Objectives:
The objective of this study was to assess the factors affecting testing behaviours amongst the population in Ondo and Lagos States.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study involving 704 ...individuals who were considered eligible for COVID-19 testing in 4 local governments in Lagos (307) and Ondo (397) states in Nigeria, was conducted from April-June 2021. Respondents were selected using simple random sampling. A close-ended questionnaire was administered using a digital survey platform known as SurveyCTO. Data were analyzed using R 4.1.0.
Results:
In Lagos state, 52.4% were females, 47.2% were males while in Ondo, 55.2% were females, 44.6% were male. Chi-square tests of association revealed that socio demographic factors significantly associated with testing patterns was education level in Lagos, and none in Ondo. Testing behavior associated with testing patterns included awareness of nearby COVID-19 testing centers, internet access, knowledge of preexisting conditions and having another member of the family testing positive at 5% significance level.
Conclusion:
Knowledge of pre-existing conditions, knowledge of COVID-19 symptoms, and knowing where to go when having symptoms were significantly associated with testing and willingness to test.
Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, pattern and determinants of menstrual abnormalities in HIV‐positive Nigerian women.
Methods: A cross‐sectional study was carried out ...involving 3473 (2549 HIV‐seropositive and 924 seronegative) consecutive and consenting women seen at the HIV treatment centers at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos and the Federal Medical Centre, Markurdi.
Results: The sociodemographic characteristics of the two groups were comparable, except for body mass index (BMI): the HIV‐negative women (28.1 ± 8.1) had statistically significantly (P < 0.005) higher BMI compared to the HIV‐positive women (21.9 ± 7.5).
Menstrual abnormalities were significantly more common in women living with HIV/AIDS (29.1%) compared to the HIV‐negative (18.9%) women (P < 0.001). The proportions of women in the two groups with intermenstrual bleeding, menorrhagia, hypermenorrhea, and postcoital bleeding were similar (P > 0.005), however amenorrhea, oligomenorrhea, irregular periods and secondary dysmenorrhea were more common in the HIV‐positive women (P < 0.02). Primary dysmenorrhea was less common in HIV‐positive women (P < 0.03). Among the HIV‐positive women, menstrual dysfunction was more common in women living with HIV/AIDS with opportunistic infections, CD4 count < 200, not undertaking therapy, symptomatic disease and BMI < 20. However, after controlling for cofounders, only CD4 < 200 (odds ratio OR, 3.65; 95% confidence interval CI, 1.2–9.7), BMI < 20 (OR, 2.4; 95%CI, 1.3–3.5) and not taking antiretroviral drugs (OR, 2.05; CI, 1.7–6.5) were associated with amenorrhea, oligomenorrhea, irregular periods and secondary dysmenorrhea.
Conclusion: HIV‐positive women in this study experienced more menstrual abnormalities of amenorrhea, oligomenorrhea, and irregular periods compared to the HIV‐negative controls. HIV‐positive women with CD4 count < 200, BMI < 20 and who do not take antiretroviral drugs are at the greatest risk.
Objective: There are conflicting report on the association of HIV infection and asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB). Most of these studies were from areas with low HIV burden. This study determined the ...prevalence and risk factors of ASB in HIV positive pregnant women. Methods: A cross sectional study among HIV positive pregnant women seen at a large PMTCT clinic in Lagos Nigeria. The women were evaluated for ASB at first clinic attendance. Blood samples were also collected for viral load, CD4 count and hemoglobin levels assessment. Data were managed with SPSS for windows version 19. Results: 102 (18.1%) women out of 563 studied were found positive for asymptomatic bacteriuria. Ninety-seven (95.1%) of the positive samples yielded single bacterial isolates. Escherichia coli (44.3%) and Proteus mirabilis (21.6%) were the most common bacterial isolates. Previous urinary tract infection (OR: 4.3), HIV-1 RNA greater than 10,000 copies/ml (OR: 3.9), CD4 count <200 cells/mm3 (OR: 1.4) and maternal hemoglobin <11 g/dl (OR: 1.4) were factors significantly associated with ASB after controlling for possible confounders. Conclusion: ASB is common in HIV positive pregnant women in our environment and is associated with previous UTI, high viral load, low CD4 count and maternal hemoglobin <11 g/dl.
Lassa virus (LASV), the causative agent of Lassa fever (LF), an endemic acute viral haemorrhagic illness in Nigeria, is transmitted by direct contact with the rodent, contaminated food or household ...items. Person-to-person transmission also occurs and sexual transmission has been reported. Thus, this study investigated the presence of LASV in body fluids of suspected and confirmed cases.
this was a cross-sectional study between March 2018 and April 2019 involving 112 consenting suspected and post ribavirin confirmed cases attending the Lassa fever treatment center in Ondo State. Whole blood was collected from 57 suspected and 29 confirmed cases. Other samples from confirmed cases were 5 each of High Vaginal Swab (HVS) and seminal fluid; 12 breast milk and 4 urine. All samples were analyzed using reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) targeting the S-gene of LASV.
analysis of whole blood by RT-PCR showed that 1/57 (1.8%) suspected and 1/29 (3.4%) confirmed post ribavirin treated cases were positive. While LASV was detected in 2/5 (40%) post ribavirin treated seminal fluids and 1/11 (8.3%) breast milk. However, LASV was not detected in any of the HVS and urine samples.
the detection of LASV in seminal fluid and breast milk of discharged post ribavirin treated cases suggests its persistence in these fluids of recovering Nigerians. The role of postnatal and sexual transmissions in the perennial outbreak of LF needs to be further evaluated.
Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is highly infectious with no currently available vaccine. Prior to treatment, it is recommended to confirm HCV infection with either quantitative or qualitative nucleic acid ...test. Access to these assays in Nigeria is limited but for effective management of patients, HCV viral load (VL) prior to therapy is required and genotype may be needed in some instances. This study aimed at reviewing the pattern of HCV viral load and genotype in the country, and its implication in patient management.
this was a retrospective study that involved data abstraction from an electronic database of an accredited laboratory between June 2013 and May 2017. De-linked data were abstracted from records of adult subjects with HCV VL and genotype results, these were analysed using Microsoft Excel 2010 and SPSS v20.
within the study period, 346 subjects had baseline VL and 134 (38.7%) had genotype results available. Of these, 202/346 (58.4%) had detectable VL results with higher prevalence in males (64.7%) and ≥51years (42.5%) age group. The median VL among 202 subjects was 407,430 (IQR: 96,388 - 1,357,012) IU/mL. Distribution of genotypes showed that genotypes 1 and 4 had prevalence of 63.2% and 16.8% respectively.
genotypes 1 and 4 have the highest prevalence. A greater proportion of subjects had VL values ≤800,000 IU/mL, an indication that they are more likely to respond well to available antiviral therapy hence, access to these antivirals will greatly improve management of HCV infection in Nigeria.
To evaluate treatment outcome in the first 12 months among HIV-positive patients managed with a combination of nevirapine + stavudine + lamivudine under the current national antiretroviral (ARV) ...program in Nigeria.
This was a prospective observational, cohort study on 50 ARV-naive patients who met the inclusion criteria for the program and had given informed consent. All patients were in stage 2 or stage 3 periods of infection based on World Health Organization clinical classification. The patients were treated with the generic brands of ARVs and treatment consisted of oral nevirapine (Nevimal, Cipla, Mumbai, India), 200 mg daily, lamivudine (Lamivir, Cipla), 150 mg twice daily, and stavudine (Stavir, Cipla), 40 mg twice daily. Prior to initiation of treatment, the clinical history and baseline data for each patient were documented. The levels of plasma HIV-1 RNA, CD4 cell counts, frequency of opportunistic infections, and estimated body mass index were recorded at baseline and subsequently at intervals during treatment. Data obtained at the various sampling times for each parameter were compared against their baseline values.
Data on the plasma HIV-1 RNA levels indicated that between baseline and week 24, the median viral load of the patients decreased by 1.79 log(10) copies/mL. Equally between baseline and week 48 the median CD4 cell counts increased by 186 x 10(6) cells/L, the frequency of opportunistic infections decreased by 82%, the median body mass index increased by 4.8 kg/m(2), and 36% experienced side effects, which were minor and transient. The most prevalent side effect recorded was skin rash associated with nevirapine. Good adherence to this triple regimen was recorded in >85% of the patients.
The overall results within the 12-month treatment period indicated an effective suppression of viral replication, the reconstitution of the immune system, and improvement of the physical well-being of the study population. Though there may be differences in global distribution of the infecting HIV-1 subtypes, the clinical and biologic results of this study compared favorably to those documented in cohorts treated with branded and generic ARV drugs in some developed and developing countries. The cumulative data in this study further confirmed that the correct use of generic brands of ARVs is a feasible option in HIV care and support programs in resource-poor countries.
Background: The Nigerian Institute of Medical Research houses two reference laboratories: the virology and tuberculosis laboratories. Both were enrolled in the Strengthening Laboratory Management ...Toward Accreditation (SLMTA) programme. Objective: To describe the impact of SLMTA and discuss factors affecting the results, with an emphasis on mentorship. Methods: The SLMTA programme was implemented from April 2010 through November 2012. Participants attended three workshops and executed quality improvement projects; laboratory auditors evaluated performance using a standard checklist. The virology laboratory did not receive mentorship; however, the tuberculosis laboratory had an international mentor who visited the laboratory four times during the programme, spending two to four weeks embedded within the laboratory during each visit. Results: There was an overall improvement in the performance of both laboratories, with the virology laboratory increasing 13% (from 80% at baseline to 93% at exit audit) and the tuberculosis laboratory increasing 29% (from 66% to 95%). These scores were maintained nine months later at the surveillance audit. Conclusion: The SLMTA programme resulted in improved and sustained quality management performance for both laboratories. Mentoring was a possible factor in the substantial improvement made by the tuberculosis laboratory and should be considered in order to augment the training received from the SLMTA workshops.
Background
A common complication of any respiratory disease by a virus could be a secondary bacterial infection, which is known to cause an increase in severity. It is, however, not clear whether the ...presence of some opportunistic pathogens called pathobionts contributes to the severity of the disease. In COVID-19 patients, undetected bacterial co-infections may be associated with the severity of the disease. Therefore, we investigated the implications of bacterial co-infections in COVID-19 cases.
Results
This is a cross-sectional study that involved archived specimens collected from nasopharyngeal samples of 150 people for COVID-19 screening in Lagos. DNA extraction from the samples was carried out to determine the presence of five respiratory bacterial pathogens using nested real-time PCR, and data were analysed using the Chi-square test. Of the 150 samples collected, 121 (80.7%) were positive for SARs-CoV-2 infection and 29 were negative. The proportion of patients with bacteria co-infection in COVID-19-negative, asymptomatic, and mild cases were 93.1%, 70.7%, and 67.5%, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between mild COVID-19 conditions and bacteria co-infection (
p
= 0.097). There was also no significant difference in the nasal carriage of
Staphylococcus aureus
,
Mycoplasma pneumoniae
, and
Haemophilus
spp. However, there was a statistically significant increase in the carriage of
Moraxella catarrhalis
and
Chlamydophila pneumoniae
among COVID-19-negative patients when compared with the positive patients (
p
value = 0.003 and 0.000 for
Moraxella catarrhalis
and
Chlamydophila pneumoniae
, respectively).
Conclusions
The current study shows that bacterial co-infection and superinfection with COVID-19 are not associated with mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases in our setting. However, given the high prevalence of
Staphylococcus aureus
and
Mycoplasma pneumoniae
among the mild COVID-19 cases seen in this study, early diagnosis and treatment of these bacterial co-infections are still encouraged to mitigate the effect on the severity of COVID-19.
The progression of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic in Africa has so far been heterogeneous, and the full impact is not yet well understood. In this study, we ...describe the genomic epidemiology using a dataset of 8746 genomes from 33 African countries and two overseas territories. We show that the epidemics in most countries were initiated by importations predominantly from Europe, which diminished after the early introduction of international travel restrictions. As the pandemic progressed, ongoing transmission in many countries and increasing mobility led to the emergence and spread within the continent of many variants of concern and interest, such as B.1.351, B.1.525, A.23.1, and C.1.1. Although distorted by low sampling numbers and blind spots, the findings highlight that Africa must not be left behind in the global pandemic response, otherwise it could become a source for new variants.
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