Human T-lymphotropic viruses (HTLV) are Deltaretroviruses that infect millions of individuals worldwide via the same transmission routes as HIV. With the aim of exposing the possible re-emergence of HTLV in West Africa since discovery, a systematic review was carried out, focusing on the distribution of the virus types and significance of frequent indeterminate reports, while highlighting the need for mandatory routine blood screening. Capturing relevant data from discovery till date, sources searched were Google Scholar, CrossRef, NCBI (PubMed), MEDLINE, Research Gate, Mendeley, abstracts of Conferences and Proceedings, organization websites and reference lists of selected papers. A total of 2626 references were initially retrieved using search terms: Worldwide prevalence of HTLV, HTLV in Africa, HTLV in West Africa, HTLV subtypes, HTLV 3 and 4 in Africa, HTLV of African origin, HTLV seroindeterminate results, Spread of HTLV. These references were rigorously trimmed down to 76. Although evidence shows that HTLV is still endemic in the region, West Africa lacks recent epidemiological prevalence data. Thorough investigations are needed to ascertain the true cause of indeterminate Western Blot results. It is imperative that routine screening for HTLVs be mandated in West African health care facilities.

Background Antibiotics are among the most commonly prescribed drugs in paediatrics. Due to an overall rise in healthcare costs, lack of uniformity in drug prescribing despite standard treatment guidelines and the emergence of antibiotic resistance, monitoring and control of antibiotic use is of growing concern and strict antibiotic policies are warranted. Purpose To access the prescribing pattern of antibiotic use in the treatment of prevalent paediatric diseases at Federal Medical Centre Owerri, to compare this pattern to the standard treatment guidelines and to estimate the cost implications of this pattern on the hospital drug budget. Materials and methods A retrospective study covering January 2002 to December 2006 was done. Medical records of paediatric inpatients of age 0-12 years were reviewed. Total number of cases was 5968. Results The average number of medicines per patient ranged from 5.17 in 2002 to 7.9 in 2006 and percentage of antibiotics per prescription also ranged from 63.3 in 2002 to 86.6 in 2006 The most common disease in this hospital was malaria followed by bronchopneumonia. Out of the 5968 children clinically diagnosed with these diseases and treated with antibiotics, specimens were taken for culture in only 1648 cases (33%) to identify pathogenic organisms. Children 1-5 years received antibiotics more frequently than all the other groups. 80-86% of total antibiotics were administered parenterally and 80-85.5% of drugs were prescribed from the hospital formulary. Cephalosporins were the most frequently prescribed antibiotic followed by penicillin and then aminoglycosides. 21-26% of the hospital budget was spent on antibiotics. High-cost broad-spectrum antibiotics were commonly used. Conclusions This study revealed significant flaws in the prescribing pattern of antibiotics in the paediatric department of this hospital. It is pertinent to note that because children are at greater risk of receiving multiple courses of antibiotics and in view of the risk of antibiotic resistance, strategies to control antibiotic resistance should focus on this patient population.

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop a novel gastro retentive oral floating in situ gelling system for controlled release of Meloxicam. Meloxicam is an NSAID that inhibits cyclooxygenase (COX) synthesis and has analgesic and antipyretic effects. Methods: Four polymer based floating in situ gelling systems of Meloxicam were prepared by dissolving varying concentrations of different ingredients including sodium alginate, HPMC K100M, calcium carbonate, sodium citrate. The prepared gels were characterized for solution viscosity, pH, gelling capacity, floating lag time, floating duration and in-vitro release study. Results: The formulations possessed satisfactory pH value ranging from 7.25±0.09 to 8.12±0.49. All the formulations showed instant gelation maintaining integrity for at least 12 h. Maximum drug release was shown by formulations of batch G1 (94.38%). Conclusion: The study demonstrated that a stomach specific in-situ gel of Meloxicam could be prepared using the floating mechanism to increase the residence time of the drug in the stomach and improve bioavailability and thus improve patient compliance.

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Staphylococcus aureus is a facultative anaerobic Gram-positive coccal bacterium whose incidence ranges from skin, soft tissue, respiratory, bone, joint, endovascular to wound infections. The purpose of this study was to identify Staphylococcus aureus from clinical specimens using routine conventional and rapid tests. Gram staining, catalase test, coagulase test, DNase test, haemolysis on blood agar and Microgen™ STAPH-ID kit tests were carried out. A total of 125 Gram positive cocci were tested. The Gram staining technique yielded 100 (80.00%) Staphylococcus spp (Gram positive cocci in clusters). 89(71.20%) isolates were positive to haemolysis on blood agar. Mannitol Salt Agar, DNase agar and Catalase test correctly identified 69 (55.2%) of the Gram positive cocci to be S. aureus as was confirmed by the Microgen™ STAPH-ID kit test. Coagulase test yielded 66 (52.8%) positive results. The Microgen™ STAPH-ID kit test identified three non-coagulase Staphylococcus aureus isolates. The Microgen™ STAPH-ID kit test was the most reliable of the tests, with accuracy comparable to any other rapid test. However, it is the most expensive of the tests. This study established that conventional tests can be used for direct identification of S. aureus to species level if the battery of tests is increased.