scholarly journals In the Absence of Effective Malaria Parasite Sentinel System- a Cross-Sectional Study to Assess Prevalence of Plasmodium spp Infection and Malaria among Patients at Federal Medical Centre Birnin-Kebbi, Kebbi State, Nigeria

Author(s):  
Olaosebikan Victor O. ◽  
Olatunji Alabi ◽  
Hussaini Kabiru ◽  
Ojo A. Abiodun

Aim: This research assessed the prevalence of Plasmodium Spp infection and malaria among patients at Federal Medical Centre Birnin-Kebbi, Kebbi State, Nigeria Methodology: The study utilized a retrospective cross-sectional descriptive data collected from January to December, 2018 to determine the prevalence of malaria parasite infection and prevalent Plasmodium spp infection among different age groups and sexes among patients attending Federal Medical Centre, Birnin Kebbi. We analysed secondary data of hospital records of 5,645 feverish patients attending general out patients’ department and medical laboratory department at the study area. Blood samples from the patients were collected and examined using thin and thick-blood smear slides technique for the presence or absence of parasites by trained microscopists. Results: The prevalence of malaria parasite in the study area was 17.1%. P. falciparum was the most prevalent species of malaria parasite (99.69%) among the positive cases in the study area, while P. malariae was identified in 3 of the positive slides representing 0.31% case. Malaria positivity was highest (52.49%) among children aged 0-10years. Test of association between malaria positivity and patients’ age was statistically significant (p<0.05). Among patients who tested positive to malaria parasite, more than half (53.37%) of them were female. Conclusion: Presence of Plasmodium malariae may be indicative of trans-border transmission of the disease due to the proximity of the study area to international border and thus calls for effective malaria parasite surveillance system and further inter boarder research.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Oluwatosin Olaosebikan ◽  
Olatunji Alabi ◽  
Kabiru Hussaini ◽  
A. Abiodun Ojo

Abstract Background: Local knowledge of the prevalence, burden and features of diseases as well as effective disease surveillance system to identifying population at risk are important at achieving malaria elimination of the National Malaria Strategic Plan (2014-2020). Methods: The study utilized a retrospective cross-sectional descriptive data collected from January to December, 2018 to determine the prevalence of malaria parasite infection and prevalent Plasmodium spp infection among different age groups and sexes among patients attending Federal Medical Centre, Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State,Nigeria . We analysed secondary data of hospital records of 5,645 feverish patients attending general out patients’ department and medical laboratory department at the study area. Blood samples from the patients were collected and examined using thin and thick-blood smear slides technique for the presence or absence of parasites. Stained slides were examined using two levels of examination by trained microscopists and WHO certified expert microscopists as validators. Results: The prevalence of malaria parasite in the study area was 17.1%. P.falciparum was the most prevalent species of malaria parasite (99.69%) among the positive cases in the study area, while P.malariae was identified in 3 of the positive slides representing 0.31% case. Malaria positivity was highest (52.49%) among children aged 0-10years. Test of association between malaria positivity and patients’ age was statistically significant (p<0.05). Among patients who tested positive to malaria parasite, more than half (53.37%) of them were females. Conclusion: Presence of Plasmodium malariae may be indicative of trans-border transmission of the disease due to the proximity of the study area to international border and thus calls for effective malaria parasite surveillance system and further inter boarder research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 017-024
Author(s):  
Omoya F.O ◽  
Ajayi KO

Background: The use of malaria infection prevalence among febrile patients is a valuable epidemiological surveillance tool. In this study, a cross sectional study was conducted among febrile patients in selected government Hospitals in Ondo State for malaria prevalence. Results: Plasmodium falciparum is the only encountered malaria parasite with prevalence values of 82.72% (426/515) and 80.19% (413/515) were obtained for microscopy and RDTs respectively. The prevalence of malaria among the males (86.59%) was higher than the females (80.65%), all age groups in this study were vulnerable with highest infection rate of 89.66% among age group 11-20 years. The parasites densities ranged between 209 and 22310 parasites/μl with a mean parasitaemia of 5522.17 ± 183.30 parasites/μl. The prevalence of malaria among the febrile participants that have taken antimalarial drug before visiting the hospital is 82.94% (389/469) with the mean parasitaemia of 4615.21 ± 188.14 parasites/μl while among the participants that have taken herbs before visiting the hospital the prevalence is 85.03% (142/167) with the mean parasitaemia of 4913.81 ± 330.20 parasites/μl. Conclusion: There was high prevalence of malaria among febrile patients and this fi nding will help improve the diagnosis and treatment of other febrile (non-malaria) infections, limit antimalarial usage to only malaria parasite-based test true positives and serve as a guide to combat malaria drug resistance in the study area.


Author(s):  
P. C. Oriji ◽  
D. O. Allagoa ◽  
T. J. Wagio ◽  
L. Obagah ◽  
E. S. Tekenah ◽  
...  

Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a disease of the respiratory system that is caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). It was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation on the 11th of March, 2020. Objective: To assess the reasons behind the low turnout of health workers (other than doctors) for COVID-19 vaccination in the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out at the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa between 1st and 23rd April, 2021. It was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The study population consisted of 182 health workers (excluding doctors) from all departments/units in the hospital. The data were collected with a predesigned questionnaire, and were analysed using IBM SPSS 23.0 version. Results: About three-quarter were females (74.7%), and close to half were aged ≤35 years (47.8%). The respondents were Nurses, Pharmacists, Medical laboratory scientists, and Non-clinical officers. Only 27.4% took the vaccine. Most of those who refused the vaccine did so because they wanted to see what would happen to those who received the vaccine (70.5%). Others felt the vaccine has not gone through enough clinical trials (62.1%). Conclusion: In this study, there was very poor turnout of health workers for COVID-19 vaccination. The factors that influenced acceptance of the vaccine were mainly COVID-19 related features. These findings suggest that people who have had personal experiences with the disease have a better understanding of the gravity of the situation, and hence are more likely to accept vaccination against the disease.


2014 ◽  
pp. 90-93
Author(s):  
Van Tuan Nguyen ◽  
Tam Vo ◽  
Bui Bao Hoang

Elevated serum Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) levels have been linked to tissue fibrosis including chronic kidney disease. Objectives: (1) Investigate serum TGF-beta1 levels in healthy adult people and (2) Examined the relation between serum TGF-beta1 level and gender, age, body mass index (BMI). Method: A cross-sectional study. TGF-beta1 were quantified by ELISA. Results: Levels of serum TGF-beta1 in healthy people were 13,45 ± 7,17 ng/mL mL (0,59 - 33,10 ng/mL). There are no difference of serum TGF-beta1 levels between men and women, between the age groups (<40 years, 40 to < 60 years and ≥ 60 years), between BMI groups < 23 and BMI group ≥ 23. Key words: TGF-beta1, healthy people


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chanda Chalela

BACKGROUND ABSTRACT Introduction a study on prevalence of ITN use was carried out in Buchi community Kitwe Zambia from August to October 2019 OBJECTIVE Prevalence of ITN in BUchi METHODS Methodology: This was a cross sectional study design. A structured questionnaire was used to ascertain ownership and utilization and oral interviews, 200 households were targeted 844 individual covered across the 200 households. Data was analyzed with SPSS version 23. RESULTS ABSTRACT Introduction a study on prevalence of ITN use was carried out in Buchi community Kitwe Zambia from August to October 2019 Methodology: This was a cross sectional study design. A structured questionnaire was used to ascertain ownership and utilization and oral interviews, 200 households were targeted 844 individual covered across the 200 households. Data was analyzed with SPSS version 23. Findings: household ownership of at least an ITN was 52% and individual utilization at 37.6%, with 0.825 ITN/households and 0.195ITN /individual. Malaria prevalence of 52.4% /household and a 12.4% of the population. With 47.6% malaria patient coming from households with ITN and 60% of households with ITN have insufficient coverage.61% of malaria patient were female and 31 % male. however there was no significant relation between Gender and malaria prevalence in study area (p value was >0.05). Malaria cases distribution with age groups, 0-15yrs old represented 49.5%, 16-30 yrs., was at 27.6% and the over 30 yrs. case were at 22.9% .use of other preventive measures 23% used mosquito repellent ,others methods 1% with those not using any other methods 76%. CONCLUSIONS Conclusion The study showed clearly that malaria still poses a problem .the prevalence rate of malaria was still high 12.4% of the population and 52.4% of households. With high prevalence of malaria of 49.5% for 0-15yrs.the difference between ownership 52% and Utilization 37.6% showed that even household with ITN, the ITN were not sufficient.60% of households with ITN, the ITN were not sufficient for all occupants


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sajad Vahedi ◽  
Amin Torabipour ◽  
Amirhossein Takian ◽  
Saeed Mohammadpur ◽  
Alireza Olyaeemanesh ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Unmet need is a critical indicator of access to healthcare services. Despite concrete evidence about unmet need in Iran’s health system, no recent evidence of this negative outcome is available. This study aimed to measure the subjective unmet need (SUN), the factors associated with it and various reasons behind it in Iran. Methods We used the data of 13,005 respondents over the age of 15 from the Iranian Utilization of Healthcare Services Survey in 2016. SUN was defined as citizens whose needs were not sought through formal healthcare services, while they did not show a history of self-medication. The reasons for SUN were categorized into availability, accessibility, responsibility and acceptability of the health system. The multivariable logistic regression was used to determine significant predictors of SUN and associated major reasons. Results About 17% of the respondents (N = 2217) had unmet need for outpatient services. Nearly 40% of the respondents chose only accessibility, 4% selected only availability, 78% chose only responsibility, and 13% selected only acceptability as the main reasons for their unmet need. Higher outpatient needs was the only factor that significantly increased SUN, responsibility-related SUN and acceptability-related SUN. Low education was associated with higher SUN and responsibility-related SUN, while it could also reduce acceptability-related SUN. While SUN and responsibility-related SUN were prevalent among lower economic quintiles, having a complementary insurance was associated with decreased SUN and responsibility-related SUN. The people with basic insurance had lower chances to face with responsibility-related SUN, while employed individuals were at risk to experience SUN. Although the middle-aged group had higher odds to experience SUN, the responsibility-related SUN were prevalent among elderly, while higher age groups had significant chance to be exposed to acceptability-related SUN. Conclusion It seems that Iran is still suffering from unmet need for outpatient services, most of which emerges from its health system performance. The majority of the unmet health needs could be addressed through improving financial as well as organizational policies. Special attention is needed to address the unmet need among individuals with poor health status.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 357
Author(s):  
Rafael López Cordero ◽  
Francisca Ruiz Garzón ◽  
Lourdes Medina Martínez ◽  
María del Carmen Olmos-Gómez

The current trend of secularization seems to be leading to a gradual withdrawal of religion from public spaces. However, in an increasingly internationalized world, it is becoming more and more important to study the roles of religion and religiosity and their potential in relation to dialogue and social conflicts and tensions. Education is a vital field within which to address this religious issue and create an educational dialogue in order to promote coexistence. By following a quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study, based on a quasi-experimental methodology with a social–analytical character, our aim is to assess the existing connections between religion, interrelation and opinion in Spanish children and adolescents. Special attention is paid to the interaction between age and beliefs. We carried out our study with the use of a questionnaire distributed to eleven secondary schools, with students aged between 11 and 16 years old, in three regions of southern Spain (Andalusia, Ceuta, and Melilla) characterized by high religious diversity and multiculturalism. The multivariate analysis carried out in this study identifies the effects of variance on the influence of age and religion, highlighting the interaction between the two. It is observed that the youngest students are those who express their opinions about religion the least, while those belonging to younger age groups and majority religions are those who express a greater religious coexistence, with Muslims externalizing their religious condition the most.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mizuki Sata ◽  
Renzhe Cui ◽  
Chifa Chiang ◽  
Singeru Travis Singeo ◽  
Berry Moon Watson ◽  
...  

Abstract Background This study aimed to describe the status of alcohol consumption and drug use among young adults as well as their determinants. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study of 356 young adults (aged 18 to 24 years) living in Palau in 2013. The prevalence of self-reported alcohol and marijuana usage were compared within and between sexes, age groups, ethnicities, and education levels. Results The proportion of current drinking was higher in people aged 21–24 than in those aged 18–20 (73.2% vs. 60.9%, p = 0.09 in men and 48.3% vs. 30.0%, p = 0.02 in women), while that of marijuana use did not differ between the age groups. The proportions of current drinking and marijuana use were higher in Palauan than in other ethnicities (current drinking: 70.6% vs. 40.6%, p = 0.005 in men and 38.8% vs. 16.6%, p = 0.04 in women; lifetime marijuana use: 80.0% vs. 52.9%, p = 0.02 in men and 56.1% vs. 30.6%, p = 0.09 in women). The proportion of frequent (3 times or more) marijuana users was higher for the lower educated than for the higher educated (62.5% vs. 32.1%, p < 0.001 in men and 33.9% vs. 24.4%, p = 0.12 in women). Conclusions Sex, age, ethnicity, and education were significant determinants of alcohol and marijuana use.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Wiśniowska-Szurlej ◽  
Agnieszka Ćwirlej-Sozańska ◽  
Justyna Kilian ◽  
Natalia Wołoszyn ◽  
Bernard Sozański ◽  
...  

AbstractHandgrip strength (HGS) is used as a biomarker for the state of health of older people, but the number of research publications containing the normative values of HGS in older adult populations is limited. The aim of the study was to define reference values and factors associated with HGS in older adults living in southeastern Poland. A cross-sectional study including 405 participants aged 65 and older was conducted. Handgrip strength for the dominant hand was assessed by the average of three trials using a JAMAR dynamometer. The sample was categorized into the following age groups: 65–69 years, 70–74 years, 75–79 years, 80–84 years, 85 and over. The average HGS was 19.98 kg (16.91 kg for women and 26.19 kg for men). There was a decrease in handgrip strength across the age range in both sexes. The average handgrip strength of the older people was 17.97 kg (14.47 kg for women and 25.66 kg for men) for those aged 80–85 and 16.68 kg (13.51 kg for women and 21.77 kg for men) in the group over 85 years old. In both sexes, marital status was an independent factor associated with reduced handgrip strength. In conclusion, this study described, for the first time, handgrip strength values for the southeastern Polish population aged ≥ 65 years according to age and gender.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
L Wolvaardt ◽  
R Nemuntandani ◽  
I Kamungoma-Dada

Abstract Background Access to essential medicines in South Africa has been compromised by stockouts in health facilities. This study describes the occurrence of stockouts for a selection of essential medicines. Methods This cross-sectional study used secondary data retrieved from the Stop Stock Outs Project (SSP). A descriptive analysis was conducted on data from the 2013-2015 SSP case management database of routinely reported stockouts. Chi square tests of independence was conducted on data from the SSP 2015 annual telephonic survey to investigate associations between the occurrence of stockouts, the level of health facility and the type of health professional. Results 231 facilities reported 609 stockouts. Antiretroviral medication had the most stockout reports (78%; n = 475/609), followed by anti-infectives (17.1%; n = 104/609) and tuberculosis medication (4.9%; n = 30/609). The highest number of stockout reports were received from Gauteng province and the majority (71.09%; n = 150/211) of facilities reporting stockouts were in urban areas. There were more stockouts at ambulatory, rather than inpatient care, facilities however, this was not statistically significant. Conclusions This study confirms that South Africa experiences medicine stockouts for many of the essential medicines, with antiretroviral medication being the category most affected. The stockouts vary between provinces and the urban-rural divide but are an equal threat to both ambulatory and inpatient facilities. Key messages The pattern of stockouts experienced over a three-year period suggest that stockouts are ‘normal’ despite the substantive effects of treatment interruption – especially patients with HIV and/or TB. Antiretroviral therapy is at risk as a result of stockouts.


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