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Typhoid fever is a major public health burden which causes substantial global morbidity and mortality due to lack of decisive diagnostic protocols. The capacity of commonly use diagnostic test to validate the absence of typhoid fever is controversial. This study explores to evaluate new techniques for typhoid diagnosis and proposed a harmonised suitable standardized composite reference to be adopted. Published peer-reviewed articles indexed in PubMed, MEDLINE and Google scholar were reviewed for hospital-based studies. This study reveals new typhoid diagnostic techniques such as proteomics, serology, Rapid Diagnostic tests (RDTs), transcriptomics, genomics, and metabolomics. 34.4% of the studies use prospective study design. The study result establishes that, Widal test has a moderate diagnostic accuracy with average percentage sensitivity (52.9%), specificity (54%), positive predictive value (PPV) (56.8%) as well as negative predictive value (NPV) (55.6%) when compared with 29.4%, 28%, 29.5%, and 27.8% of Typhidot respectively. The findings showed a statistically significant difference on the sensitivity between Widal and Typhidot t (40) = 2.639, p = 0.012 at p

Typhoid fever is a major public health burden which causes substantial global morbidity and mortality due to lack of decisive diagnostic protocols. The capacity of commonly use diagnostic test to validate the absence of typhoid fever is controversial. This study explores to evaluate new techniques for typhoid diagnosis and proposed a harmonised suitable standardized composite reference to be adopted. Published peer-reviewed articles indexed in PubMed, MEDLINE and Google scholar were reviewed for hospital-based studies. This study reveals new typhoid diagnostic techniques such as proteomics, serology, Rapid Diagnostic tests (RDTs), transcriptomics, genomics, and metabolomics. 34.4% of the studies use prospective study design. The study result establishes that, Widal test has a moderate diagnostic accuracy with average percentage sensitivity (52.9%), specificity (54%), positive predictive value (PPV) (56.8%) as well as negative predictive value (NPV) (55.6%) when compared with 29.4%, 28%, 29.5%, and 27.8% of Typhidot respectively. The findings showed a statistically significant difference on the sensitivity between Widal and Typhidot t (40) = 2.639, p = 0.012 at p

Aim: The prevalence of intestinal parasitosis in relation to mental illness among inpatients of Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Calabar was investigated with a view to improving the quality of their medical care. Study Design: This was cross sectional study. Ethical approval and patients’ informed consent were sought and obtained before collection and processing of samples. Place and Duration of Study: Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Calabar, between February and August, 2016. Methodology: We included 246 (126 patients, 120 apparently healthy) subjects. Intestinal parasites were detected by direct stool microscopy and formol ether concentration technique and the cellophane anal swab method for Enterobius vermicularis. Chi square analysis was used to compare percentages. Results: The prevalence of intestinal parasitosis among the 126 studied patients was 49.2% compared to 11.7% recorded among the 120 apparently healthy (control) subjects examined (P < 0.0001). There was no significant association between intestinal parasites prevalence and gender in test as well as control subjects 60.0% v. 45.1%, respectively, p = 0.2022) and 14.3% v. 8.8%, respectively, P = 0.3113). Subjects with chronic mental cases insignificantly harbored more intestinal parasites than those with acute cases (53.8% v. 47.1%, respectively; P = 0.5699). Parasites detected in the study were Hookworm 34.6%, Entamoeba histolytica/dispar 25%, Ascaris lumbricoides 17.3%, Trichuris trichiura 9.6%, Enterobius vermicularis 5.8%, Giardia intestinalis 3.8%, Taenia species and Schistosoma mansoni 1.9% each. Hookworm ranked highest 34.6% among the parasites encountered in the test subjects while Ascaris lumbricoides 33.3% took the lead in the control group. People diagnosed with Variance Psychosis disorder recorded highest infection rate (68.4%) while those with substance abuse had the least (28.0%). Conclusion: Intestinal parasitosis may possibly play aetiologic or enhancement role in mental ill health. For effective management of the mental challenge, periodic parasitic investigations and appropriate therapy before and after admittance should be effected in all psychiatric institutions.

Human Lymphatic filariasis (LF) caused by three types of filarial worms; Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi and Brugiatimori is one of the neglected tropical diseases and spread by bites of infected Anopheles, Culex, Aedes, Ochleratus andMansoni mosquitoes. The study evaluated diagnostic methods using blood samples from 420 consented participants in threeLocal Government Areas of Cross River State. Blood samples were examined following one hour of administration ofDiethylcarbamazine citrate for LF microfilaria microscopy (Knott’s concentration) and for LF antigen usingimmunochromatographic (ICT) method (Alere filariasis test strip). Of the 420 samples examined, 1.7% was found to bepositive using microscopy while 4.8% were positive using ICT. There was no significant difference in the diagnosis oflymphatic filariasis using microscopy and ICT among participants in the local government areas (χ2= 21.84, p>0.05). Of the214 males and 206 females examined, 4.2% males and 5.3% females tested positive using ICT while 1.4% males and 1.9%females were found positive using microscopy. The difference in the infection between gender was statistically significant(χ2=0.298, p0.05). The study showed that LF still remains a public health problem in Cross RiverState. Mass drug administration should be scaled up in the state so as to reduce and finally eradicate the disease. Keywords: Diagnosis, Lymphatic filariasis, Immunochromatography, Microscopy

Background: Malaria and hookworm infections independently have been known to cause anaemia. Coinfection of these two parasites can aggravated the morbidity of these infections with a resulting impact on anaemia especially in pregnancy.Aims and Objective: This work was aimed at assessing the prevalence of malaria and hookworm co-infection and their effects on anaemia among pregnant women in Calabar Metroplis.Materials and Methods: Giemsa stained film of venous blood was examined microscopically for malaria parasites while cyanmethaemoglobin method was used for haemoglobin level estimation. Stool samples were examined microscopically while Stoll’s technique was used in counting the ova of hookworm.Results: 19(6.3%) of the subjects were infected with hookworm, 45(15.0%) with malaria, while 9(3.0%) were infected with both parasites. Severe anaemia of 4(44.4%) was observed amongst the test (infected) subjects while the control (uninfected) subjects had a severe anaemia of 3(1.0%). The highest prevalence of co-infections of malaria and hookworm 4(38.6%) occurred among the age group of 26-30years (p=0.371). Subjects in their 3rd trimester had the highest prevalence of co-infection of 4(4.4%) (p=0.412). The highest prevalence of severe anaemia 1(100.0%) occurred among the age group of 16-20years (p=0.002).Conclusion: This work has shown a low prevalence of malaria and hookworm co-infection. The level of severe anaemia among infected pregnant women was more than that observed among subjects without any of the two infections.Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.9(3) 2018 27-35

Background Hand washing with soap and water is a good hand hygiene practice which reduces the chance of infection transmission through hand contact. This study was designed to determine the microbial hand carriage among nursery and primary school children in Calabar Metropolis and to assess the effect of hand washing in the reduction of bacterial hand carriage among these children. Methods A total of 150 pupils aged 2–13 years were enrolled in the study from both private and public nursery and primary schools. Ethical approval was obtained from the Cross River State Ministry of Health, before the collection of the samples. Informed consent was obtained from the management of the schools and the parents and guardian of the children. A structured questionnaire was administered to the pupils for information on demography, hand hygiene practice, and their awareness on the importance of hand washing. Hand swabs were obtained from the pupils before and after hand washing respectively. Samples were subjected to culture, microscopy, and biochemical analysis. Data obtained in the study were analyzed by Epi-Info CDC, 2012 package. Results Males had the highest occurrence of the isolates 82 (62.1%) than females 50 (37.8%). This study recorded 88.0% prevalence of bacterial hand carriage among school children. Staphylococcus aureus was the most common isolate (68.9%) recovered before hand washing followed by Escherichia coli (25.0%). Proteus vulgaris and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were not found on the pupils’ hands after hand washing. There was a significant difference in the bacterial carriage after hand washing between the two soap types (χ2 = 19.9, p = 0.001) with Dettol soap subjects having a lower bacterial carriage (31.2%) than Tetmosol soap subjects (68.8%). Conclusion The isolated bacteria were potential pathogens in humans. There was a significant reduction in bacterial carriage after hand washing with antibacterial soaps. School children should be educated on the need to wash hands with clean water and soap and dry with clean towels as this will reduce the risk of transmission of pathogenic bacteria orally or into open wounds.

Background and objective Nosocomial infections are a serious public health issue today and its studies cannot be overemphasized An open label weeks descriptive cross sectional survey was conducted in a large number of hospital Personnel to determine the frequency of bacterial species associated with nosocomial infections among healthcare personnel in the north central geopolitical zone of Nigeria Materials and method The subjects in this study were forty males forty females and nineteen of the hospital fomites The moistened swab sticks were separately robbed on the hands of forty that washed with soap and water and forty that washed with disinfectants and nineteen of the hospital fomites The samples were inoculated in different laboratory media and incubated at C for hours Morphological cultural and biochemical characteristics were noted appropriately Means and corresponding standard deviations were calculated for continuous data while proportions along with the confidence intervals were calculated for categorical data Results This study shows that microorganisms occupy the hands of social insurance work force and gear and materials being used in clinics The major types of organisms isolated from the hands of the health care personnel and the hospital fomites in this study were Staphylococcus aureus Eschenchia coli Klebsiellapneumoniae and Pseudomonas spp The most frequently isolated was Staphylococcus aureus Conclusion To ensure proper hygiene medical personnel should consider staff decontamination following a period of nursing of patients especially if they are to attend to unaffected patients shortly

The prevalence of enterobiasis and its relationship with anal itching and enuresis were investigated among 799, randomly selected children aged 5-14 years, who lived, either in an area of high population density or one with a much lower population density, in Calabar, Nigeria. The eggs of Enterobius vermicularis were found in anal swabs (collected with transparent adhesive tape) from 60 (7.5%) of the subjects tested, with the prevalence of infection appearing markedly higher in the 403 children from the area with a high population density than in the 396 from the less densely populated area (11.7% v. 3.3%; P0.05). Questionnaire-based interviews were used to determine which of the children suffered from anal itching, enuresis or both. Compared with the egg-negative subjects, the 60 children who were egg-positive for Enterobius were found to be much more likely to be suffering from anal itching (78.3% v. 28.3%; P0.05) or enuresis (53.3% v. 36.4%; P0.05). Enterobiasis is therefore not a problem that is restricted to the temperate regions of the world, and may be a cause of enuresis or at least a contributory factor in the development of this complaint.