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Background: Breast ironing, also known as breast flattening, is a practice that involves the use of an object to massage, press, or pound the breast. This practice is usually performed on girls, between the ages of 9 and 15 years The known effects of breast ironing are self-reported symptoms or signs of breast ironing by the victims. This study aims to investigate the prevalence, awareness, and adverse outcomes of Cameroonian women towards breast ironing. Methods: A mixed method design involving qualitative and cross-sectional study among women aged 18years and above. The primary outcome variable was previous experience of breast ironing. Log-binomial model was used to determine effects of breast-ironing on selected reproductive health outcomes. Results: Of 160 women interviewed, 22 (14%) had experienced breast ironing. The mean age was 26±4.62 years. All participants were aware of breast ironing. There were significant associations between being a victim of breast ironing and parity, breast symmetry, nipple anatomy, breast pain, milk quantity during lactation, breast sagging. The risk of reporting breast ironing was higher among women who experienced breast sagging earlier than expected, women who reported breast pain and women whose breasts had marked asymmetry. Conclusion: Breast ironing is prevalent in the Buea health district of Cameroon, and victims are more likely to experience adverse breast outcomes. Health education and introduction of legislation against breast ironing will go a long way to eliminate this harmful traditional practice. More studies will help to further understand drivers of breast ironing in other regions of Cameroon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To compare the efficacy of 24 hour versus 48 hour prophylaxis of amoxicillin/clavulanic acid in the prevention of postoperative infections. Study Design: This study was a randomized controlled clinical trial conducted in a tertiary hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria. Two hundred and fifty - two pregnant women scheduled for elective caesarean section were randomly assigned into two groups. After the initial pre-incision antibiotic administration, group A received the Amoxicillin/Clavulanic Acid for 24 hours while group B received the same drug for 48hours. Main Outcomes: Participants were examined on the3rd, 10th and 17th post-operative days for evidence of infections. All entry and analysis of data was by computer using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22 (IBM, New York). Statistically significant differences were determined at p value of< 0.05. Results: The incidence of postoperative wound infection, postoperative fever and endometritis in this study was 5.2%, 9.1% and 5.6% respectively. There was no significant differences in the incidence of postoperative wound infection, postoperative fever and endometritis between the two regimens of antibiotics. Conclusion: A 24-hour prophylactic regimen of amoxicillin/clavulanicacid is adequate following caesarean section and prolonged use of antibiotics is generally unnecessary, costly and inadvertently increases antibiotics resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chlamydia trachomatis infection is reported as the commonest cause of tubal and pelvic infection and by proxy, the commonest cause of tubal damage and female infertility. Serotypes D-K are known to cause sexually transmitted genital tract and neonatal infection. Testing for the presence of Chlamydia trachomatis has been revolutionized by the development of monoclonal antibodies. This study sought to determine the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection among infertile women at the University College Hospital Ibadan and to determine the diagnostic value of Chlamydia antibody testing. Methodology: A cross-sectional study conducted among two hundred and seventy-three women with infertility attending the gynaecology clinic of the University College Hospital Ibadan. Hysterosalpingography (HSG) was performed on all patients as part of their routine evaluation for infertility. Venous blood was obtained to detect Chlamydia IgG antibodies using the diagnostic bio-probe (DIA.PROBE) enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELIZA) for the quantitative determination of IgG antibodies specific to chlamydia trachomatis. Results: Positive test results for Chlamydia trachomatis were recorded amongst 136 women, giving a prevalence of 49.8%. 46(33.8%) women with normal tubal appearance and 90(66.2%) with tubal disease tested positive for Chlamydia antibodies. Bilateral tubal blockage was seen in 77(28.2%), while left and right tubal blockages were seen in 35(12.8%) and 21(7.7%) respectively. The accuracy of Chlamydia antibody testing in predicting tubal patency revealed a sensitivity of 67.7% and positive predictive value of 66.1% using HSG as the gold standard. Chlamydia trachomatis infection was found to be associated with age at sexual debut, history of ectopic pregnancy and previous history of abortion (P<0.05). Conclusion: This study revealed a high prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis amongst infertile women especially those with tubal disease. Risk factors associated with the infection such as early age of sexual debut, ectopic pregnancy and abortion further support the role of infectious morbidity especially with Chlamydia trachomatis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sperm morphology has been strongly linked to fertilization. This makes it an important component in semen analysis. They are usually assessed by world health organization (WHO) standard or Kruger strict criteria in in-vitro fertilization (IVF) centers all over the world. Sperm count, motility, and morphology together form the basis by which patients are allocated into IVF or intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection. Objective: This study aimed to compare fertilization rates in standard IVF from patients with normal sperm count and motility with and without morphological assessment by WHO guideline. Materials and Methods: In this prospective cohort study, sperm count, motility, and morphology of 504 men candidate for IVF program over a three years period in our center were evaluated in two groups: Group A (case group) included men with normal sperm count and motility but with a poor morphology and group B (control group) included men with normal sperm count, motility and morphology evaluated by WHO criteria. Fertilization rate in both groups were then analyzed after 16-18 hr post insemination. Results: Fertilization rate was higher in group B (p=0.028). Participants in group B, apart from having a normal sperm count (32.9±7.2) and motility (62.4±8.9), have a strict morphology of ≥30%. Our result has shown that spermatozoa in group B had a higher fertilization rate (71.4%). Though the sperm count (36.4±6.7) and motility (66.3±7.4) in group A were slightly higher (p=0.058 and p=0.060 respectively) than group B, the fertilization rate was lower. Conclusion: Our study showed that sperm morphology could be a very important consideration before decisions towards allocation of patients into IVF or intracytoplasmic sperm injection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]