International Journal of TROPICAL DISEASE & Health

Background: There is currently sufficient evidence available indicating that dengue and chikungunya viruses could be among the causes of fever in Tanzania. Overlapping clinical manifestations of chikungunya and dengue with other vector-borne parasitic diseases pose a challenge for medical diagnosis in Tanzania. A virus surveillance study was conducted in Morogoro Municipality which had no reports of outbreaks during high risk of transmission with dengue epidemics in the neighbouring Dar es Salaam.

Methodology: The present study was carried out to screen for dengue (DENV) and chikungunya (CHIKV) in sera from patients with fever and malaria-like symptoms on selected health centres in Morogoro municipality (n = 5) during March-May 2018. Three hundred and twelve febrile individuals presenting to the outpatient department were screened for the presence of chikungunya and dengue viruses using Multiplex real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.

Results: Acute CHIKV infection was confirmed in four (1.28%) cases whereas no acute DENV infection was detected. Acute chikungunya cases were exclusively prevailing amongst female patients aged between 20 and 49 years.

Conclusion: Our findings indicate an active circulation of chikungunya virus among febrile patients seeking medical attention in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania. The improvement of CHIKV case detection and reporting is critical to its control and prevention. Surveillance programmes in monitoring arboviral activities in human populations as well as in mosquitos should be performed to avoid maintenance of CHIKV in mosquitoes that may lead to future outbreaks.

Introduction: Intestinal parasitic infections still constitute major public health threats in many areas in Cameroon. To improve control measures, epidemiological data from environmental and human aspects are necessary to draw concrete control strategies to better follow-up the population at risk.

Aim of the Study: This study aimed to investigate environmental risk factors related to infections in the Lolodorf health district, a high risk area of south Cameroon.

Methods: A total of 325 participants who gave their informed consent were recruited for the study. Stool samples were collected and examined microscopically in search of helminth eggs and protozoan cysts using the Kato Katz and concentration Formol-ether techniques. Questionnaires were filled by participants to evaluate the risk factors.

Results: Overall, 117 (42.9%) among the 325 participants harbored at least one parasite species with 75 (27.5%) having single infections and 42 (15.4%) having multiple infections. Ascaris lumbricoides (11.0%), Trichuris trichiura (26.4%), Hookworms (12.5%), Entamoeba coli (10.6%) and Entamoeba histolytica / Entamoeba dispar (1,5%) were diagnosed. Females were more infected (48.7%; p=0.04) compared to males (35.2%). Infection rate varied significantly according to villages (p=0.001). Univariate analysis revealed the following: gender (48.7%; p= 0.04), agricultural activities (47.7%; p= 0.04) and absence of treatment (50.8%: p=0.02) to be risk factors correlated to infection. Other factors such as age (49.3%), family size (47.8%), absence of toilets (53.5%), irregular use of shoes (48.6%), not wearing shoes (60.0%), irregular hand washing before meals (48.4%) and eating raw food (45.5%) had high infestation rates though with no significance. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that people who had never received any treatment had high risks of being infected (p=0.01; OR =0.17; 95% CI = 0.06 to 0.5).

Conclusion: Improved sanitation, water supply and regular and extended deworming in the entire communities are fundamental issues in controlling intestinal parasitic infections.

Introduction: The use of pharmaceutical anti-malaria drugs in many rural areas is not common. Various plant extracts have been used as anti-plasmodial agents. Myrsine africana seed extracts are common anti-malaria agents amongst the Maasai community of Kenya.

Aims: This study aimed at characterizing the chemical constituents of methanolic, aqua and n-hexane extracts of Myrsine africana seeds.

Study Design: An independent measures design was used.

Methodology: The extracts were obtained by maceration of the seeds before subjecting to physical-chemical analysis, functional groups, bio-metal concentrations and phytochemicals screening. Antibacterial studies were conducted using E. coli and S. aureus. The extracts were thereafter screened for presence of quinine and chloroquine by UV VIS spectroscopy.

Results: The results indicated the extracts were weakly acidic with moderate solid content. The FT-IR peaks of the extracts indicated abundance of carboxylic acids and benzylic groups. The extracts had a moderate iron concentration with mild copper, cobalt and zinc concentrations. The extracts were also rich in tannins, phenols, saponins, alkaloids and steroids. The antibacterial proficiency of both stains used increased with concentration of extracts and were highest at 50.0 mg/mL. Methanolic and water extracts of the seeds also showed appreciable quinines and chloroquinines concentrations.

Conclusions: M. africana seed methanolic and water extracts can be used as anti-plasmodial drugs to help curb malaria in rural tropical regions.

Acute respiratory infections (ARI) are one of the top 10 killer diseases in children. In developing countries, the treatment is often initiated by self-medication (SM) before going to the hospital in case of a complication. This study assessed the level of self-medication and the adequacy of hospital prescribing patterns of antibiotics for the management of acute respiratory infections in children under five. It was a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2018, including a face-to-face interview with 227 children’s mothers for self-medication and a review of 1162 medical files available at the pediatrics wards of Panzi General Hospital and University Clinic in Bukavu.  Of 227 mothers interviewed, 168(74%) self-medicated children with six antibiotics, mainly amoxicillin (67%), and Cotrimoxazole (60%), principally to avoid medical consultation fees and to mitigate the early signs of the disease. However, among them, 49.8% rushed to the hospital after a complication. Of the 1162 medical files reviewed, 248(21.34%) are ARI cases of which 53% males and 47% females. Under 2 years constitute 85%. Dominant ARIs were acute pharyngitis (19.1%), acute otitis media (15.3%), bronchial superinfection (23.3%), and pneumonia (16.3%). The mortality rate attributable to ARIs was 17.5% (14/80). The antibiotics used in hospital include gentamicin (67%) in combination with cefotaxime, ampicillin, and azithromycin. The unprofessional dispensing of antibiotics in community pharmacies encouraged the high level of self-medication.

Aims/Objective: A community- based cross-section all comparative study was carried out to compare the pattern of ocular morbidity between residents in upland and riverine communities in Rivers State.

Methods: The sample size was calculated using the formula for comparative studies, based on alpha of 0.05, beta of 0.20, the proportion of eye disorder of 40.4% from a community-based study in Rivers State.

A minimum sample size of 84 per group was attained.

Data on age, sex, visual acuity, cup-disc ratio, intra-ocular diagnosis were obtained using an interviewer-based pro forma. Collected data were entered into Microsoft Excel and exported to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Epi Info version 7 software for statistical analysis. The Pearson's Chi square/Fisher's exact tests were used as appropriate to determine significant differences in demographic and eye examination findings between the two groups (riverine versus upland) while Chi-square homogeneity was performed to determine significant differences in the individual ocular diagnosis across the groups. Statistical significance was set at P ≤ 0.05.

Results: A total of eighty-six (86) participants per group were involved in the study, making a total of one hundred and seventy-two participants. The mean age was 37.9 (±18.1) and age range of 1-90 years. Males comprised 30.2% of the sample population while females were 69.8%. The commonest causes of ocular morbidity in both communities were Refractive error. Allergic conjunctivitis and cataract were more common in the Riverine community compared to the upland one.

Conclusion: Our study shows that the pattern of ocular morbidity may differ based on land surfaces. Ocular morbidity appears to be more prevalent in Riverine areas than upland.

Government interventions and eye care service providers should take cognizance of this while planning intervention programs at the State and National levels.