Seasonal variation of hepatitis B and C virus infection among HIV- and non-HIV-infected patients in Benin City, Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: Seasonal variation in immunity has been found in healthy individuals and in association with some diseases. Data on seasonal prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is sparse. This study aimed at determining the seasonal seroprevalence of HBV and HCV infections among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients in Benin City.

Asymptomatic Uropathogenic Bacteriuria Among Pregnant and Non-pregnant Women at St Luke’s Hospital Anua, Offot Ukwa District Uyo: A Reassessment Case-Control Approach

“…Pregnant women are at increased risk of UTI but in many cases uropathogenic bacterial infections remain asymptomatic [1,4,8,10,12,18,21,[33][34]. In this research, the overall prevalence of ASB uropathogens among pregnant women was 29.1%, which is in harmony with the documented research from Iranian population [35], which reported the same prevalence of 29.1%.…”

“…Highest prevalence of ASB uropathogens was observed in the age range of 26-31 years for both pregnant and nonpregnant women and the mean ages of 23.3±5.2 and 24.2±5.6 years were stipulated for pregnant and non-pregnant women respectively in this study, which was similar to that reported in Hawassa referral hospital [12], Ambo town [16] Gondar tertiary teaching hospital [6] in Ethiopian cities, Benin city [1,39], Ibadan [33] and University of Uyo teaching hospital, Nigeria [4]. The increased prevalence observed within this age range may be attributed to multiparity which has been documented as one of the risk factors for ASB in pregnant women in many populations [4,[15][16][17]44).…”

“…Also 9% in Nsukka [37], 10.7% in Ibadan [33], approximately between 18 to 19% in some developing central and West African countries [4,12,16,21] and 23.9% in Sagamu, Nigeria [38] which are lower prevalence rates. In contrast, higher prevalence of 45.3% [39] and 55% [1] in Benin, 54% in Akwa metropolis [40], 72.5% in Lagos State [41], 78.7% in Ebonyi State [42] and 86.6% in Oyo State [43], all Nigerian populations. The variations in the prevalence of ASB or UTIs from the same geographical regions of the same countries or different countries might be due to differences in the environment, associated risk factors, social habits of the community, the standard of personal hygiene, educational status of individuals as well as some specifically documented extended spectrum producing uropathogens in ASB (methodology adopted).…”

“…Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the commonest health problems among women due to shorter urethra, pathogens entry facilitated by sexual intercourse and close proximity of the anus with vagina [1][2][3][4]. Researchers have reported that approximately one in three female human subjects within child bearing age contracts urinary tract infection, that may present signs or remain asymptomatic [5,6].…”

“…In Nigeria, 18.21% was reported in South Eastern Nigeria [21] while 19% [4] and 20% were reported in South-South Nigeria [22]. However, a higher prevalence of 55% among pregnant women in a traditional birth home, Benin City, Nigeria has been documented [1]. Therefore, periodic evaluation of asymptomatic uropathogenic bacterial profile among pregnant women, etiology, risk factors and characteristics are needed to update information.…”