Trends in Poliovirus Seroprevalence in Kano State, Northern Nigeria.

Background: Kano state has been a protracted reservoir of poliovirus in Nigeria. Immunity trends have been monitored through seroprevalence surveys since 2011. The survey in 2015 was, in addition, intended to assess the impact of use of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV). Methods: It was a health facility based seroprevalence survey. Eligible children aged 6-9, 12-15 and 19-22 months of age brought to the paediatrics outpatient department of Murtala Mohammad Specialist Hospital between 19 October and 6 November 2015, were screened for eligibility. Eligible children were enrolled after parental consent, history taken, physical examination conducted, and a blood sample collected to test for neutralizing antibody titres against the three poliovirus serotypes. Results: Overall, 365 results were available in the three age groups. In the 6-9-month-old age group, the seroprevalence was 73% (95% confidence interval [CI] 64-80%), 83% (95% CI 75-88%), and 66% (95% CI 57-73%) for serotypes 1, 2, and 3, respectively. In the 12-15- and 19-22-month-old age groups, seroprevalence was higher but still remained <90% across serotypes. Seroprevalence to serotypes 1 and 3 in 2015 was similar to 2014; however, for serotype 2 there was a significant improvement. IPV received in supplemental immunization activities was found to be a significant predictor of seropositivity among 6-9-month-old infants for serotypes 1 and 2. Conclusions: Seroprevalence for serotypes 1 and 3 remains low (<80%) in 6-9-month-olds. This poses a significant risk for poliovirus spread if reintroduced into the population. Efforts to strengthen immunization coverage are imperative to secure and sustain high population immunity.

Molecular characterization of invasive Enterobacteriaceae from pediatric patients in Central and Northwestern Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Bacteremia is a leading cause of mortality in developing countries, however, etiologic evaluation is infrequent and empiric antibiotic use not evidence-based. Here, we evaluated the patterns of ESBL resistance in children enrolled into a surveillance study for community acquired bacteremic syndromes across health facilities in Central and Northwestern Nigeria. METHOD: Blood culture was performed for children aged less than 5 years suspected of having sepsis from Sept 2008-Dec 2016. Blood was incubated using the BACTEC00AE system and Enterobacteriacea identified to the species level using Analytical Profile Index (API20E®). Antibiotic susceptibility profile was determined by the disc diffusion method. Real time PCR was used to characterize genes responsible for ESBL production. RESULT: Of 21,000 children screened from Sept 2008-Dec 2016, 2,625(12.5%) were culture-positive. A total of 413 Enterobacteriaceae available for analysis were screened for ESBL. ESBL production was detected in 160 Enterobacteriaceae, high resistance rates were observed among ESBL-positive isolates for Ceftriaxone (92.3%), Aztreonam (96.8%), Cefpodoxime (96.3%), Cefotaxime (98.8%) and Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (90%), while 87.5%, 90.7%, and 91.9% of the isolates were susceptible to Imipenem, Amikacin and Meropenem respectively. Frequently detected resistance genes were blaTEM-83.8% (134/160), and, blaCTX-M 83.1% (133/160) followed by blaSHVgenes 66.3% (106/160). Co-existence of blaCTX-M, blaTEM and blaSHV was seen in 94/160 (58.8%), blaCTX-M and blaTEM in 118/160 (73.8%), blaTEM and blaSHV in 97/160 (60.6%) and blaCTX-M and blaSHV in 100/160 (62.5%) of isolates tested. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate a high prevalence of bacteremia from ESBL Enterobacteriaceae in this population of children. These are resistant to commonly used antibiotics and careful choice of antibiotic treatment options is critical. Further studies to evaluate transmission dynamics of resistance genes could help in the reduction of ESBL resistance in these settings.

Development of ELISAs for diagnosis of acute typhoid fever in Nigerian children.

Improved serodiagnostic tests for typhoid fever (TF) are needed for surveillance, to facilitate patient management, curb antibiotic resistance, and inform public health programs. To address this need, IgA, IgM and IgG ELISAs using Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and hemolysin E (t1477) protein were conducted on 86 Nigerian pediatric TF and 29 non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) cases, 178 culture-negative febrile cases, 28 "other" (i.e., non-Salmonella) pediatric infections, and 48 healthy Nigerian children. The best discrimination was achieved between TF and healthy children. LPS-specific IgA and IgM provided receiver operator characteristic areas under the curve (ROC AUC) values of 0.963 and 0.968, respectively, and 0.978 for IgA+M combined. Similar performance was achieved with t1477-specific IgA and IgM (0.968 and 0.968, respectively; 0.976 combined). IgG against LPS and t1477 was less accurate for discriminating these groups, possibly as a consequence of previous exposure, although ROC AUC values were still high (0.928 and 0.932, respectively). Importantly, discrimination between TF and children with other infections was maintained by LPS-specific IgA and IgM (AUC = 0.903 and 0.934, respectively; 0.938 combined), and slightly reduced for IgG (0.909), while t1477-specific IgG performed best (0.914). A similar pattern was seen when comparing TF with other infections from outside Nigeria. The t1477 may be recognized by cross-reactive antibodies from other acute infections, although a robust IgG response may provide some diagnostic utility in populations where incidence of other infections is low, such as in children. The data are consistent with IgA and IgM against S. Typhi LPS being specific markers of acute TF.

Poliovirus seroprevalence before and after interruption of poliovirus transmission in Kano State, Nigeria.

INTRODUCTION: In September 2015, Nigeria was removed from the list of polio-endemic countries after more than 12months had passed since the detection of last wild poliovirus case in the country on 24 July 2014. We are presenting here a report of two polio seroprevalence surveys conducted in September 2013 and October 2014, respectively, in the Kano state of northern Nigeria. METHODS: Health facility based seroprevalence surveys were undertaken at Murtala Mohammad Specialist Hospital, Kano. Parents or guardians of children aged 6-9months, 36-47months, 5-9years and 10-14years in 2013 and 6-9months and 19-22months (corresponding to 6-9months range at the time of 2013 survey) in 2014 presenting to the outpatient department, were approached for participation, screened for eligibility and asked to provide informed consent. A questionnaire was administered and a blood sample collected for polio neutralization assay. RESULTS: Among subjects aged 6-9months in the 2013 survey, seroprevalence was 58% (95% confidence interval [CI] 51-66%) to poliovirus type 1, 42% (95% CI 34-50%) to poliovirus type 2, and 52% (95% CI 44-60%) to poliovirus type 3. Among children 36-47months and older, seroprevalence was 85% or higher for all three serotypes. In 2014, seroprevalence in 6-9month infants was 72% (95% CI 65-79%) for type 1, 59% (95% CI 52-66%) for type 2, and 65% (95% CI 57-72%) for type 3 and in 19-22months, 80% (95% CI 74-85%), 57% (49-63%) and 78% (71-83%) respectively. Seroprevalence was positively associated with history of increasing oral poliovirus vaccine doses. CONCLUSIONS: There was significant improvement in seroprevalence in 2014 over the 2013 levels indicating a positive impact of recent programmatic interventions. However the continued low seroprevalence in 6-9month age is a concern and calls for improved immunization efforts to sustain the polio-free Nigeria.

Menace of childhood non-accidental traumatic brain injuries: A single unit report.

BACKGROUND: Childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI) has high rate of mortality and morbidity worldwide. There are dearths of reports from developing countries with large paediatric population on trauma; neurosurgery trauma of nonaccidental origin is not an exemption. This study analysed menace of non-accidental TBI in the paediatric population from our center. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a single unit, retrospective study of the epidemiology of non-accidental TBI in children starting from September, 2008 to March, 2014. The management outcomes of the epidemiology of the non-accidental TBI were analysed. RESULTS: Total of 109 children age range from 0 (intra-natal) to 16 years with a mean of 5.8 ± 4.6 years (median, 5 years) were enrolled into the study. 34 (31.2%) were domestic violence, 26 (23.9%) street assaults, 16 (14.7%) were due to animal assaults and mishaps, 17 (15.6%) fall from heights. Seven (6.4%) cases of collapsed buildings were also seen during the period. Four (3.7%) industrial accidents and two (1.8%) were self-inflicted injuries. There were also three (2.8%) cases of iatrogenic TBI out of which two infants (1.8%) sustained TBI from cesarean section procedure while one patient (0.9%) under general anaesthesia felt from the operation bed resulting to severe TBI. CONCLUSION: Child abuse, unprotected child labour, parental/care-givers negligence are the main cause of nonaccidental TBI. Human right activists and government agents should be incorporated in curtailing the menace.