Background: COVID-19 was first reported on 31 December 2019 and has so far claimed over 2,000 lives in Nigeria. Through global and national efforts, about 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine was distributed and used in Nigeria from March 2021. Vaccine hesitancy could pose a serious problem for COVID-19 prevention and control. Objectives: To estimate the proportion of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University community that is willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19; level of hesitancy and its associated factors. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted using online Google form distributed to staff and students of the university via different WhatsApp groups. The outcome measures were the proportion of persons willing to be vaccinated, vaccine hesitancy rates and reasons for this hesitancy. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 23 and Minitab version 19. Bivariate analysis was performed by the chi-square test, Odds Ratios (ORs) and statistical significance was accepted when p-value is < 0.05. Results: Only 349 of the survey responses were analyzed in the survey. Results show that 34.70 ± 5.00% of the university community were willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine when it is offered to them. The COVID-19 hesitancy rate among staff and students was 65.04 ± 5.00%. It was discovered that marital status (OR = 2.06), age (OR = 0.802) and christian denominational affiliation (OR = 0.366) influenced respondents’ perception of COVID-19 vaccination. Gender, occupation, previous vaccination experience, awareness of COVID-19 and previous symptoms of COVID-19 did not significantly ( p = 0.05) influence respondents’ willingness to be vaccinated. Conclusion: COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is high among staff and students in a Nigerian university and is significantly influenced by marital status, respondents’ age and christian denominational affiliation.

Background:Co-infection of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) is common as both viruses share common routes of transmission. HIV significantly affects the natural history of HBV, hence the need to determine the prevalence of co-infection.Materials and Methods:This was a retrospective study between 2005 and 2009, in which is a total of 2018 subjects who reported at our University Teaching Hospital blood bank and human immunodeficiency virus clinic were studied. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was tested for using a one step lateral flow rapid chromatographic immunoassay (Acumen labs and diagnostic centre, Bangalore, India) and HIV 1/2 was tested using two kits, Determine (made by Abbot, Japan for Inverness Medical, Japan).Results:A total of 2018 subjects were studied out of which 1176 were HIV positive (964 males and 212 females) and 842 (334 males and 508 females) were negative. The prevalence of HBsAg positivity in the study population was 5.9%. It was 6.3% and 5.6% in the HIV-infected and un-infected population, respectively. Although the prevalence was higher in those who are HIV infected, the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.52). Males who were HIV positive were found to be more likely to have co-infection than females (8.7% vs. 4.2%, P=0.02, OR=1.917).Conclusion:This study showed that in south-eastern Nigeria, infection with HBV is relatively common in both HIV-infected and un-infected individuals. Routine screening for HBV should be done for all HIV positive individuals.

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The prevalence of active epilepsy in Southeast Nigeria is comparable to that found in developed and some developing countries but less than that reported in suburban Southwest Nigeria about three decades ago.

Background:Epilepsy is the commonest neurological disorder encountered in Sub-Saharan Africa. The quality of life of patients with epilepsy (PWEs) is adversely affected by cognitive impairments.Aim:This study investigated the prevalence and pattern of cognitive impairments in PWE in Ukpo community located in a South-Eastern state in Nigeria using Community Screening Interview for Dementia (CSID) and a computer-assisted cognitive test battery (FePsy).Methods and Patients:Fifty-one PWEs were studied and compared with 51 age-, sex-and level of education-matched healthy controls. Diagnosis of epilepsy was confirmed clinically with eye-witness corroboration. Sociodemographic data and information on epilepsy variables were obtained with the aid of a questionnaire. Cognitive domains assessed include language, memory, orientation, attention, psychomotor speed and constructional praxis.Results:The prevalence rate of cognitive impairment using total CSID score was 19.6%. Analysis of CSID scores revealed significant impairment in language (17.6%), memory (29.4%), orientation (15.7%), attention (7.8%) and constructional praxis (15.7%) compared to healthy controls. A similar pattern was observed with FePsy but with better sensitivity indices for detecting cognitive impairment.Conclusion:This study indicated significant prevalence rate of cognitive impairment among treatment-naïve PWE with profound affectation of memory, mental speed and language. In addition, the FePsy was found to be more sensitive and specific in assessment of cognitive function in PWE.