Publications by authors named "Ugochukwu Nwokoro"

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and neonatal tetanus infections remain endemic in Nigeria despite the availability of safe, effective vaccines. We aimed to determine health facilities' capacity for hepatitis B vaccine birth dose (HepB-BD) and maternal tetanus-diphtheria (Td) vaccination and to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices of HepB-BD and maternal Td vaccine administration among health facility staff in Nigeria.

Materials And Methods: This was a cross-sectional study assessing public primary and secondary health facilities in Adamawa and Enugu States.

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Article Synopsis
  • Rubella is a major public health issue in developing countries, especially for preventing congenital rubella, and this study focused on children 10 and under in Jos, Nigeria, from May to September 2016.
  • Researchers used a multistage sampling method to recruit unvaccinated children from schools, testing for rubella antibodies with the ELISA method and analyzing data using R software.
  • Among 405 participants, 82.96% tested positive for rubella IgG, while only 2.22% had IgM, with significant links found between higher seropositivity and factors like being older than 5 years and lacking Western education, indicating a need for a better vaccination program.
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Background: Nigeria has the largest number of children infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) globally and has not yet achieved maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination. In Nigeria, maternal tetanus diphtheria (Td) vaccination is part of antenatal care and hepatitis B birth dose (HepB-BD) vaccination for newborns has been offered since 2004. We implemented interventions targeting healthcare workers (HCWs), community volunteers, and pregnant women attending antenatal care with the goal of improving timely (within 24 hours) HepB-BD vaccination among newborns and Td vaccination coverage among pregnant women.

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Objectives: To determine the birth prevalence, trend, and characteristics of external structural birth defects occurrence in Enugu Metropolis, Nigeria.

Design: Cross-sectional study involving review of delivery records.

Setting: The study was conducted at three tertiary hospitals, one public and two missionary, in Enugu Metropolis.

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Nigeria is estimated to have the largest number of children worldwide, living with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, the leading cause of liver cancer. Up to 90% of children infected at birth develop chronic HBV infection. A birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine (HepB-BD) followed by at least two additional vaccine doses is recommended for prevention.

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Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an emerging threat to global health security. Globally, an estimated 700,000 deaths are attributed to AMR annually. Annual deaths due to AMR are projected to reach 10 million by 2050 if current trends persist.

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Introduction: primary health care (PHC) is essential towards achieving universal health coverage. Improving PHC services require understanding context-specific factors influencing utilisation. We assessed the factors influencing utilisation of PHC services in a rural community in Enugu, Nigeria.

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Introduction: diarrhoea remains a public health problem globally with majority of diarrhoea morbidity and mortality occurring in low resource settings. This study assessed the prevalence of diarrhoea and factors associated with diarrhoea in a rural community in Enugu, South East Nigeria.

Methods: a community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted between May and June, 2017.

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Introduction: in Nigeria, perinatal mortality rate remains high among births at the health facility. Births occur majorly at the secondary healthcare level in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Identifying factors influencing perinatal deaths in this setting would inform interventions on perinatal deaths reduction.

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Snakebite envenoming is a public health problem among rural communities in Nigeria. In June, 2016, an outbreak of snakebites in Donga Local Government Area, Taraba State, north-east Nigeria, was reported. We investigated the outbreak to identify risk factors for snakebites and to institute appropriate control measures.

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Primary health centres are an effective means of achieving access to primary healthcare (PHC) in low- and middle-income countries. We assessed service availability, service readiness and factors influencing service delivery at public PHC centres in Enugu State, Nigeria. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 60 randomly selected public health centres in Enugu using the World Health Organization's Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA) survey.

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Background: The standard practice in treating uncomplicated malaria is to prescribe artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) for only patients with positive test results. However, health workers (HWs) sometimes prescribe ACTs for patients with negative malaria rapid diagnostic test (mRDT) results. Available evidence on HWs perception of mRDT and their level of compliance with test results in Nigeria lacks adequate stratification by state and context.

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