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Background: Urinary Schistosomiasis (US) caused by Schistosoma haematobium constitutes a major public health problem in Nigeria. Efforts in this study were devoted to evaluate the current prevalence and associated risk factors on the intensity of disease burden. Methods: A survey was conducted with the use of semi-structured questionnaires to collect sociodemographic and anthropometric data of the pupils. Urine samples were collected from One hundred and two (102) pupils for microscopic analysis for the detection of S.haematobium eggs. Results: Of the 102 children (age ranges between 5-15 years) examined, prevalence of infection was (80/102) 78 % of which (44/102) 43 % were heavy and (36/102) 35 % mild while (22/102) 22 % were negative (p washing of clothes in streams > playing / bathing in rivers> unknown > mosquito bites > fresh water snail. No significant difference exists between the risk factors (p>0.05). The mean age, weight, height, waist circumference and hip circumference of the negative individuals (both males and females) were significantly higher than that of their positive counterpart (p 0.05). Similarly, there was no significant difference in the mean hip circumference of the heavy and mild infected male and female (p>0.05). Correlation analysis showed that there is significant correlation between infection status and age (r= 0.385, p>0.01), weight (r = 0.404, p>0.01), height (r=0.401, p>0.01), waist (r=0.396, p>0.01), hip circumference (r=0.415, p>0.01) and risk factor (r=-0.231, p>0.05). Risk factor is not significant to age, weight, height, waist, hip circumference and infection status (p>0.05). Conclusion: Prevalence rate obtained in the study was high, an indication that the region is endemic by WHO classification. This calls for an urgent effective urinary schistosomiasis control programme in the zone.

Background The ability to absorb substances from the external environment is one of the features that make animals different from inanimate objects. In mammalian species, this quality is mainly the role of the small intestine. The process of absorption mainly takes place in the small intestine. This study was carried out to investigate the rate of glucose absorption in the intestine of albino rats and the effect of calcium and ouabain on the rate of glucose absorption. Methods Albino rats weighing between 200 and 250 g were used for this experiment. Guts were isolated and cut to segments. Test solution was injected into each of the isolated segments, which were then assayed for glucose. Results The result revealed that the rate of glucose absorption in the intestine of albino rats were found to be 3.02×10-1 g/min at the mucosa-to-serosa surface and 3.00×10-1 g/min at the serosa-to-mucosa surface, indicating that glucose was absorbed at both surfaces and that the rate of glucose absorption was higher in the mucosa-to-serosa direction than in the opposite direction. The rate of intestinal glucose absorption at different regions of the intestine and the effect of varying concentrations of calcium on the rate of glucose absorption revealed that glucose absorption was highest at the duodenum and lowest at the ileum. Conclusions Ouabain blocked the rate of absorption of glucose in the intestine of albino rats.

Africa being part of the global village is challenged by unprecedented and persistent emerging infectious diseases threats and outbreaks. Recent memories of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outbreaks in Saudi Arabia (2012) and South Korea (2015), West Africa Ebola viral disease outbreak and public health humanitarian crisis (2014) and China’s SARS outbreaks. Various differences and similarities between these diseases have triggered serious concerns and magnified that similar outbreaks could occur anywhere in the world with lingering health complications, socio-political and economic crises. Yet, there is dearth of knowledge on MERS-CoV reservoirs, risk factors of emergence, infectivity and transmissibility in Africa and globally. This paper highlights forward approaches and key activities to the African Union, governments and institutions and all stakeholders including public-private partnership. These play paramount roles in providing information and support to address MERS-CoV and other emerging infectious diseases research gaps, (2) promoting community alertness and resilience in preparedness, (3) fostering effective and coordinated logistics in risk communication, planning and response in MERS-CoV public mobilization literacy and awareness, advocacy and mitigation. There is an urgent need to establish an integrated and strategic evidence-based local and nationwide surveillance and response capacity, (5) better understand the MERS-CoV animal reservoir(s) and human-human infectivity and transmissibility, and (6) implement informed community-based or national threat and epidemics actionable emergency insurance facility and compensation schemes. Conclusively, improved early warning, active and integrated epidemiological and genomic surveillance indicators data gathering to inform and guide effective and community resilience capability in consolidating and upholding knowledge gains from “One Health Surveillance Network” and best practices in achieving “One Health” and global health security.

The challenge of malaria and efforts targeted at developing malaria vaccines triggered this study on the reactivity of IgG and its subclasses in the test serum specific to CSP. This work was directed at assessing the influence of age and gender on host humoral antibody against Plasmodium falciparum recombinant circumsporozoite antigen in Nigerian children.In all, 67 serum samples (10,000 parasites/μl of blood) collected from malaria-infected children at the University College Hospital, Ibadan during the transmission season were analyzed by ELISA.The mean absorbance values of IgG subclasses reactive against P. falciparum CSP appeared to be age-dependent and ranged from 0.01 for IgG4 in younger children to 0.95 for IgG3 in older children. The sixty-seven subjects investigated in this study had significantly higher mean IgG1 and IgG3 than the uninfected controls (p0.01). This follows the order IgG3IgG1IgG2IgG4 which confirmed the prevalence of the cytophilic antibodies (IgG1 and IgG3) in 65% of the malaria infected children over the non-cytophilic subclasses (IgG2 and IgG4). Similarly, there was low production of IgG4 and IgG2 levels in 35% of the subjects compared with control. IgG was detected in the serum of North American Subjects (NAS) which served as negative control for CSP-specific IgG subclasses. Although the NAS titre was lower than that of the malaria subjects in Nigeria, its IgG2 was, however, higher (0.16) than that of other subclasses. The mean absorbance values of total serum IgG subclass were higher than those of IgG subclasses specific to P. falciparum circumsporozoite antigen. The mean absorbance values of the total serum IgG subclass follows the order IgG2IgG1IgG4IgG3.Age and gender-dependent correlations of results suggest that acquired immunity could play a significant role in protection from malaria. Antibody levels are higher in male than female children of the same age group. Antibody levels also increase with age in both the male and female children.