Use of medicinal plants as a remedy against lymphatic filariasis: Current status and future prospect.

Despite the successes achieved so far with the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis, there is still an appreciable number of lymphatic filarial patients who need alternative treatment and morbidity management strategies. The unresponsiveness of some cohorts to the drugs used in the mass drug administration program is currently raising a lot of questions and this needs urgent attention. Natural medicinal plants have a long-standing history of being effective against most disease conditions. Countries such as India have been able to integrate their natural plant remedies into the treatment of lymphatic filarial conditions, and the results are overwhelmingly positive. Components of Azadirachta indica A. Juss, Parkia biglobosa, Adansonia digitata, and Ocimum spp have been shown to have anti-inflammatory, anticancerous, and antimicrobial activities in animal models. Therefore, this review calls for attention toward the use of natural plant components as an alternate treatment against lymphatic filariasis to help reduce the World Health Organization's burden of providing drugs for people in need of treatment every year.

Risk factors for COVID-19 virus infection among health workers: A case-control study in the Bono East Region of Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Disproportionately high rates of COVID-19 infection among health workers prompts the need to identify the risk factors to help guide the design and implementation of interventions. The aim of this study was to characterize the risk factors for COVID-19 infection among health workers. METHODS: A case-control study was designed to recruit 154 health workers who tested positive for the COVID-19 virus and 308 who tested negative from 8 hospitals and 11 health directorates in the Bono East Region of Ghana. Crude and adjusted logistic regression analysis was used to determine risk factors. RESULTS: Hand hygiene compliance for the recommended moments ranged from 55.3% to 77.4%. Personal protective equipments (PPE) use was 59.5% when patients' COVID-19 status was unknown and at least 90.7% when patient was positive. We identified years of practice experience (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.81; 95% CI: 1.07, 3.07; P = .028), adherence to infection prevention and control (IPC) when in contact with patients whose COVID-19 status is unspecified (AOR = 1.71; 95% CI: 1.09, 2.70; P = .020) and type of facility (AOR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.09, 2.62; P = .019) as risk factors. CONCLUSION: The findings underscore the need for health workers to improve in COVID-19 risk perception.

Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of "Limolanii" grass and perceptions of locals on its survival in the era of changing climate.

The aromatic Spear grass Hyparrhena rufa (locally called "Limolanii") found in the Saboba District of the Northern Region of Ghana is ingeniously used for dietary, medicinal, and other purposes. Focus group discussions were conducted in communities where "Limolanii" grows to assess the local perception of the importance of the grass and changing climate impacts on its continued existence. Findings indicated that the plant is of immense importance to the locals but has not been validated scientifically and reported for its current use. The communities are also hopeful of future socio-economic benefits of "Limolanii" but expressed concern about the lack of remediation practices to address issues of climate change, increased use of agrochemicals, urbanization, etc., which can lead to the extinction of the grass. "Limolanii" was therefore evaluated for its nutritional and anti-nutritional content by proximate analysis and ethanolic extract evaluated for some medicinal properties. The extract was assessed for its anti-inflammatory property using the carrageenan-induced oedema in chicks' model while antioxidant property evaluated using DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging activity, Phosphomolybdenum (Total Antioxidant Capacity), Total Phenol (Folin-Ciocalteu), and Total Flavonoid Content (Aluminium-chloride colorimetric) assays. The plant showed good nutritional content, extract exhibited a dose-dependent inhibition of oedema with maximal percentage inhibition of 41.05% at 300 mg/kg body weight and noticeable antioxidant activities. Flavonoids, coumarins, and other phytochemicals detected in the plant could be responsible for these activities, however, at certain levels, these phytochemicals could act as anti-nutrients. "Limolanii" exhibits medicinal properties backing its use traditionally as food supplements and herbs, hence the need to explore its possible commercial cultivation and embark on community sensitization to encourage people to protect and expand its production.