Abstract Background: Childhood obesity and associated hypertension are major public health concerns globally. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of obesity and the associated risk of high blood pressure among Nigerian adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional school-based study of 885 apparently healthy adolescents was performed. Weight, height and blood pressure (BP) were measured using standard methods. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated and categorized by age, sex and percentil...
ABSTRACT 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2 DS) is the most common microdeletion syndrome and is underdiagnosed in diverse populations. This syndrome has a variable phenotype and affects multiple systems, making early recognition imperative. In this study, individuals from diverse populations with 22q11.2 DS were evaluated clinically and by facial analysis technology. Clinical information from 106 individuals and images from 101 were collected from individuals with 22q11.2 DS from 11 countrie...
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a bacterium that can asymptomatically colonize a woman’s vagina and up to 31% of pregnant women are colonized worldwide. Furthermore, vaginal colonization with E. coli is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm birth and stillbirth. It is also associated with neonatal sepsis or meningitis when transmitted to the foetus through amniotic fluid or to the neonate during delivery. To date in Namibia data on the colonization a...
ABSTRACT Respiratory infections represent a major global health problem, and occurrences of respiratory diseases have been increasing in Southern Africa countries including Namibia due to anthropogenic activities. This study was conducted in Tsumeb, a municipal township located in the Northern part of Namibia. It aimed at determining the prevalence of respiratory ailments among the residents, identify risk factors associated with the prevalence and recommend appropriate measures to prevent ex...
Background: Food allergy has been well described in white children, and cow’s milk protein allergy (CMPA) still remains the most common allergy in these children. Information on the same subject in developing countries is very limited, and management of this condition remains challenging. Case presentation: We report on two cases of children with multiple food allergies. The first patient presented with chronic diarrhoea following the introduction and use of several infant formulas, while ...
ABSTRACT despite compeling evidence on the efficiency of voluntary medical male circumcison as an HIV prevention strategy, zimbabwe has experienced a low uptake of the procedure. informed by the culture central approach to health communication the study examined belief of older men.
ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE : to determine the social characteristic of mother who practice exclusive breast feeding in Calabar. SUBJECT AND METHODS: a prospective questionnaire based cross sectional survey of breast feeding practices among mothers of children aged 0-24 months was carried out in Calabar in April 1998. Using WHO indicators for assessing breast feeding practices the exclusive breast feeding rate was determined in mothers of children aged 0-6months. This study documents the social charac...
ABSTRACT Urethral prolapse is a rare cause of vaginal bleeding in prepubertal females and occurs most commonly in black people. It is characterized by a sliding outward of the urethral mucosa around the entire urethral meatus. Because it can present with vaginal bleeding in a child, it can be mistaken for sexual abuse. We report a five year old girl with urethral prolapse that was mistaken for complications of sexual abuse. She was treated by complete excision of the urethral prolapse with sa...
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Cardiac surgery is the definitive intervention for structural heart diseases particularly of congenital aetiology in children. Unfortunately, most developing countries currently lack adequate capacity for pediatric cardiac surgery often necessitating referral to foreign countries with appropriate facilities and capacities. We hereby report the in-hospital outcome of Nigerian children referred from Lagos University Teaching Hospital to undergo cardiac surgery abroad. METHO...
ABSTRACT Human immune deficiency virus (HIV) seroprevalence among pregnant women in Calabar was studied. The aims were to establish HIV seroprevalence rate and to identify factors which influence this rate in our pregnant women. HIV seroprevalence rate of 2.7% among antenatal women in Calabar was recorded with a vertical transmission rate of 20%. Husband and wife not living together, history of induced abortion and blood transfusion significantly increase HIV seroprevalence rate among antenat...
SUMMARY Vertical infection by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) among two consecutive pair of twins from a well to do family is presented. While the first twin of the first pair must have been infected in-utero, the second may have been infected at parturition of through breast milk. Severe protein-energy malnutrition was the main mode of presentation. A recommendation is made for routine screening of pregnant women during ante-natal care with family planning counselling of positive case...
ABSTRACT This study evaluated the efficacy of dihydroartemisinin (DHA), mefloquine (MQ) chloroquine (CQ) and combination of DHA and MQ in children for the treatment of acute uncomplicated falciparum malaria, in Lagos. The toxic and histopathologic effect of DHA, MQ and CQ using animal model (mice) was also assessed. Finally, the efficacy of DHA, MQ, CQ, combination of DHA plus MQ and DHA plus CQ on P. berghei in mice was evaluated. Nine hundred and twenty patients aged between 3-13 years at...
ABSTRACT Extracts of Hibiscus sabdariffa (HS) are widely believed in folk medicine to be effective in the treatment of a variety of ailments. Aqueous extract of HS has been reported to decrease fluid and food consumption and weight gain in non-pregnant rats through mechanisms not yet fully understood. Thus when aqueous extract of HS is administered to pregnant and lactating animals, it may lead to decreased food consumption and consequently, malnutrition in these animals. Maternal malnutriti...
ABSTRACT Congenital heart defects (CHD) remain one of the most common categories of birth defects worldwide. In many developing countries, high early childhood mortality and limited diagnostic facilities often obscure the true scope of the problem. In this review, we provide an overview of the clinical epidemiology and management of CHD in a developing country: Nigeria, Africa's most populous country. We describe the types of CHD and the clinical presentation, echocardiographic diagnosis, man...
ABSTRACT The probability of developing tuberculosis (TB) disease is higher in immune compromised subjects such as HIV/AIDS patients. Conventional methods of diagnosing TB which include sputum smear microscopy, culture and chest X-ray have drawbacks and established limitations. The limitations are pronounced in immunocompromised subjects. The consequence of poor diagnosis of TB especially in resources limited environment like Nigeria contributes to the rising incidence of TB. Introducing immu...