International Journal of TROPICAL DISEASE & Health

Purpose: This Research was to study the functional state of the hypothalamic-pituitary gland-gonadal system in males with Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD), as well as the effect of hormonal correction of the revealed disorders on factors of pathogenesis and the course of IHD.

Materials and Methods: We examined 120 males with IHD of different severity of disease, aged 20-50 years and 34 healthy males of the same age with normal body weight and with uncompromised history for diseases of the endocrine system. Among those surveyed were not included alcoholou anabolizant steroids abusers with severe somatic and inflammatory diseases of the genital organs (prostatitis, urethritis, orchitis). The body weight of patients fluctuated within ± 10% of the ideal. At the time of the examination, all the patients were married, 2 were divorced, and all had children.

Depending on the age, the examinees were divided into 2 groups: the first - 44 patients in the age of 20-35 years, the second - 76 patients 36-50 years old.

The patient was examined in Ashgabat city, Hospital with the Scientific- clinical Center of Cardiology (Turkmenistan).

Results: In the I age group, 8 patients had post infarction cardiosclerosis, in which there was a slight decrease in sexual activity, in others - angina pectoris of different functional classes (there was no violation of sexual activity).

The average content of Т in the fasting serum of males with IHD of  I group was significantly lowered, were noted a statistically unreliable tendency to increase of FSH and a statistically significant increase in the LH/T ratio. The mean levels of LH, PRL and E₂ did not differ from the corresponding indices in healthy individuals.

Conclusion: Patients with IHD have decreased testosterone secretion, especially at a young age.

Objective: To describe the evolution of COVID-19 cases three weeks after the start of the lockdown in the municipality of Belém, State of Pará.

Methodology: Descriptive-epidemiological study, quantitative approach. The reported cases of Covid-19 were collected and analyzed in the municipality of Belém, from May 28 to June 3, 2020, that is, three weeks after the decree that regulated the lockdown. Data were extracted from the websites of the state departments and the following variables were evaluated: gender, age group, city.

Results: It was identified that there were records of 92 confirmed cases and 19 deaths from coronavirus in the municipality. People aged 60 years or older were the ones who received the most confirmation of the disease and who also died the most. Women were predominant among confirmed cases and men among deaths.

Conclusion: The present study consists of offering the academic environment reflections about the implementation of lockdown and how it reflects on the possible control of the increase of cases in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, based on the collection of epidemiological data of the disease, carried out in the municipality. For this, there was an increasing trend in the number of both confirmed cases and deaths. However, after the lockdown, it was possible to identify that the incidence remained in an isolation rate interval, without exponential growth, different from what was expected without the strategy. This contributes to the lower demand for care in health services and funeral homes.

Introduction: The current COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the wellbeing of children, either directly or through the effects of the response. Measures are in place to curb the spread of the virus in Nigeria, but little is known of the effect these stringent measures have on the healthcare-seeking behaviour of parents for their sick children. 

Aim: This survey sought to describe parents’ healthcare-seeking behaviour for their sick children during the COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria.

Study Design: Descriptive cross-sectional.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among Nigerian parents with children less than 18 years of age, via an online Google doc questionnaire administered through WhatsApp instant messaging. Using snowball sampling technique, 260 respondents from affected Nigerian states were recruited over one month. Chi-square tested differences between variables in assessing if healthcare-seeking behaviour was affected; statistical significance level was set at p-value <0.05. 

Results: The median age was 38 years (IQR:9); 155 (59.7%) were females, 167 (64.2%) had tertiary education, while 83 (31.9%) had low income. Half (50%) of the respondents cited that the lockdown had affected their healthcare-seeking behaviour for their sick children; this did not significantly differ by geopolitical zone of residence (χ²=3.90, p-value=0.42), and other variables. Thirty-seven 37 (14.3%) agreed their children couldn’t get routine immunizations as scheduled.
Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic lockdown considerably affected parents’ healthcare-seeking behaviour for their sick children in Nigeria. Contextual strategies aimed at health system strengthening and improved accessibility are needed to mitigate the effect of COVID-19 on parental access and utilization of healthcare facilities.

Background: Women commonly harbour filarial infections during their childbearing years, raising the possibility that the developing foetus may be exposed to filarial antigens in the uterus and thereby have altered immunity and susceptibility to infection during early childhood. However, there are no concrete proofs to justify the risk of infections in infants born from mothers having filarial infections during pregnancy.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of microfilariae in umbilical cord blood and respective mothers and to evaluate the relationship between the cord blood filarial infection and the oxidative stress status and concentration of IL-2, IL-10, IL-13, INF-γ and IgG in umbilical cord blood.

Methods: This was a nested case–control study of cords and mothers of normal gestational age (>250 days of gestation). A total of 316 pairs of umbilical cords and mothers were examined. The presence of microfilariae was assessed by microscopy in mothers and cords. Oxidative stress status (total oxidative stress and total oxidative defence) and nitric oxide of umbilical cord and mother’s blood were investigated by the colorimetric method. ELISA was carried out for IL-2, IL-10, IL-13, INF-γ in umbilical cord and mother’s blood. Equally, umbilical cords were subjected to ELISA for total IgG.

Results: Results obtained showed that microfilariae had a prevalence of 32.9% and 29.7% in umbilical cord blood and women at time of delivery respectively. High levels of total oxidative stress (TOS) with low total oxidative defence (TAD) was found in filarial infected (Mf +ve) umbilical cord and mother’s blood compared to controls or uninfected (Mf -ve) cords and mothers blood. IL-2 was lower in the blood of microfilariae infected cords and mothers, while INF-γ, IL-13 and IL-10 were higher as compared to microfilariae negative cords and mothers. Equally, plasma total IgG concentration was higher in microfilariae positive cords compared to the negative cords and positively correlated with IL-10.

Conclusions: There is high frequency of transplacental transmission of microfilariae. Cord blood filarial infections were associated with a high TOS, a protective immune response with low IL-2 and high INF-γ, and a typical Th2 immune response that was associated with higher concentration of immune total IgG regulatory cytokine IL-10 and IL-13 in neonate.

Aims: A wide variety of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria either singly or in combination has been implicated in pyogenic wound infection and this has been associated with treatment failures due to antibiotic resistance. This study aims at investigating the agents of pyogenic wound infection and their antibiotic susceptibility.

Study Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study conducted at the only tertiary Teaching Hospital in Uyo, Nigeria and carried out on 136 wound samples.

Place and Duration of Study: University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Uyo, Nigeria, between April and October, 2018.

Methodology: Aspirated pus or wound swab samples were collected and inoculated on two separate agar plates containing 25% Sheep Blood and incubated aerobically and anaerobically at 37°C for 48 – 72 hours. Identification of isolates was performed following standard procedures. Data obtained were analyzed using SPSS software.

Results: Of the 136 collected wound samples from 76 (55.9%) males and 60 (44.1%) females patients from ages 20 to 70 years and above, 127 (93.4%) had growth of different bacterial isolates totaling 214 in number. Among these were aerobes 132 (61.6%) anaerobes 82 (38.4%). The Gram-negative aerobes had the highest prevalence 81 (37.9%), while the Gram-positive anaerobes 20 (9.4%) was the least prevalent. Staphylococcus aureus, 44 (86.3%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 24 (29.6%), were the predominant Gram-positive and Gram-negative aerobes respectively. Peptococci spp. 8 (40%) and Bacteriodes fragilis 28 (54.9%) were the predominant Gram-positive and Gram-negative anaerobes respectively. Some rarely reported pathogens revealed include Acinetobacter iwoffi, Enterobacter cloacae and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia 1(1.2%) and they showed 100% resistance to all tested antibiotics. The majority of the Gram-positive aerobes 29 (56.9%) were Vancomycin resistant and there was also an increasing prevalence of Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (45%).

Conclusion: The bacterial agents causing pyogenic wound infection in Uyo comprised of 61.6% aerobes and 38.4% anaerobes. Some rarely reported bacteria such as Enterobacter cloacae and A. iwofii implicated in the infections were resistant to all commonly used antibiotics including Imipenem, a reserved antibiotic. Staphylococcus aureus was the commonest cause of pyogenic wound infection and up to 45% of them were Methicillin resistant.

Introduction: The primary healthcare workers (PHCWs) may be faced with a higher risk of infection of COVID-19, due to inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and lack of training on the disease control and prevention. This study was designated to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of PHCWs about COVID-19 in Rivers State, Nigeria.

Methods: A facility cross-sectional survey was conducted involving the primary healthcare workers in Rivers State, Nigeria. The association between the KAP and demographic characteristics were tested with the Chi-square test, while the association existing among KAP were evaluated with Pearson correlation coefficient. Statistical significance was evaluated at P<0.05.

Results: The proportion of respondents with good scores in knowledge, attitude, and COVID-19 related practices are 86.4% (10.66 ± 2.40), 85.0% (8.28 ± 1.94), and 97.3% (8.34 ± 1.39) respectively. Gender, occupation, and years of experience are associated with knowledge, whilst years of experience and marital status are associated with the attitude and level preventive practices; knowledge score also has significant positive linear associations with both attitude  and practices (  scores towards COVID-19.

Conclusion: Based on these findings, we suggest that public health education programs should be sustained, and staff should be expose to more training and workshop regarding COVID-19 preventive practices. Furthermore, adequate personnel preventive equipment should be deployed at the primary healthcare facilities, as this will instill the right attitude and confidence in carrying out their duties without the fear of contracting the disease.