Bat and Lyssavirus Exposure among Humans in Area that Celebrates Bat Festival, Nigeria, 2010 and 2013.

Using questionnaires and serologic testing, we evaluated bat and lyssavirus exposure among persons in an area of Nigeria that celebrates a bat festival. Bats from festival caves underwent serologic testing for phylogroup II lyssaviruses (Lagos bat virus, Shimoni bat virus, Mokola virus). The enrolled households consisted of 2,112 persons, among whom 213 (10%) were reported to have ever had bat contact (having touched a bat, having been bitten by a bat, or having been scratched by a bat) and 52 (2%) to have ever been bitten by a bat. Of 203 participants with bat contact, 3 (1%) had received rabies vaccination. No participant had neutralizing antibodies to phylogroup II lyssaviruses, but >50% of bats had neutralizing antibodies to these lyssaviruses. Even though we found no evidence of phylogroup II lyssavirus exposure among humans, persons interacting with bats in the area could benefit from practicing bat-related health precautions.

Description of 3,180 courses of chelation with dimercaptosuccinic acid in children ≤ 5 y with severe lead poisoning in Zamfara, Northern Nigeria: a retrospective analysis of programme data.

BACKGROUND: In 2010, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) discovered extensive lead poisoning impacting several thousand children in rural northern Nigeria. An estimated 400 fatalities had occurred over 3 mo. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed widespread contamination from lead-rich ore being processed for gold, and environmental management was begun. MSF commenced a medical management programme that included treatment with the oral chelating agent 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA, succimer). Here we describe and evaluate the changes in venous blood lead level (VBLL) associated with DMSA treatment in the largest cohort of children ≤ 5 y of age with severe paediatric lead intoxication reported to date to our knowledge. METHODS AND FINDINGS: In a retrospective analysis of programme data, we describe change in VBLL after DMSA treatment courses in a cohort of 1,156 children ≤ 5 y of age who underwent between one and 15 courses of chelation treatment. Courses of DMSA of 19 or 28 d duration administered to children with VBLL ≥ 45 µg/dl were included. Impact of DMSA was calculated as end-course VBLL as a percentage of pre-course VBLL (ECP). Mixed model regression with nested random effects was used to evaluate the relative associations of covariates with ECP. Of 3,180 treatment courses administered, 36% and 6% of courses commenced with VBLL ≥ 80 µg/dl and ≥ 120 µg/dl, respectively. Overall mean ECP was 74.5% (95% CI 69.7%-79.7%); among 159 inpatient courses, ECP was 47.7% (95% CI 39.7%-57.3%). ECP after 19-d courses (n = 2,262) was lower in older children, first-ever courses, courses with a longer interval since a previous course, courses with more directly observed doses, and courses with higher pre-course VBLLs. Low haemoglobin was associated with higher ECP. Twenty children aged ≤ 5 y who commenced chelation died during the period studied, with lead poisoning a primary factor in six deaths. Monitoring of alanine transaminase (ALT), creatinine, and full blood count revealed moderate ALT elevation in <2.5% of courses. No clinically severe adverse drug effects were observed, and no laboratory findings required discontinuation of treatment. Limitations include that this was a retrospective analysis of clinical data, and unmeasured variables related to environmental exposures could not be accounted for. CONCLUSIONS: Oral DMSA was a pharmacodynamically effective chelating agent for the treatment of severe childhood lead poisoning in a resource-limited setting. Re-exposure to lead, despite efforts to remediate the environment, and non-adherence may have influenced the impact of outpatient treatment. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.

Influenza viruses in Nigeria, 2009-2010: results from the first 17 months of a national influenza sentinel surveillance system.

BACKGROUND: Influenza surveillance data from tropical, sub-Saharan African countries are limited. To better understand the epidemiology of influenza, Nigeria initiated influenza surveillance in 2008. METHODS: Outpatients with influenza-like illness (ILI) and inpatients with severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) were enrolled at 4 sentinel facilities. Epidemiologic data were obtained, and respiratory specimens were tested for influenza viruses, using real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction assays. RESULTS: During April 2009-August 2010, 2841 patients were enrolled. Of 2803 specimens tested, 217 (7.7%) were positive for influenza viruses (167 [8%] were from subjects with ILI, 17 [5%] were from subjects with SARI, and 33 were from subjects with an unclassified condition). During the prepandemic period, subtype H3N2 (A[H3N2]) was the dominant circulating influenza A virus subtype; 2009 pandemic influenza A virus subtype H1N1 (A[H1N1]pdm09) replaced A(H3N2) as the dominant circulating virus during November 2009. Among persons with ILI, A(H1N1)pdm09 was most frequently found in children aged 5-17 years, whereas among subjects with SARI, it was most frequently found in persons aged ≥ 65 years. The percentage of specimens that tested positive for influenza viruses peaked at 18.9% in February 2010, and the majority were A(H1N1)pdm09. CONCLUSIONS: Influenza viruses cause ILI and SARI in Nigeria. Data from additional years are needed to better understand the epidemiology and seasonality of influenza viruses in Nigeria.

Antidiarrhoeal and antiulcer activities of Hippocratea africana root extract.

The effect of ethanol root extract of H. africana on experimentally induced diarrhoea and ulcer was studied in rodents. The extract (200-600 mg/kg) considerably inhibited castor oil induced diarrhoea, small intestine transit time and castor oil induced fluid accumulation as well as indomethacin and ethanol induced ulcer models. The effect of the extract in these models was comparable to the various standard drugs used. The root extract of H. africana has antidiarrhoeal and antiulcer properties which justify its uses in ethnomedicine.

Urate synthesis and oxidative stress in phenytoin hepatotoxicity: the role of antioxidant vitamins.

Phenytoin is known to induce microsomal enzymes including xanthine oxidase which catalyzes uric acid synthesis with superoxides as byproducts, thus contributing to the oxidative stress of phenytoin hepatotoxicity. To investigate the role of antioxidant vitamins in ameliorating phenytoin induced hepatic changes through possible actions on xanthine oxidase activities as measured by urate concentration. Growing albino rats of Wistar strain were randomly divided into 8 groups of 7 rats each. Group 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 were treated with phenytoin alone, phenytoin + folic acid, phenytoin + vitamin E, phenytoin + vitamin E + vitamin C, phenytoin + vitamin C, phenytoin + folic acid + vitamin E and phenytoin + vitamin E + vitamin C + folic acid respectively while animals in group 1 were given normal saline to serve as control. Serum concentrations of uric acid, albumin, total protein and the activities of aspartate and alanine aminotransferases (AST and ALT) and catalase were measured spectrophotometrically using appropriate commercial reagent kits. Result showed that administration of phenytoin alone caused significant (p < 0.05) increase in serum levels of globulin, uric acid, AST and ALT activities while the levels of albumin and catalase were reduced significantly (p < 0.05). Supplementation of phenytoin treatment with vitamins resulted in various degrees of protection. However, the elevated level of uric acid in serum was not significantly (p < 0.05) affected by any of the vitamins used and there was no significant correlation between the activities of aminotransferases and uric acid concentration in the vitamin treated animals as was observed between aminotransferases and catalase. The findings in this study suggest that antioxidant vitamins were able to ameliorate phenytoin hepatotoxic effects by improving oxidant radicals removal in the animals but would not inhibit further generation of the superoxides by xanthine oxidase activity and that xanthine oxidase may contribute significantly to the oxidative stress of phenytoin therapy.

Determinants of routine immunization coverage in Bungudu, Zamfara State, Northern Nigeria, May 2010.

INTRODUCTION: Immunization is a cost-effective public health intervention to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with infectious diseases. The Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey of 2008 indicated that only 5.4% of children aged 12-23 months in Bungudu, Zamfara State were fully immunized. We conducted this study to identify the determinants of routine immunization coverage in this community. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study. We sampled 450 children aged 12-23 months. We interviewed mothers of these children using structured questionnaire to collect data on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge on immunization, vaccination status of children and reasons for non-vaccination. We defined a fully immunized child as a child who had received one dose of BCG, three doses of oral polio vaccine, three doses of Diptheria-Pertusis-Tetanus vaccine and one dose of measles vaccine by 12 months of age. We performed bivariate analysis and logistic regression using Epi-info software. RESULTS: The mean age of mothers and children were 27 years (standard error (SE): 0.27 year) and 17 months (SE: 0.8 month) respectively. Seventy nine percent of mothers had no formal education while 84% did not possess satisfactory knowledge on immunization. Only 7.6% of children were fully immunized. Logistic regression showed that possessing satisfactory knowledge (Adjusted OR=18.4, 95% CI=3.6-94.7) and at least secondary education (Adjusted OR=3.6, 95% CI=1.2-10.6) were significantly correlated with full immunization. CONCLUSION: The major determinants of immunization coverage were maternal knowledge and educational status. Raising the level of maternal knowledge and increasing maternal literacy level are essential to improve immunization coverage in this community.

Hospital-based mortality in Federal Capital Territory hospitals--Nigeria, 2005-2008.

BACKGROUND: Cause-specific mortality data are important to monitor trends in mortality over time. Medical records provide reliable documentation of the causes of deaths occurring in hospitals. This study describes all causes of mortality reported at hospitals in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Nigeria. METHODS: Deaths reported in 15 secondary and tertiary FCT hospitals occurring from January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2008 were identified by a retrospective review of hospital records conducted by the Nigeria Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Program (NFELTP). Data extracted from the records included sociodemographics, geographic area of residence and underlying cause-of-death information. RESULTS: A total of 4,623 deaths occurred in the hospitals. Overall, the top five causes of death reported were: HIV 951 (21%), road traffic accidents 422 (9%), malaria 264 (6%), septicemia 206 (5%), and hypertension 194 (4%). The median age at death was 30 years (range: 0-100); 888 (20%) of deaths were among those less than one year of age. Among children < 1 year, low birth weight and infections were responsible for the highest proportion 131 (15%) of reported mortality. CONCLUSION: Many of the leading causes of mortality identified in this study are preventable. Infant mortality is a large public health problem in FCT hospitals. Although these findings are not representative of all FCT deaths, they may be used to quantify mortality in that occurs in FCT hospitals. These data combined with other mortality surveillance data can provide evidence to inform policy on public health strategies and interventions for the FCT.

Outbreak of fatal childhood lead poisoning related to artisanal gold mining in northwestern Nigeria, 2010.

BACKGROUND: In May 2010, a team of national and international organizations was assembled to investigate children's deaths due to lead poisoning in villages in northwestern Nigeria. OBJECTIVES: Our goal was to determine the cause of the childhood lead poisoning outbreak, investigate risk factors for child mortality, and identify children < 5 years of age in need of emergency chelation therapy for lead poisoning. METHODS: We administered a cross-sectional, door-to-door questionnaire in two affected villages, collected blood from children 2-59 months of age, and obtained soil samples from family compounds. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were performed with survey, blood lead, and environmental data. Multivariate logistic regression techniques were used to determine risk factors for childhood mortality. RESULTS: We surveyed 119 family compounds. Of 463 children < 5 years of age, 118 (25%) had died in the previous year. We tested 59% (204/345) of children < 5 years of age, and all were lead poisoned (≥ 10 µg/dL); 97% (198/204) of children had blood lead levels (BLLs) ≥ 45 µg/dL, the threshold for initiating chelation therapy. Gold ore was processed inside two-thirds of the family compounds surveyed. In multivariate modeling, significant risk factors for death in the previous year from suspected lead poisoning included the age of the child, the mother's work at ore-processing activities, community well as primary water source, and the soil lead concentration in the compound. CONCLUSION: The high levels of environmental contamination, percentage of children < 5 years of age with elevated BLLs (97%, > 45 µg/dL), and incidence of convulsions among children before death (82%) suggest that most of the recent childhood deaths in the two surveyed villages were caused by acute lead poisoning from gold ore-processing activities. Control measures included environmental remediation, chelation therapy, public health education, and control of mining activities.