A B S T R A C TBackground: Sexual abuse of children is a global health and human rights problem that has been largely underreported and understudied in sub-Saharan Africa. Little is therefore known regarding information on the nature of child sexual abuse and the predisposing factors in our communities. Objective: To study the demographic features of individuals involved in sexual abuse and the pattern of presentation of cases at the General Hospital Suleja, Niger state.
Materials and Methods:The study is a retrospective analysis of case records of patients who presented to the Out Patient Department of General Hospital Suleja. All cases of sexual abuse seen over an 18 month period from 1 st January 2007 to 30 th June 2008 were reviewed. Data obtained were analysed in Epi-Info software version 3.04 and results presented as percentages, contingency tables, and charts. Results: A total of 81 cases of sexual abuse were recorded over the period of review where children (77 cases) accounted for 95.1% of the cases. There were 41 cases of sexual abuse seen in 2007, while 40 cases were documented within the fi rst half of 2008. All the victims of sexual abuse were girls and all the perpetrators were males of whom six adolescent boys constituted 7.6%. There was no documentation on evaluation and management of sexually transmitted infections, HIV infection, emergency contraception, or scheduled follow-up. Conclusion: The incidence of reported child sexual abuse is on the increase in our communities. There is a need for studies on the predisposing factors to inform policy and preventive strategies as well as efforts to build the capacity of public health systems and care providers to manage cases reporting to our health care facilities.
Background: The clinical symptoms, cellular immune response, and serum cytokine homeostasis during falciparum malaria among children living in endemic regions depend on the parasite densities. This study aims to evaluate the CD4 þ and CD8 þ T cells, leucocytes subpopulations, IL-6, IL-10 and biomarkers of oxidative stress among children infected with varying grades of malaria attending the
West Nile virus (WNV) is a re-emerging mosquito-borne and zoonotic viral infection which is largely underestimated in Nigeria. This study sought to determine the pooled prevalence pattern and risk factors of WNV infection among humans and animals in Nigeria. Methods: A systematic review of eligible articles was conducted from "PubMed", "Scopus", "Google Scholar" and "Web of Science", from 1 st January 1950 to 30 th August 2020. Peer-reviewed articles describing WNV infection of humans and animals in cross-sectional studies were systematically reviewed and analyzed. Cochrane Q was used to determine the heterogeneity of studies reports. Results: About 61.5% human studies had low risk of bias. Howewer, all had high heterogeneity. Southwestern Nigeria had the highest pooled prevalence of anti-WNV IgM, 7.8% in humans. The pooled WNV IgM and IgG seroprevalence were 7.1% (95% CI: 5.9-8.3) and 76.5% (95% CI: 74.0-78.8), respectively. The WNV RNA prevalence was 1.9% (95% CI: 1.4-2.9), while 14.3% (95% CI: 12.9-15.8) had WNV neutralizing antibodies. In animals, the pooled WNV IgM and IgG seroprevalence were 90.3% (95% CI: 84.3-94.6) and 3.5% (95% CI: 1.9-5.8), respectively while 20.0% (95% CI: 12.9-21.4) had WNV neutralizing antibodies. Age (OR=3.73, 95% CI: 1.87-7.45; p=0.0002) and level of education [no formal education (OR=4.31, CI: 1.08-17.2; E p u b a h e a d o f p r i n t 2 p=0.0386), primary (OR=7.29, 95% CI: 1.80-29.6; p=0.0054)], were significant risk factors of WNV IgM seropositivity in humans. Conclusion: Findings from this study highlighted the endemicity of WNV infection in animals and humans in Nigeria and underscored the need for "One health" prevention and control approach against WNV infection.
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