed in Nigeria. Milk samples of cowpea, groundnut and soyabean and their complementations with cornpap were assessed chemically, organoleptically and anthropometrically. The protein contents of milk from cowpea, groundnut and soyabean were 1.

Traditional fertility regulation methods among the Yoruba of southwestern Nigeria. II. A prospective study of use-effectiveness.

This study investigated the effectiveness of traditional contraceptives commonly used by Yoruba women, and the attitudes of users and non-users towards family planning services and contraceptives in Nigeria. One hundred forty-two married women aged 19 to 40 years were followed for 18 months. Seventy-two of the women were identified as current users of four types of traditional contraceptives (ring, incision, soup, and waistband types), and 70 women did not use any type of contraceptive.

Traditional fertility regulation among the Yoruba of southwestern Nigeria. I. A study of prevalence, attitudes, practice and methods.

This study was conducted among Yoruba women and traditional healers with the aim of identifying and describing the practice, preparation, and administration of traditional contraceptives. The data were obtained in 1990 from a random sample of 1,400 women of childbearing age and 42 traditional healers in Nigeria's Oranmiyan area, using questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Findings revealed that knowledge of the traditional contraceptives is nearly universal among the Yoruba population, and the traditional contraceptive prevalence rate is 7.

Prevalence of malnutrition and vitamin A deficiency in Nigerian preschool children subsisting on high intakes of carotenes.

The prevalence of malnutrition and vitamin A deficiency was determined in 204 preschool children of both sexes aged 3-57 months. The children were recruited from 2 rural communities of Atakumosa Local Government Area of Osun State in South West Nigeria. Dietary vitamin A intake was estimated from frequency of consumption of locally available vitamin A containing food items.

Partnership for primary care.

A project for improving primary health care in an underserved rural area of Osun State, Nigeria, involved the creation of a partnership between the local government, the community and a medical college. Joint administrative and technical committees were established, and community mobilization was fostered. The evidence so far indicates that partnership designs can accelerate the development of primary health care in an affordable manner.

Feeding practices of mothers during childhood diarrhoea in a rural area of Nigeria.

Our main objective was the identification of different types of foods given or withheld for various kinds of childhood diarrhoea. The study was conducted in rural Yoruba communities of Osun State, Nigeria. Questionnaires and focus group discussions were used and a total of 335 randomly selected mothers with children under 5 years of age were interviewed.

Urinary schistosomiasis among school children in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

A study of urinary schistosomiasis among 553 randomly selected primary and secondary school children in Ile-Ife township in 1988 shows that nearly half (48.5%) of the school children were infected. There was a sharp increase in both the prevalence and intensity of the infection up to age 13 years which then declined slightly by age 14.

Adolescent sexual behavior and condom use in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

A study to identify risky sexual behaviors related to condom use was conducted in a Yoruba-speaking urban area of Nigeria. The subjects were 256 randomly selected male high school students, 15-19 years of age, who completed a self-administered questionnaire. The majority (79%, or 194) reported having had heterosexual intercourse in the previous 12 months, 9 (4.

Childhood diarrhoea in rural Nigeria. I. Studies on prevalence, mortality and socio-environmental factors.

This population-based study was conducted to determine the prevalence, mortality, and socio-environmental determinants of diarrhoeal diseases in children less than 5-years of age in a rural area of Akoko North, Ondo State, Nigeria. A total of 856 households with children less than 5-years old were randomly selected for the questionnaire and observational investigations. A two-week prevalence rate of the diseases among the children was 8.

A case-study of accidents in a wood processing industry in Nigeria.

A twelve-month case-study of industrial accidents in a large-scale modern wood-processing industry in Nigeria shows that 80.6% of the accidents were minor while the rest were major accidents. Incidence rate of the accidents was 64.

Emotional changes in pregnancy and early puerperium among the Yoruba women of Nigeria.

A randomly selected clinic population of 400 pregnant women in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, were interviewed for complaints of psychological disorders during the last trimester of pregnancy and the post-partum period. The study shows a considerable degree of psychological disturbances during pregnancy which later decreased significantly during the post-partum. While the complaints of worrying, guilt-feeling, nausea and vomiting and "heat in-the-head", were significantly more common in younger women, insomnia and anorexia were more common in older women.

Effectiveness of primary health-care nurses in the promotion of oral rehydration therapy in a rural area of Nigeria.

Using a pre- and post-intervention method, this study evaluates the effects of verbal instructions and demonstration by the primary health-care nurses on knowledge, attitude and practice of home management of childhood diarrhoea by mothers in a rural area of Nigeria. Although the proportion of mothers that knew how to prepare and give oral rehydration therapy (ORT) increased significantly from 6.2 to 47.