Background: Due to its persistent nature, ulcers brought on by Helicobacter pylori have been a significant public health concern. This study looked at how specific risk factors affected the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection among peptic ulcer patients visiting medical institutions in Lafia, Nigeria. Methods:The blood and stool samples of 180 individuals (71 men and 109 women) were collected randomly, checked for H. pylori using test strips for H. pylori antibodies and antigens (Azure Biotech Inc.), and the feces also were grown on Columbia blood agar base (TITAN Biotech Ltd). Using a standardized questionnaire, some participant risk data was also gathered. Results:A positive culture method (CM) test result was obtained from 14/71 (19.72%) of the 71 male patients and 37/109 (33.94%) of the 109 female subjects out of a total of 210 subjects. For CM alone, it was discovered that female participants had a considerably greater incidence of Helicobacter pylori infection than their male counterparts (p=0.038). Nevertheless, all analytical techniques discovered no evidence of a significant difference between age groups (p>0.05). Only the blood antibody (BAB) approach showed a substantially greater prevalence (p=0.021) in married patients, with 79/116 (68.10%) reactive instances. The presence of drinking water source (p < 0.001, 0.001, 0.002 using CM, BAB, and SAG, respectively) and number of occupants per room (p < 0.001, 0.001, 0.002 using CM, BAB, and SAG, respectively) as potential risk factors for H. pylori infection was also demonstrated. Conclusion:The majority of risk factors that were taken into consideration for this study demonstrated a strong correlation with Helicobacter pylori infection in Lafia, Nigeria.

Carbapenemase-producing (CPEC) has been an issue of public health concern due to high resistance to major antibiotics. This pathogen can be acquired through the consumption of contaminated foods. The use of detergents for the control of pathogens in food contact surfaces is commonly practiced by most food vendors. This study is aimed at assessing the efficacy of some commonly used detergents against CPEC from food contact surfaces in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. A total of 924 swab samples from food contact surfaces (246 each from plates, cups and spoons and 186 from tabletops) in various food vending outlets were screened for phenotypic identification of CPEC using Imipenem (30µg) and Meropenem (10µg) antibiotics susceptibility disk diffusion method. Tubes of varying concentrations of test detergents (1:140, 1:160, 1:180, 1:200 and 1:220) were seeded against phenol as standard with varying concentrations of 1:50, 1:60, 1:70 1:80 and 1:90. Hawkers outlets had highest CPEC isolation frequencies among swab samples and isolates with values of 3.33% and 7.70% respectively while cups and spoons surfaces had highest samples (1.63%) and isolates (7.69%) frequencies respectively. Overall CPEC isolation frequencies were 1.30% and 6.00% among the screened samples and isolates respectively. Though there was significant difference (p&#60;0.05) in the frequency values among the vending outlets, the contact surfaces had no significant difference at p&#62;0.05. Highest phenol coefficient value of 2.6 was obtained for MFD while SLD and LPD had 2.3 and 1.7 respectively. The difference in the phenol coefficient values among the detergents were statistically insignificant (p&#62;0.05). All detergents used in this study were effective against CPEC isolated from the food contact surfaces. Using locally produced detergents in appropriate concentrations especially for low-income earners is quite promising and is a good alternative to other branded detergents.

Contamination of food contact surfaces by increases the risk of food-borne diseases through cross-contamination which becomes more complicated with the development of multidrug resistance by the pathogen. This study was aimed at investigating multidrug resistance and carriage of carbapenemase genes among isolates from food contact surfaces in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. : A total of 924 swab samples (522 from Lafia and 402 from Nasarawa Eggon) were collected from various food contact surfaces in food vending outlets and screened for multidrug resistance and carbapenemase genes in isolates using standard culture, modified Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion, PCR amplification and agarose gel electrophoresis techniques. Data obtained were statistically analyzed and p-value set at 0.05 confidence level. Highest overall contamination prevalence of 43.33 % was obtained from hawkers’ outlets while table top surfaces had 35.43% with highest risk (odd ratio) of 1.94. Eateries and Hotels had no contamination. The prevalence values were significantly different (p&#60;0.05) among the food contact surfaces, vending outlets and the two communities. Isolates from street vendors obtained highest resistance to OFX, REF, STR, CEP, NAL, SEP, AMP antibiotics group with MDRI of 0.7. The bla, bla and bla carbapenemase genes were harbored by representative isolates. The presence of multidrug resistant with carbapenemase genes from food contact surfaces in vending outlets serves as a public health challenge and the need for personal hygiene and strict adherence to antibiotics protocols by food vendors is highly encouraged.