Adoption of electronic medical records in developing countries-A multi-state study of the Nigerian healthcare system.

Electronic medical records (EMR) are extensively used in developed countries to manage patient records and facilitate consultations and follow-up of treatment. This has resulted in centralised databases where different services and clinicians can quickly access patient data to support healthcare delivery. However, adoption and usage of EMR in developing countries is not common and, in most cases, non-existent.

Histomorphometric Survey of Placentas of HIV-positive Mothers in Relation to their Clinical Stage in a Teaching Hospital in Uyo, South-South Nigeria.

Objectives: HIV infection in pregnancy affects the mother, her placenta, and fetus resulting in perinatal/maternal morbidity and mortality. Studies show that HIV-positive mothers have several placental morphological changes. This study aimed to describe the histomorphometric parameters/lesions of placentas of HIV-positive mothers in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

Challenges of Case Management of COVID-19 in University of Uyo Teaching Hospital: A One-Year Experience.

Background And Objectives: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic. Older people and those with poorly controlled co-morbidities have higher risk of mortality. This study was conducted to highlight the clinical features, challenges of management and outcome for the patients we have seen in our centre over the past one year.

Are rural pregnant women disadvantaged in accessing intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy in Ebonyi State, Nigeria?

Introduction: Adequate intermittent preventive treatment (IPTp) uptake (≥3 doses) routinely delivered at antenatal clinics is effective in preventing malaria during pregnancy. Whereas, low IPTp uptake (24.0%) had been reported among pregnant women in Ebonyi State, there is paucity of studies comparing the uptake and its predictors in the urban and rural areas of Ebonyi State.

Effect of Health Education on the Knowledge of Cervical Cancer and Uptake of Papanicolaou Smear Test among Teachers in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State Nigeria: An Interventional Study.

Background: Evidence exists that the uptake of cervical cancer screening is low in Nigeria despite the availability of effective tools. This study determined the effect of health education on the knowledge of cervical cancer and uptake of Papanicolaou (Pap) smear test among teachers in public secondary schools in Uyo, Nigeria.

Methods: This was an interventional study among public secondary school teachers in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

Determination of the level of von willebrand factor and ADAMTS13 in sickle cell anaemia patients in steady state.

Background: Sickle cell anaemia (SCA) is a hypercoagulable state with alteration in the haemostatic parameters and may contribute to thrombosis in a steady state. The levels of von Willebrand factor (VWF) and ADAMTS13 antigen in the steady state as markers of thrombotic risk have not been fully investigated in our environment.

Aim: Evaluation of the level of VWF and ADAMTS13 as a marker of thrombotic risk in SCA subjects in the steady state at UCTH, Calabar.

Prolonged COVID-19 symptom duration in people with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases: results from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Vaccine Survey.

Objective: We investigated prolonged COVID-19 symptom duration, defined as lasting 28 days or longer, among people with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs).

Methods: We analysed data from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Vaccine Survey (2 April 2021-15 October 2021) to identify people with SARDs reporting test-confirmed COVID-19. Participants reported COVID-19 severity and symptom duration, sociodemographics and clinical characteristics.

Tuberculosis of the Cervix Mimicking Cervical Carcinoma: A Case Report.

Tuberculosis of the cervix is reported to be very rare with clinical features that are indistinguishable from that of invasive cancer of the cervix. We report the case of a 31-year-old nulliparous lady that presented with intermenstrual bleeding and a persistent abnormal vaginal discharge after receiving several forms of treatment for cervical cancer. Vaginal examination revealed an extensive friable erythematous lesion affecting the entire ectocervix.

Acute Kidney Injury after First Dose of AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine Managed in a Nigerian Hospital.

Introduction: The association of kidney disease and COVID-19 vaccination has been reported with minimal change disease being a common presentation.

Case Report: Index patient is a 54-year-old female who presented with a history of reduction in urine output within 3 weeks of receiving the Oxford-AztraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Her serum creatinine on admission was 1,057 µmol/L with a premorbid serum creatinine of 78 µmol/L.

Post native uvulo-tonsillectomy hemorrhage as a cause of acquired long QT syndrome in a Nigerian girl: A case report.

Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is a rare disease entity which until recently was not readily recognized as one of the causes of sudden cardiac death in children. It is a syndrome which can be congenital or acquired and is characterized by the prolongation of the QTc interval, the presence of some electrocardiographic abnormalities and other clinical parameters together with suggestive or definitive family history (Schwartz criteria). The index case is a 4-year-old female who initially presented for management on account of post native tonsillectomy hemorrhage with secondary severe anemia and associated sepsis who subsequently developed bradycardia and marked prolongation of the QTc interval on electrocardiogram.

Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on blood donations and transfusions in Nigeria - A multi-facility study of 34 tertiary hospitals.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic affected blood supplies globally. Mobile blood drive campaigns halted, and voluntary blood donations reduced, challenging available blood supplies. Furthermore, fears of virus transmission led to deferrals of elective surgeries and non-urgent clinical procedures with noticeable declines in blood donations and transfusions.

A retrospective survey of death care practices and procedures in handling suspected and confirmed COVID-19 deceased bodies in the mortuary of a resource-poor tertiary healthcare facility in Uyo, South-South Nigeria.

Introduction: the death care of deceased bodies of confirmed COVID-19 cases is a critical component of holistic healthcare provision for COVID-19 cases particularly from the public health perspective of infection prevention/control. Regrettably, there is a dearth of research-based information on the management (death care) of COVID-19 deceased bodies. Thus, we aimed to determine the preservation/storage death care practices and procedures in accordance with infection prevention/control measures used for deceased bodies of suspected/confirmed COVID-19 cases deposited in our mortuary and explore their antemortem age/sex distribution.

Retrospective Study of Abandoned Dead Bodies in the Morgue of a Tertiary Health Institution: The Identified, Unidentified and Unclaimed.

Background: Dead bodies in a morgue can be grouped into any of the following: identified- but-not-abandoned, unidentified/unclaimed and identified-but-abandoned. The first group, usually poses no challenge. The unidentified/unclaimed group is always a challenge to every morgue management, while little or nothing is known about the identified-but-abandoned group.

Assessment of the Knowledge, Perception and Practice of Voluntary Blood Donation among Physicians in a Tertiary Health Facility, Uyo, South-South Nigeria.

Background: Provision of safe, affordable and adequate supply of blood and blood products is a daunting public health issue in developing countries. In Nigeria, there is an inadmissibly high dependence on family surrogate and remunerated blood donors which carries an attendant increased risk of transfusion transmissible infections. Physicians represent a potential, stable and sustainable safe donor pool.

Refractory Methamphetamine-Induced Psychosis: An Emerging Crisis in Rural America and the Role of Amantadine in Therapeutics.

In the last decade, methamphetamine (MA) use has substantially increased in rural America. These changes in the epidemiological trends could be attributed to the restricted availability of opioids after measures against the opioid epidemic were enforced. The availability of cheaper alternatives, such as fake prescriptions mixed with fentanyl, is a few among the many recent developments in the ongoing mental health and substance abuse crisis in rural America.

Brain antioxidants and hippocampal microanatomical alterations following the administration of Efavirenz/Lamivudine/Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and Lamivudine/Nevirapine/Zidovudine in adult male Wistar rats.

Highly active antiretroviral therapies (HAARTs) are used for the management of human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). The present study was designed to characterize the neurotoxicity profile of two popular HAARTs on the brains' antioxidants and hippocampal microanatomical alterations in an in vivo model. Fifteen adults male Wistar rats, were assigned to three groups (n = 5); group I the normal control (NC) received distilled water (5 mL/kg b.

Psychological distress and health-related quality of life among stable patients with bronchiectasis.

Background: Bronchiectasis is characterized by chronic symptoms and impaired physical activity. Anxiety and depression usually complicate chronic illness. Thus, underdiagnosis of psychological distress in bronchiectasis may lead to increased morbidity and mortality.

Etiology and Clinical Evaluation of Patients with Bronchiectasis in a Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria.

Background: Bronchiectasis is often considered an orphan disease in developed societies. This may not be the case with low-income countries. Currently there is a paucity of data on the pattern and presentation of this condition in Nigeria.

Histoplasmosis in African children: clinical features, diagnosis and treatment.

Most of the reviews on histoplasmosis documented in literature have been in the adult population. Very few studies highlight the peculiarities associated with histoplasmosis in Africa especially in the pediatric population. This review addresses the above concerns with clinical summaries and diagnosis of some case reports of histoplasmosis in African children.

Implementation and impact of mobile health (mHealth) in the management of diabetes mellitus in Africa: a systematic review protocol.

Introduction: The WHO has proposed the concept of mobile health (mHealth) to support healthcare systems delivery worldwide. mHealth basically involves the use of Information and Communication Technology for healthcare provision or delivery services. Africa has seen a remarkable increase in mobile phone availability and usage in the last decade.

Risk factors for some tropical diseases in an African country.

Background: Often, non-clinical risk factors could affect the predisposition of an individual to diseases. Understanding these factors and their impacts helps in disease prevention and control. This study identified risk factors for malaria, yellow fever, typhoid, chickenpox, measles, hepatitis B, and urinary tract infection in a population in an African country.

Profile of Ocular Injury among Paediatric Patients in a Tertiary Institution in Uyo, Nigeria: An 18 Months Review.

Background: Ocular injury is one of the known causes of acquired blindness in children. The epidemiological data of childhood ocular injury vary from region to region, and also with sex and age.Methodology: Clinic records of pediatric ocular trauma patients (0-18 years) were reviewed for 18 months.

Safety Practices and Covid-19 Antibody Positivity among Health Care Workers in a Tertiary Hospital in Southern Nigeria.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has surpassed 211 million cases and 4.4 million deaths globally. Seroprevalence among Health care workers (HCWs) ranges from 10.