Objectives: To evaluate the CD4ϩ cell counts in adults with human immunodefi ciency virus (HIV) infections presenting at the medical department of the Federal Medical Centre, Ido-Ekiti, Nigeria. Methods: This study was carried out at the medical department of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ido-Ekiti, Nigeria, in the period July-December 2006. FMC, Ido, was recently upgraded to serve as the only center for HIV/AIDS referral, diagnosis and treatment in Ekiti State. The center offers free antiretroviral therapy. All patients with a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS, either diagnosed at the center or referred from other hospitals, admitted to the medical department within the study period had their blood sample taken for CD4 cell counts estimation at the fi rst visit to the center, as part of the routine workup to assess their disease status and need for antiretroviral therapy. Results: A total of 87 patients comprising of 54 (62.1%) females and 33 (37.9%) males had their CD4ϩ T-Lymphocytes cell counts evaluated within their fi rst week of presentation. The total mean age of the population studied was 33.17 Ϯ 7.01 years. The mean age of the females was 31 Ϯ 5.6 years, while that of the males was 36.5 Ϯ 8.2 years. The difference between the mean ages of females and males was statistically signifi cant (P ϭ 0.0004). The female: male ratio was 1.6:1. Out of the 87 patients, 30 were referrals from other hospitals within the state.
Malaria is a serious public health problem in most countries of the tropics. In Nigeria about 96 million people are exposed to malaria, and out of these 64 million people get infected and almost 300,000 deaths are being reported annually in the general population. The aim of the study therefore is to determine severity and prevalence of malaria infection and effect of anti-malaria drugs on gender differences causing changes in the blood cell lines. 202 confirmed malaria infected patients were recruited for the study between the ages of 15-64 years of both sexes at the general outpatient clinic of the Federal Medical Centre, Ido-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. 4ml of blood sample was collected twice from the same patient before and after taking anti-malaria drug into di-potassium ethylenediaminetetracetic acid vaccutainer bottles for blood cell lines analysis. Malaria parasite detection, malaria parasite count and malaria parasite species identification were also carried out. All the subjects were infected with Plasmodium falciparum specie; out of the 202 malaria infected patients 129(63.9%) were males and 73(36.1%) were females. Mean± SD of MPC, MPV, WBC, absolute neutrophil in male was significantly (P<0.05) higher compared to female in pre and post anti-malaria drug treatment. Plasmodium falciparum is the most prevalent malaria specie in the study area. Severity and prevalence of malaria infection is more in male compared to female this might be as a result of different exposure to malaria vector and immunity to parasitic infection among the gender.
Background: Current evidence-based data on Hepatitis B vaccination coverage and outcomes in Nigeria are limited and these raise serious concern among stakeholders in clinical settings with respect to prevention of hepatitis B and safety of transfusion recipients. This study evaluated hepatitis B vaccination coverage and outcomes among apparently healthy blood donors in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Methods: Hepatitis B viral markers, including hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb), were serologically screened in four hundred and seventy prospective blood donors using NOVA 5-in-1 HBV rapid one-step multi-test kit and the results were interpreted using descriptive statistics of SPSS version 21. Results: Out of the four hundred and seventy (470) blood donors screened, 85 (18.1%) and 385 (81.9%) were vaccinated research participants and unvaccinated research participants (VRP and UVRP) respectively. Male: Female ratio and mean age (±SD) of VRP were 1:1 and 26.5 ± 6.8 while those of the UVRP were 1.6:1 and 26.9 ± 7.7. Evidence of successful vaccination was observed in 2.55% and 4.68% of VRP and UVRP respectively. Broad spectrum HBV infection totaling 11.05% based HBV markers seroprevalence was observed among the UVRP compared to the VRP with 0.85% seroprevalence. Conclusion: Low hepatitis B vaccine coverage among blood donors poses serious threats to public health including recipients of blood transfusion and hepatitis B vaccination programme should be re-strategized to cover the grass roots. Low HBV infection among the vaccinated research participants compared to the unvaccinated group showed long-term protection despite HBsAb loss. Post-vaccination testing is recommended for specific categories of individuals.
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