The purpose of the study is to evaluate choroidal thickness (CT) and the effect of age and gender in healthy Africans using enhanced depth imaging spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.
In 172 ...eyes of 88 volunteers, the CT in the central subfoveal (CSF) area and at 2.5 mm superior, inferior, nasal, and temporal quadrants was measured. Four eyes were excluded due to poor image quality and image decentration. Simple linear regression was used to measure the effect of age on CT, and statistical analysis was done using IBM SPSS Statistics version 22.
The were 88 male and 84 female eyes, aged 30-80 years. The mean CT was CSF 265.44 ± 6.2 μm; inferior 256.19 ± 70.6 μm; superior 249.92 ± 76.2 μm; temporal 235.51 ± 70.3 μm; and nasal 199.53 ± 69.8 μm. The choroid was thickest in the CSF > Inferior > Superior > Temporal, and the nasal quadrant was thinnest in all age groups. There was a considerable decrease in the CSF with increasing age (P < 0.001). CT in males and females was similar since the difference in mean CSF CT between the genders was 2.085 μm (P = 0.858). Menopausal females had thinner CSF CT compared to premenopausal females (P < 0.001), but this was due to the aging effect.
CT decreases significantly with increasing age but shows no gender difference in Africans. A comparison of CT studies from other ethnic nationalities shows some similarity with CT in Africans, suggesting that CT findings from other ethnic groups can be extrapolated to Africans.
ABSTRACT
The crisis generated by the emergence and pandemic spread of COVID‐19 has thrown into the global spotlight the dangers associated with novel diseases, as well as the key role of animals, ...especially wild animals, as potential sources of pathogens to humans. There is a widespread demand for a new relationship with wild and domestic animals, including suggested bans on hunting, wildlife trade, wet markets or consumption of wild animals. However, such policies risk ignoring essential elements of the problem as well as alienating and increasing hardship for local communities across the world, and might be unachievable at scale. There is thus a need for a more complex package of policy and practical responses. We undertook a solution scan to identify and collate 161 possible options for reducing the risks of further epidemic disease transmission from animals to humans, including potential further SARS‐CoV‐2 transmission (original or variants). We include all categories of animals in our responses (i.e. wildlife, captive, unmanaged/feral and domestic livestock and pets) and focus on pathogens (especially viruses) that, once transmitted from animals to humans, could acquire epidemic potential through high rates of human‐to‐human transmission. This excludes measures to prevent well‐known zoonotic diseases, such as rabies, that cannot readily transmit between humans. We focused solutions on societal measures, excluding the development of vaccines and other preventive therapeutic medicine and veterinary medicine options that are discussed elsewhere. We derived our solutions through reading the scientific literature, NGO position papers, and industry guidelines, collating our own experiences, and consulting experts in different fields. Herein, we review the major zoonotic transmission pathways and present an extensive list of options. The potential solutions are organised according to the key stages of the trade chain and encompass solutions that can be applied at the local, regional and international scales. This is a set of options targeted at practitioners and policy makers to encourage careful examination of possible courses of action, validating their impact and documenting outcomes.
The authors used the Nextera Flex method for viral genome enrichment, developed by Illumina Technologies (San Diego, CA, USA), to shorten the time between blood sample collection and generation of ...whole viral genome sequences from 72 to 28 h. They also identified a small number of mismatches and mutations in targeted areas of some PCR tests available for field deployment; however, none of these mismatches affected the performance of the PCR tests. To prepare for the next EVD outbreak, we advocate the establishment of national and regional hubs of excellence in infectious diseases genomics in regions with a high risk of outbreaks, where untargeted metagenomic sequencing analysis would be done. ...providing a potential one-step solution for outbreak pathogen detection of both known and novel pathogens would replace the need for multiple individual pathogen assays.7 Although the main advantage of metagenomic sequencing is that it does not require a priori knowledge of the pathogen, specialised laboratory equipment and highly complex bioinformatic tools are required, which are expensive. The establishment of the African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases as a regional hub of genomics excellence for infectious diseases by the National Institutes of Health (H3 Africa Consortium) and the World Bank (through the African Center of Excellence project) has demonstrated capabilities for in-country real-time surveillance and tracking of infectious agents during outbreaks.5,6,8 Previous reports2,5,6,9 from many parts of Africa indicate that long-term capacity building, continued technology transfer among partners, deep rooted investments3 in in-country real-time genomics surveillance, and the integration of such capacity into the established but siloed pathogen-specific diagnostic platforms in Africa are needed for quick response in outbreaks.
Typhoid fever remains a significant public health concern due to cases of mis-/overdiagnosis. Asymptomatic carriers play a role in the transmission and persistence of typhoid fever, especially among ...children, where limited data exist in Nigeria and other endemic countries. We aim to elucidate the burden of typhoid fever among healthy school-aged children using the best surveillance tool(s). In a semi-urban/urban state (Osun), 120 healthy school-aged children under 15 years were enrolled. Whole blood and fecal samples were obtained from consenting children. ELISA targeting the antigen lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and anti-LPS antibodies of
, culture, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and next-generation sequencing (NGS) were used to analyze the samples. At least one of the immunological markers was detected in 65.8% of children, with 40.8%, 37.5%, and 39% of children testing positive for IgM, IgG, and antigen, respectively. Culture, PCR, and NGS assays did not detect the presence of
in the isolates. This study demonstrates a high seroprevalence of
in these healthy children but no carriage, indicating the inability to sustain transmission. We also demonstrate that using a single technique is insufficient for typhoid fever surveillance in healthy children living in endemic areas.
The dynamics of Lassa virus (LASV) infections in rodent reservoirs and their endemic human caseloads remain poorly understood. During the endemic period, human infections are believed to be ...associated with the seasonal migration of Mastomys natalensis, thought to be the primary reservoir that triggers multiple spillovers of LASV to humans. It has become imperative to improve LASV diagnosis in rodents while updating their prevalence in two regions of Lassa fever endemicity in Nigeria. Rodents (total, 942) were trapped in Ondo (531) and Ebonyi (411) states between October 2018 and April 2020 for detection of LASV using various tissues. Overall, the LASV prevalence was 53.6%. The outbreak area sampled in Ondo had three and two times higher capture success and LASV prevalence, respectively, than Ebonyi State. This correlated with the higher number of annual cases of Lassa fever (LF) in Ondo State versus Ebonyi State. All rodent genera (
,
,
,
, and
) captured in both states showed slightly variable LASV positivity, with
spp. being the most predominantly infected (77.3%) rodents in Ondo State versus
spp. (41.6%) in Ebonyi State. The tissues with the highest LASV positivity were the kidneys, spleen, and testes. The finding of a relatively high LASV prevalence in all of the rodent genera captured highlights the complex interspecies transmission dynamics of LASV infections in the reservoirs and their potential association with increased environmental contact, as well as the risk of zoonotic spillover in these communities, which have the highest prevalence of Lassa fever in Nigeria.
Our findings show the highest LASV positivity in small rodents ever recorded and the first direct detection of LASV in
spp. Our findings also indicate the abundance of LASV-infected small rodents in houses, with probable interspecies transmission through vertical and horizontal coitus routes. Consequently, we suggest that the abundance of different reservoir species for LASV may fuel the epizootic outbreaks of LF in affected human communities. The high prevalence of LASV with the diversity of affected rodents has direct implications for our understanding of the transmission risk, mitigation, and ultimately, the prevention of LF in humans. Optimal tissues for LASV detection in rodents are also presented.
Lassa fever is a viral zoonotic tropical disease endemic in parts of West Africa. It causes substantial mortality, morbidity and economic burdens on affected populations. The year 2019 marked the ...50th anniversary of the first diagnosis of Lassa fever in Nigeria. Over the years, a few and sporadic intervention measures have been undertaken to control Lassa fever in Nigeria. However, the disease has remained a burden due to neglect, and apathy from the Government. Here we highlight the Lassa fever control efforts so far undertaken in Nigeria. We also point to some challenges and opportunities for effective Lassa fever control efforts. In addition, we proposed few Lassa fever control measures, which vary from advocacies, training of local communities and health workers in the use of rapid, cheap diagnostic tools. We also propose an integrated genomic surveillance platform that utilizes one health approach, in tracking and tackling Lassa fever, as the key future of Lassa fever control effort. In this review, we present IGOHRAL, an integrated genomic platform that utilizes clinical, genomic and epidemiological data in a one-health approach to tackle Lassa fever problem. Lassa fever (LF) is a serious viral hemorrhagic fever endemic in West Africa. The history of Lassa fever virus (LVS) in Nigeria is that of neglect, wickedness and apathy (Akpede et al., 2018). Lassa virus was first diagnosed in a missionary hospital in Nigeria in 1969 (Carey et al., 1972). There was an outbreak of a febrile illness involving hospital staff and those who visited the hospitals. The aetiology was later confirmed to be LVS. Prior to this outbreak, there have been several descriptions of illness resembling LF (Monath, 1975). However, a genomics study by Anderson et al. later confirmed that the LVS emerged in present day Nigeria over 1060 years ago (Andersen et al., 2015).
The study interrogates the politics of poverty alleviation amidst the prevalence of poverty in Africa, focusing on Nigeria. Nigeria currently ranks among the poor countries in the world. While many ...studies have examined aspects of poverty mitigation within the national development frameworks, the politics underlying such endeavors have been under-explored. This study narrows this gap by investigating how politicians bastardize social investment programs through tokenish material 'hand-outs' designed to serve immediate political ends. The study is based on textual and contextual analysis of secondary sources, as complemented by corroborated anecdotes. Appropriating Marxian production theory, the study posits that the prevalence of poverty in Africa has been occasioned by macro and micro-level politics. At the macro-level, the balance of trade cum balance of payment asymmetries has reproduced conditions that perpetuate dependency and underdevelopment in the developing countries in general and Nigeria in particular. At the micro-level, local politicians trivialize social investments by exploiting the poverty situation of the populace for electoral gains through ad hoc material 'hand-outs.' This has weakened the social investment policy environment and alienated the citizenry in decision-making concerning wealth creation, distribution, and social investments priorities. The study recommends mainstreaming social investment governance into national development programing for sustainability.
Identifying the dissemination patterns and impacts of a virus of economic or health importance during a pandemic is crucial, as it informs the public on policies for containment in order to reduce ...the spread of the virus. In this study, we integrated genomic and travel data to investigate the emergence and spread of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.318 and B.1.525 (Eta) variants of interest in Nigeria and the wider Africa region. By integrating travel data and phylogeographic reconstructions, we find that these two variants that arose during the second wave in Nigeria emerged from within Africa, with the B.1.525 from Nigeria, and then spread to other parts of the world. Data from this study show how regional connectivity of Nigeria drove the spread of these variants of interest to surrounding countries and those connected by air-traffic. Our findings demonstrate the power of genomic analysis when combined with mobility and epidemiological data to identify the drivers of transmission, as bidirectional transmission within and between African nations are grossly underestimated as seen in our import risk index estimates.
Several studies have reported the independent roles of social support and emotion regulation in death anxiety. However, there is sparse literature on mediating role of emotion regulatory mechanisms ...in the link between social support and death anxiety. This study examined whether social support predicts multidimensional death anxiety as a function of emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) among people living with HIV/ AIDS. Participants were 186 people living with HIV/AIDS (mean age = 34.16 years, standard deviation = 11.16; 56.5% women) drawn from the HIV/AIDS care unit of a tertiary health care institution in south-eastern Nigeria. Data were obtained by means of self-report measures of death anxiety, social support, and emotion regulation. A serial mediation analysis was conducted using Model 6 of the Hayes PROCESS macro for SPSS® which applies two mediators for each single analysis in a regression-based, path-analytical framework. The results showed that emotion regulation strategies, especially expressive suppression, was the indirect pathway through which social support from friends and significant others reduces death anxiety in aspects of death acceptance and death thoughts, but not for externally generated death anxiety and death finality. The mediation mechanism through family support was found for only death acceptance. Findings support existing mental health research and theories elucidating core social mechanisms of emotion regulation in relation to mental health and highlight the recognition of functional roles of multidimensional support in comprehensive case management services for helping people living with HIV/AIDS maintain their health. The study endorses improved social networks as part of the overall care for people living with HIV/AIDS.
PDF
