Arboviruses are an emerging threat of significant impact on human health and well-being. With increasing proportion of the world living in urban environments, inadvertently, there is the creation of better habitats for vector species. This study is aimed at establishing the occurrence of arboviruses within Ogbomoso, with a view to providing baseline data for further study. Ninety-three plasma samples from consenting individuals in the age range 1-75 years were collected and screened for IgM to dengue fever (DENV), West Nile (WNV) and yellow fever (YFV) viruses using third generation Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay (WKEA Med Supplies Corp, China) kits. An overall prevalence of 52.7% (49/93) were recorded from the recruited individuals. IgM antibodies to Dengue, Yellow fever and West Nile viruses were found in 16/49 (17.2%), 16/49 (17.2%) and 17/49 (18.3%), respectively. High prevalence were recorded in the age groups 16-30, 31-45 and 61-75 years. Gender analysis of the positive samples showed higher prevalence among females than males. The result also showed high prevalence in urban settings than rural settings for DENV and WNV, however, for YNF, higher prevalence was found in the rural area. The prevalence of dual and trio arboviral infection showed 17.2% and 11.8% respectively. This study confirms the circulation of Dengue fever, Yellow fever and West Nile viruses in Ogbomoso and therefore suggest the need for public awareness on vector control.

Introduction: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and malaria infections are among the major public health concerns in sub-Saharan Africa, where they are associated with high morbidity and mortality. The study was conducted to assess the occurrence and clinical features of HIV and malaria in co-infected individuals in Osun State, Nigeria. Methods: The study was cross-sectional, which involved 422 participants who were administered structured questionnaires for socio-demographic and clinical data. Venous blood was collected for malaria parasite detection and count from One hundred and seventy-four HIV seropositive individuals. They were re-examined clinically for HIV diagnosis, CD 4 + T cell counts, and packed cell volume (PCV). Results: The mean age of the participants was 28.48 ± 15.38 while the overall predominance of malaria among the HIV-positive patients was 11.5% (20/174). The malaria prevalence was significantly higher in female patients ( P = 0.0088) and occupational status among students ( P = 0.0001). Malaria/HIV co-infected patients had a significantly lower mean value of PCV ( P = 0.0001), CD 4 + cell count (0.0001), and temperature (0.0001) compared to HIV-infected patients having no malaria. Conclusion: The study showed that females had relatively higher malaria infection compared to their male counterparts. To achieve better management of HIV patients against malaria infection, proper preventive measures, antiretroviral therapy (ART), and chemoprophylaxis are a useful strategy to put in place. Also, the monitoring of CD 4 + cell count, viral load, and some hematology indices on a regular basis is crucial.

Hepatitis C virus is one of the emerging infectious diseases that can be transmitted through blood-to-blood contact. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies among potential blood donors and pregnant women attending Bowen University Teaching Hospital (BUTH), Ogbomoso, Oyo State. This hospital-based study was conducted from December 2014 to September 2015. The study group (N = 279) included potential blood donors and pregnant women. Data on socio-demographic characteristics and potential risk factors were collected using a structured questionnaire. The presence of anti-HCV antibodies in serum samples of the studied subjects were detected using third-generation Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) (WKEA Med Supplies Corp, China). Chisquare test was utilized to assess the association between the socio-demographic variables and HCV status. Logistic regression was done to determine the strength of association between risk factors and HCV status. Statistical significance was set at P ˂ 0.05. Overall seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus infection was found to be 1.79% consisting 0.36% of pregnant women and 1.43% of blood donors. None of the socio-demographic characteristics and potential risk factors among the study groups were significantly associated with hepatitis C virus infection. This study found a seroprevalence of anti-HCV antibody to be 1.79%, thus, screening of pregnant women and blood donors for HCV infections with the use of ELISA is recommended because of its important role in detecting the presence of anti-HCV antibody with utmost specificity and sensitivity.

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The result provides evidence that HPV Type 16 is present among HIV-infected women in Ogbomoso and they are susceptible to cervical cancer. This seroepidemiological survey is important for the prevention efforts such as availability of vaccine.