Virus Load Kinetics in Lassa Fever Patients Treated With Ribavirin: A Retrospective Cohort Study From Southern Nigeria.

Background: The standard of care for Lassa fever is the use of ribavirin with supportive therapy. There is little information on the course of viremia and its relationship with clinical outcomes in patients treated with ribavirin.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of virologic and clinical parameters of 152 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction-confirmed Lassa fever cases admitted and treated with ribavirin therapy.

Characteristics of inflammatory bowel disease in three tertiary health centers in southern Nigeria.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) refers to two chronic inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal tract which is generally believed to be rare in most African countries. The objectives of the current study were to present the experience of three tertiary gastroenterology centers in southern part of Nigeria on IBD, highlighting the age distribution of the patients seen, management and the impact on the quality of their life in university-based community-type practices in Nigeria.

Methods: This was a retrospective review of charts of inflammatory bowel disease seen between January 2007 and June 2010 at three teaching hospitals in Southern Nigeria.

Molecular diagnostics for lassa fever at Irrua specialist teaching hospital, Nigeria: lessons learnt from two years of laboratory operation.

Background: Lassa fever is a viral hemorrhagic fever endemic in West Africa. However, none of the hospitals in the endemic areas of Nigeria has the capacity to perform Lassa virus diagnostics. Case identification and management solely relies on non-specific clinical criteria.

Are the symptoms of diabetic peripheral neuropathy in Nigerian patients objective? An evaluation using the United Kingdom Screening Test (UKST) and Bio-Thesiometry.

Background: Symptoms suggestive of peripheral neuropathy (PN) in diabetes mellitus (DM) do not always indicate presence ofunderlying PN.

Objective: A pioneering study among Nigerian diabetic subjects to evaluate the objectivity of their symptoms of PN using two objective diagnostic instruments for PN the United Kingdom Screening Test (UKST) and Bio-Thesiometry.

Subjects And Methods: One hundred and twenty diabetic participants and a similar number of non-diabetic controls were screened for symptoms of PN using the UKST symptoms score and subsequently separated into two groups those with symptoms ofPN and those without.

Prevalence of dyslipidaemia in apparently healthy professionals in Asaba, South South Nigeria.

Background: Hypercholesterolaemia is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD) especially in industrialized societies. Coronary heart disease is becoming an increasing cause of death even in the developing world.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of dyslipidaemia in apparently healthy professionals in a developing economy.