BackgroundMalaria diagnosis in Nigeria was largely done based on clinical presentations until recently when the policy on parasitological confirmation of all suspected malaria cases before treatment was released by the government in 2011. One of the possible causes of over-diagnosis and over treatment of malaria in Nigeria is poor utilization of Malaria test results in health care delivery. This study demonstrates the influence of in-service training on malaria microscopy amongst medical laboratory scientists on the utilization of malaria microscopy results in a selected Government Health Facility in Nigeria.MethodThe base line study was conducted in 2014 while a follow up study where pre tested questionnaire on perception and utilization of malaria microscopy results by Health care providers in malaria case management were administered to end users of laboratory results in selected secondary health facilities; Basic malaria microscopy training was subsequently conducted for medical laboratory scientists working in these selected facilities in accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO) basic microscopy training manual. The training was followed up by a supportive supervision visit to the Medical Laboratories where other factors that can adversely affect microscopy results such as the necessary equipment and reagents for staining and visualization, good working conditions were addressed and put in place by the participating health facilities.Furthermore, During the basic and refresher training, Test scores was extracted using Microsoft Office Excel® 2010 template; data was cleaned and exported to Stata 11, Stata Corp. 2009. Stata Statistical Software: Release 11. College Station, TX: Stata Corp LP for data analysis. To assess the performance after the training intervention, paired-test was used to determine if there was any significant difference between the performance scores before and after the training and between the basic and refresher training.ResultThe study demonstrates a significant improvement in both the basic and refresher training mean parasite detection pre-and post-tests scores from 56.3% (95% CI 53.6-58.8%) to 77.7% (95% CI 74.4-80.2%) and 76.7 (95% CI 74.2-79.2%) to 91.2% (95% CI 88.3-94.1%)(P< 0.001). Comparing the baseline and follow up study, and the assessment of facilities’ malaria test request and utilization pattern within the study period,there was significant difference when comparing the rate of utilization of malaria result from the trained Medical Laboratory Scientists (p< 0.001).ConclusionThe increase in utilization of malaria microscopy result for effective case management of malaria in the study area was influenced by training outcome and competency of Medical Laboratory Scientists.

Background: Malaria is a major cause of fever in endemic countries, although the prevalence of malaria has been declining across Sub-Saharan Africa, the proportion of clinical presentation attributable to febrile illness due to malaria to febrile illnesses have remained high. It is therefore important to determine the proportion of fever cases attributable to malaria. Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among children aged 1-72 months presenting at a tertiary facility in Imo state Nigeria from 1st March, 2014 to 31st October, 2015. Children between 1-72 months of age with documented fever at presentation or history of fever in the last 24 hours without signs of severe malaria and those without any history of anti-malarial drugs administration were considered eligible. Fever was regarded as axillary temperature of ≥37.5°C. For all subjects (febrile and afebrile), the presence of Plasmodium falciparum was assessed microscopically by a WHO Certified malaria microscopist. Malaria parasite density was grouped as 1-1000, 1001–10000, and >10,000 parasites/µl respectively according to World Health Organization guidelines for grouping malaria parasitamae while data was analysed using SPSS 20.1v. Results: Overall malaria prevalence of both febrile and afebrile at point of assessment but with history of fever in the last 24 hours was 24.3%. Prevalence by microscopy was 26% among the 289 children who were febrile as at point of examination. There was no significant difference (p>0.05) between malaria prevalence in males as against females. Age group 49-72 months had the highest prevalence (42.6%), while age groups 25-48 and 1-24 months recorded prevalence of 35.7% and 25%, respectively (P<0.05). About 22.5% of afebrile patients had positive Plasmodium parasitaemia. The Geo-mean (range) of parasitaemia was 1427(8-180,000) parasite/µl while mean body temperature ± SD was 37.0±0.9°C. About 8% of the children had high parasite density. Conclusion: Plasmodium falciparum although linked with majority of fever is not the cause of fever in all instances. Healthcare providers should make more effort to correctly diagnose non-malaria febrile cases so as to optimize clinical outcomes for the patients and minimize possible over diagnosis and overtreatment of malaria.

Introduction: Predictions on the world’s population in the next few decades suggest that the global demand for animal-derived proteins may not be met if current conventional agriculture approaches are used. One promising solution to this complex crisis lies in the use of single-cell proteins (SCP). SCP refers to the edible biomass of unicellular microorganisms and can be developed as animal feeds or human foods. This paper provides a detailed overview on research towards the production and utilisation of SCPs and trends within the field. Study Design: A bibliometric based study was conducted on 425 SCP research articles collected from the Web of Science database, analysing the most cited papers using VOSviewer software, and contributing authors, affiliations and country of origin. Research publications on SCP started in 1961 and has grown steadily over the years. Discussion: Emerging research topics within SCP production focused on the use of improved fungal strains, the composition and characteristics of SCPs based on the type of substrates used, industrial production processes and the use of waste for SCP production, which serves the dual purpose of mitigating the cost associated with waste disposal and production of a valuable product.

Introduction: In Malaria endemic countries, gestational and cord blood malaria prevalence are highly variable. A comprehensive study to determine the prevalence of placental and cord malaria has not been undertaken in Imo state, south eastern Nigeria. Thus, the need to determine prevalence of placenta and chord blood with Plasmodium falciparum infection among pregnant mothers and their neonates in Federal university teaching hospital Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria. Methodology: A hospital based cross sectional study  was carried out between the months of July 2021 and June, 2022 in some public and private hospitals in Owerri, south eastern Nigeria. Malaria transmission is stable with a high seasonal transmission from July to October. Placental and umbilical cord blood was collected into an EDTA bottle from mothers who consented and their neonates respectively at delivery. The presence of Plasmodium speciewas assessed microscopically and quantified by WHO Certified Malaria Microscopists. Parasite density was determined using WHO malaria microscopy protocol. Malaria parasite density was grouped as 1-500parasites/µl, 501-5,000parasites/µl (low), 5,001–10,000 parasites/µl (high), and >10,000 parasites/µl (very high) respectively for ease of analysis. Data was analyzed considering the  parasite density grouping and parity  while placenta and cord malaria prevalence  were determined. Results: Placental and congenital malaria prevalence by microscopy was 21.3% vs. 8.2%. The primigravid had the highest infection rate of 33.0%. Considering the relationship between infection prevalence and parity of pregnancy, there was a significant difference P=.001. 4.2% of 119 neonate and 13.6% of 88 neonates from multigravid and primigravid mothers respectively examined had cord malaria. There was significant difference P=.002 comparing cord malaria infection prevalence and parity of pregnancy of matched mothers. The relationship between parasite malaria density and parity of pregnancy   both in placental and cord malaria were not significant. Age group 20-25 years (45%) had the highest Prevalence while age groups 26-30 years recorded a prevalence of 33.3% for the primigravid and multigravid groups, respectively (P<0.05). The Geo mean range of 220 (3-8,250) vs. 23(2-6,412) parasite/µl of blood were recorded in primipare vrs multipare group. The result of this study showed moderate placental malaria infection and a low prevalence of cord malaria by microscopy. The presence of malaria parasites in cord blood at delivery and non in maternal placental blood was also demonstrated. There is a significant association between ITN (Insecticide-Treated Net) usage compliance rate and gravidity (primigravid vs. multigravid) among pregnant mothers. There is also a statistically significant relationship between age and gravidity in the occurrence of placenta malaria, as indicated by the chi-square test results. Conclusion: Antenatal exposure to malaria parasites may have profound effects on the fetus therefore prevention of malaria infection during pregnancy which may reduce the incidence of adverse perinatal outcomes should be strongly advocated.

There are a few investigations on malaria in pregnancy; however, examinations zeroing in on the discernment and current acts of malaria counteraction and treatment among pregnant women are scanty. This examination was pointed toward evaluating the information, recognitions about malaria anticipation with accentuation on information about placental malaria too consistence to utilization of LLIN and IPTP among pregnant women in Owerri, South Eastern Nigeria. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at an emergency department, Federal Medical Centre, Owerri using a pretested questionnaire from 200 randomly selected consenting pregnant women. Acknowledgment of malaria manifestations during pregnancy, information about IPTP and placenta malaria were things used to survey the degree of information about malaria in pregnancy. Their blood tests were additionally diagnosed for malaria parasitaemia. Malaria prevalence in the examination populace by microscopy was 13.5%. Additionally 62% of the respondents were learned about the conceivable impeding impacts of the existences of malaria during pregnancy.