Production of herbal toothpaste: Physical, organoleptic, phyto-compound, and antimicrobial properties.

Objective: To investigate the possibility of producing dental antimicrobial toothpaste from Allium cepa L skin chaff, Azadirachta indica A. seed, and Tetrapleura tetraptera pod extracts. Methods: Ethanolic extracts of the three plant materials were obtained. These were subjected to phytochemical and GC-MS analyses. The different extract combinations were used for the production of various toothpaste. The toothpaste's physical, organoleptic, and antimicrobial properties were determined. Results: From the phytochemical analysis, Allium cepa has the highest phenolic (1.20 mgGAE/g), saponin (14.80%), tannin (0.11 mg/g) and DPPH (82.80%), Tetrapleura tetraptera has the highest flavonoid (0.33 mg RE/g), and alkaloid (20.50 mg/g) while, Azadirachta indica has the highest oxalate (77.50 mg/g). The GC-MS revealed significant chemical components of Allium cepa as 1-heptatriacotanol, germacra-1(10),4,11(13)-trien-12-oic acid, 6-alpha-hydroxy-,gamma-lactone, (E,E)-, 11H-Indeno [1,2b] quinoxaline, 2-methyl- while Azadirachta indica have butyl benzoate, benzoic acid, hexyl ester, hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester and Tetrapleura tetraptera have the following 15-hydroxypentadecanoic acid, cis-9-hexadecenal, and 11,13-dimethyl-12-tetradecen-1-ol acetate. All the produced toothpaste has a brown colour and a pleasant smell, with pH from 7.30 to 8.10 and foamability from 19.23% of stand-alone toothpaste to 44.44% of Allium cepa-based. Amongst the produced toothpaste Allium cepa-based toothpaste has the best antimicrobial activities against the tested bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Klebsiella oxytoca) and fungi (Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis). The stand-alone toothpaste has the lowest minimum inhibitory concentration of 1.25 mg/mL against bacteria and fungi. Clinical significance: The study provides information on the production of human health-friendly dental antimicrobial toothpaste from plant materials.

A cross-sectional study of traditional practices affecting maternal and newborn health in rural Nigeria.

INTRODUCTION: Certain traditional practices which have negative effects on maternal and child health continue to be practiced in sub-Saharan African countries. A survey was carried out in a rural village in Nigeria to understand the scale and range of these practices. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study in which trained interviewers administered pre-tested questionnaires on child-bearing women using questionnaires embedded on android devices. RESULTS: The median age of marriage and pregnancy were 15 and 16 years respectively. Home births were high (90.4%) while non-skilled birth attendant was 87.4%. The community had a son preference index ratio of 1:4.1. Up to 81.5% of mothers responded that one form of unhygienic traditional procedure or the other was performed on their children. Time to initiation of breast feeding was in hours in the majority (76.3%) of mothers, with a high rate of use of prelacteal feeds (85.2%). Being an adolescent mother (AOR 0.403, 95%CI 0.203, 0,797) and utilizing a skilled provider at birth (AOR 0.245, 95%CI 0.088, 0.683) were associated with less likelihood of having an unhygienic procedure performed on children. CONCLUSION: The findings of our study suggest that traditional practices which could have negative effects on maternal and child health are still ongoing in the study community. Child protection laws and safeguarding principles could help to reduce these practices and would need to be developed and implemented in these settings where these practices are still prevalent.

Health care workers' knowledge and attitude towards TB patients under Direct Observation of Treatment in Plateau state Nigeria, 2011.

INTRODUCTION: Tuberculosis (TB) is a public health problem in Nigeria. Adherence to the total duration of treatment is critical to cure the patients. We explored the knowledge of the health care workers on management of TB patients including their perceived reasons for patient non adherence to treatment to develop strategies to improve the quality of the TB control service in the state. METHODS: We conducted a cross sectional study. We used self administered questionnaire to extract information from the health workers on their trainings for TB control, knowledge of the control services, patients' education including prevention of defaulting from treatment. We conducted focus group discussion with the health care workers. We performed descriptive analysis using epiInfo software. RESULTS: Of the 76 respondents 41 (53.9%) were female, 39.9% were community health extension workers, 26.3% were nurses/midwifes 30.3% lacked training on management of TB patient. Only 43.4% knew when to take action on patients who miss their drugs in the intensive phase, 30.3% and 35.5% knew defaults among category 1 and category 2 in the continuation phases of treatment respectively. They identified side effects of drugs (80%), daily clinic attendance (76.3%), health workers attitude (73.4%) and lack of knowledge on duration of treatment (71.1%) including their unfriendly attitudes towards the patients as the major barriers to patients' adherence to treatment. CONCLUSION: Lack of knowledge of the health care workers on management of TB patients and poor interpersonal relation and communication with patients have negative effect on patients' adherence to the long duration of TB treatment.

High concentration of blood lead levels among young children in Bagega community, Zamfara - Nigeria and the potential risk factor.

INTRODUCTION: In May 2010, lead poisoning (LP) was confirmed among children <5years (U5) in two communities in Zamfara state, northwest Nigeria. Following reports of increased childhood deaths in Bagega, another community in Zamfara, we conducted a survey to investigate the outbreak and recommend appropriate control measures. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in Bagega community from 23rd August to 6th September, 2010. We administered structured questionnaires to parents of U5 to collect information on household participation in ore processing activities. We collected and analysed venous blood samples from 185 U5 with LeadCare II machine. Soil samples were analysed with X-ray fluorescence spectrometer for lead contamination. We defined blood lead levels (BLL) of >10ug/dL as elevated BLL, and BLL ≥45ug/dL as the criterion for chelation therapy. We defined soil lead levels (SLL) of ≥400 parts per million (ppm) as elevated SLL. RESULTS: The median age of U5 was 36 months (Inter-quartile range: 17-48 months). The median BLL was 71µg/dL (range: 8-332µg/dL). Of the 185 U5, 184 (99.5%) had elevated BLL, 169 (91.4%) met criterion for CT. The median SLL in tested households (n = 37) of U5 was 1,237ppm (range: 53-45,270ppm). Households breaking ore rocks within the compound were associated with convulsion related-children's death (OR: 5.80, 95% CI: 1.08 - 27.85). CONCLUSION: There was an LP outbreak in U5 in Bagega community possibly due to heavy contamination of the environment as a result of increased ore processing activities. Community-driven remediation activities are ongoing. We recommended support for sustained environmental remediation, health education, intensified surveillance, and case management.

Stigmatization of people with mental illness among inhabitants of a rural community in northern Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Despite the fact that mental illness is a common problem in society, people's perception of the mentally ill and community attitude towards them is still rather poor, making their rehabilitation and reintegration into society an uphill task. AIMS: To examine the stigmatization of people with mental illness within a rural community and identify the socio-demographic variables involved. METHOD: A cross-sectional descriptive study using a multi-stage random sampling technique to obtain data through an interviewer-administered questionnaire to 325 adult inhabitants of a rural community in Nigeria. RESULTS: The results showed widespread ignorance about causation, mode of transmission and remedies available for mental illness, with only 0.9% of respondents attributing mental illness to brain disease. The others attributed it to spiritual attack, punishment for evil doing and illicit psychoactive substance use, among other things. Negative views about the mentally ill were also widely expressed resulting in discriminatory practices. CONCLUSION: Stigmatization of people with mental illness is still rampant in our community. There is a need for adequate public education about the causes and mode of transmission of mental illness and the treatment options available in the community.