Commercial motorcycle operators pose high risk for community transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in South-South Nigeria.

COVID-19 has become a threat to the existence of man as no method of effective treatment has been found. Although the WHO has given guidelines that include social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19, it cannot be practiced in a commercial motorcycle operation, which is a major source of income and means of transportation in Nigeria. We examined the COVID-19 knowledge, awareness, and preventive practices among commercial motorcycle operators (CMOs) and the potentials for community transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the South-South region of Nigeria. Data used was collected from a cross-sectional survey of 777 CMOs operating in the South-South region of Nigeria. The instrument captured information on their biodata, knowledge, awareness, and preventive practices of COVID-19. The data obtained were subjected to both descriptive and inferential statistics using SAS JMP Statistical Discovery™ software version 14.3 (SAS Institute, Cary, North Carolina, USA). The majority of the CMOs were of age category 26-35 years (36.4%), married (82.1%), under a monogamous union (83.8%), had 3-4 children (43.4%) and resided in rural areas (60.8%). The mean years of experience of the CMOs was 4.9 ± 2.45 years with most depending on daily income of N1,000-2,000 (87.6%). All the CMOs were aware of the existence of COVID-19, but 93.3% of them did not believe it existed in their state. Only 37.8% of them put on facemasks while on duty, although they were aware that they could be infected or infect others in the community. Prevention practices among CMOs were significantly predicted by age category, type of family, number of dependents, and place of residence. We conclude that CMOs have high potentials for transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the communities because the business does not permit social distancing. It is recommended that guidelines requiring mandatory screening of operators and riders be implemented.

Commercial Sex Work During Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) Era in the Niger Delta Region: Relationships Between Knowledge, Preventive Practice, and Transmission Potential.

BACKGROUND: Sex workers, like others, are facing economic hardships and anxiety about their health and safety due to coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), an infectious disease caused by a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Universally, most sex work has largely reduced, moved online, or undertaken covertly because of lockdown measures and need for social distancing to break the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. However, the ability of sex workers to protect themselves against COVID-19 depends on their individual and interpersonal behaviors and work environment. In this study, we sought to determine the relationships between COVID-19 knowledge, awareness and prevention practice (KAP) among female commercial sex workers (FCSW) in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria to inform the development of prevention interventions for this vulnerable population. METHODS: Data used in this study were obtained from a cross-sectional survey of 604 FCSW operating in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. We used descriptive and inferential statistics to assess their socio-demographic characteristics and COVID-19 KAP adopted against the novel coronavirus. Latent class analysis was used to systematically classify participants' attributes and behaviors into the most likely distinct clusters or risk groups. RESULTS: The majority of the FCSW were singles (86.8%) of childbearing ages, 21-35 years (86.2%), with almost three quarters (73.2%) of them having sex with 3-4 clients per day during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, almost three quarters of the participants had both good knowledge and awareness about COVID-19 but less than half of them (41.1%) implemented good practice to prevent the spread of the disease. However, a highly significant and positive relationship was recorded between COVID-19 knowledge (r=0.90, p<0.0001) and awareness (r=0.65, p<0.0001), and preventive practice of FCSW, respectively. About 89.1% of the participants were not very familiar with the symptoms of COVID-19 (p<0.0001). Only 10.9% of the FCSW indicated that they wear facemask at all times, while 45.2% of them do not wear facemask during sexual intercourse with their clients (p<0.0001). Based on the FCSW attributes and behaviors, we identified three distinct clusters or risk groups (p<0.0001), namely, low-risk takers (Cluster 1), high-risk takers (Cluster 2) and very high-risk takers (Cluster 3) with latent class prevalence rates (γc) of 41.13% (95% CI: 37.26-45.10), 33.17% (95% CI: 29.53-37.02) and 25.71% (95% CI: 22.38-29.34), respectively. CONCLUSION: Sex work has high transmission potentials for SARS-CoV-2 because of its operational nature, which does not permit social distancing, and thus, renders certain preventive measures practically ineffective. This is a major challenge in the fight against COVID-19 in this high-risk group and calls for the development of operational guidelines and targeted intervention strategies to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the Niger Delta region.

PREVALENCE OF HUMAN PARVOVIRUS B19 IgG AND IgM ANTIBODIES AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN ATTENDING ANTENATAL CLINIC AT FEDERAL TEACHING HOSPITAL IDO-EKITI, NIGERIA.

BACKGROUND: Human Parvovirus B19 (B19V) is a DNA virus, transmitted through respiratory secretions, hand-to-mouth-contact, blood transfusion and trans-placental transfer. It causes high mortality and morbidity in pregnant women, thus contributing to poor maternal and child health. B19V has been neglected due to dearth of epidemiological data. The aim of this study was to determine the sero-prevalence of Human Parvovirus B19 antibodies among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at Federal Teaching Hospital Ido-Ekiti, Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study enrolled pregnant women attending Federal Teaching Hospital Ido-Ekiti from January to May 2019 to obtain sero-epidemiological data. One hundred and twenty-two (122) consenting pregnant women were enrolled following institutional ethical approval. They were administered structured questionnaire and venous blood was collected in plain tubes for serum extraction. Sera samples were analyzed for IgG and IgM antibodies using the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay method. Percentages, median, chi-square and multivariate analysis were carried out using SPSS version 17. RESULTS: The prevalence of IgG was 44.3% (54/122), IgM 41.8% (51/122), and IgG/IgM 28.7% (35/122) leaving 55.7% (68/122) of the population uninfected. The median age of participants was 22 (Interquartile range 18-25) years among which 36-45years had the highest prevalence which was not statistically significant (p=0.09 X 2 =4.75). There was association between miscarriage, still birth, history of blood transfusion and prevalence of Human Parvovirus B19 (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: There is a high Prevalence of B19V among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in this study. This underscores the need for testing and immunization of pregnant women against B19V.

Attitude towards Zika among frontline physicians in a dengue-endemic country: A preliminary cross-sectional study in Indonesia.

In dengue-endemic countries such as Indonesia, Zika may be misdiagnosed as dengue, leading to underestimates of Zika disease and less foreknowledge of pregnancy-related complications such as microcephaly. OBJECTIVE: To assess the attitudes of frontline physicians in a dengue-endemic country toward testing for Zika infection among patients with dengue-like illnesses. METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among general practitioners (GPs) in Indonesia. The survey assessed their attitude and also collected sociodemographic data, characteristics of their medical education, professional background, and workplace, and exposure to Zika cases. A two-step logistic regression analysis was used to assess possible variables associated with these attitudes. RESULTS: A total of 370 GPs were included in the final analysis of which 70.8% had good attitude. Unadjusted analyses suggested that GPs who were 30 years old or older and those who had medical experience five years or longer had lower odds of having a positive attitude compared to those who aged younger than 30 years and those who had medical experience less than five years, OR: 0.58; 95%CI: 0.37, 0.91 and OR: 0.55; 95%CI: 0.35, 0.86, respectively. No explanatory variable was associated with attitude in the fully adjusted model. CONCLUSION: Our findings point to younger GPs with a shorter medical experience being more likely to consider testing for Zika infection among their patients presenting with dengue-like illnesses. Strategic initiatives may be needed to enhance older or longer-experienced physicians' capacity in diagnosing Zika infection.

Cardiovascular risk factors among staff of a private university in South-west Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Globally, the death rate arising from the cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) is high. This study assessed the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors (CRFs) among staff of the Babcock University. METHODS: This was a descriptive and cross-sectional study. Weight, height, waist circumference and blood pressure measurements were taken. Venous blood was collected for glucose and lipid profile analysis after an overnight fast. The prevalence of smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidaemia, general and abdominal obesity were determined. RESULTS: A total of 140 participants were recruited into the study. The average age of the participants was 41.7 ± 9.4 years. The male: female ratio was 1:0.8. About 24% of the participants had no CRF, but 24.3%, 27.1%, 16.4% and 10% had 1, 2, 3 and 4 CRFs, respectively. Majority had abdominal obesity (48.6%) and dyslipidaemia (47.1%). The prevalence of hypertension, obesity and smoking was 32.9%, 31.4% and 11.4%, respectively. None of the participants had diabetes mellitus. More males smoked cigarette (20% vs. 0%) and had hypertension (50% vs. 10%) than that of females (P < 0.001), but a higher proportion of females (63.3% vs. 37.5%) had abdominal obesity (P = 0.002). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of CRFs among the apparently healthy staff of the Babcock University was high. Urgent measures are needed to prevent the development of CVD in this population.

Leptin: Adiponectin ratio discriminated the risk of metabolic syndrome better than adiponectin and leptin in Southwest Nigeria.

AIM: To assess the ability of leptin, adiponectin and leptin: adiponectin ratio (LAR) to discriminate apparently healthy subjects with metabolic syndrome in Southwest Nigeria. METHODS: One hundred and twenty three subjects with metabolic syndrome (cases) were age matched with 123 subjects without metabolic syndrome. The serum adiponectin and leptin levels were measured using standard procedures. The ability of serum adiponectin, leptin and LAR to discriminate metabolic syndrome and its components were determined using the receiver operating curve and linear regression. RESULTS: The median age of the cases (49 IQR 42, 56 years) was not significantly different from the controls (48 IQR 39, 56 years) p = 0.252. The adiponectin levels was reduced with increasing number of the components of metabolic syndrome from 11.6 (IQR 9.6, 13.5) among subjects without any component of metabolic syndrome to 6.5 (IQR 5.7, 7.7) in subjects with more than three components of metabolic syndrome. For leptin and LAR, the values increased with increasing components (p < 0.001). LAR (AUC 0.960) discriminated metabolic syndrome better than adiponectin (AUC 0.865) and leptin (AUC = 0.918) in males and females (LAR AUC = 0.966, adiponectin AUC = 0.888, leptin AUC = 0.929). CONCLUSION: LAR had better ability to discriminate the risk of metabolic syndrome than adiponectin and leptin alone in males and females among apparently healthy subjects from Southwest Nigeria.

Anthropometric parameter that best predict metabolic syndrome in South west Nigeria.

AIM: This study compared the ability of anthropometric parameters to predict Metabolic Syndrome (MetS). METHODS: Eleven anthropometric parameters: waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), a body shape index (ABSI), body roundness index (BRI), visceral adiposity index (VAI), abdominal volume index (AVI), Conicity Index (CI), body adiposity index (BAI), lipid accumulation product (LAP) and waist circumference-triglyceride index (WTI) were measured and calculated in apparently healthy subjects with and without MetS. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was applied to assess their ability to predict MetS. RESULTS: Of the 535 subjects recruited 23% had MetS. WC had the largest area under the curve (AUC) in both men (0.814 95% CI 0.721-0.907) and women (0.819 95%CI 0.771-0.867). This did not differ from the AUC of BMI, WHtR, BRI, CI, BAI, LAP in men and BMI, WHtR, BAI, LAP, VAI and WTI in women (P > 0.05). The cutoff point for WC was 89.5 cm and 91.8 cm in men and women respectively. The AUC of WC was the largest in the 40-49 and 60 years and above age groups while the AUC of LAP was the largest for age groups 30-39 and 50-59 years. CONCLUSION: Of the 11 anthropometric parameters assessed, the WC was the best at predicting MetS in both men and women. There is need to ascertain the cutoff point and establish landmark for measuring WC especially for the sub Saharan region.

Acute effects of aqueous leaf extract of Aspilia africana C.D. Adams on some haematological parameters in rats.

Several medicinal plants have been documented for their haematological effects either at low or high concentration but very little is known about Aspilia africana. The aim of the study was to investigate the acute effects of aqueous leaf extract of Aspilia africana at different concentrations on some haematological parameters in rats. Following 14 days of oral administration of aqueous extract of A. africana, Haematocrit (HCT), Haemoglobin concentration (HB), Mean Cell Haemoglobin Concentration (MCHC), Red Blood Cell Count (RBC Count), Total White Blood Cell Count (Total WBC Count), Absolute Neutrophils count (NEUT#), Absolute Lymphocytes count (LYM#), Absolute Eosinophils Count (EOSIN#) and Absolute Monocytes (MONO#) were evaluated in twenty (20) male Wistar albino rats. The rats weighed 174 ± 20 g, and were randomly assigned into 4 groups viz: Group 1, Control; Group 2, 250 mg/Kg/d aqueous extract; Group 3, 500 mg/Kg/d aqueous extract; and Group 4, 750 mg/Kg/d aqueous extract. HCT, HB, MCHC, RBC Count, Total WBC Count, NEUT#, LYM#, EOSIN# and MONO# were significantly increased (P<0.001) in 500 mg/Kg/d of A. africana extract (61.13 ± 1.65%, 13.5 ± 1.29 g/dl, 23.33 ± 0.0.02 g/dl, 3.68 ± 0.02 X 10(12)Cells/l, 2.33 ± 0.02 X 10(9)Cells/l, 1.32 ± 0.04 X 10(9)Cells/l, 1.43 ± 0.05 X 10(9)Cells/l, 0.47 ± 0.02 X 10(9)Cells/l and 0.47 ± 0.04 X 10(9)Cells/l, respectively) when compared to the Control (51.13 ± 0.85%, 9.56 ± 0.43 g/dl, 19.22 ± 0.19 g/dl, 2.69 ± 0.01 X 10(12)Cells/l, 1.79 ± 0.01 X 10(9)Cells/l, 0.80 ± 0.00 X 10(9)Cells/l, 0.83 ± 0.00 X 10(9)Cells/l, 0.18 ± 0.00 X 10(9)Cells/l and 0.24 ± 0.00 X 10(9)Cells/l, respectively) which received no extract at all. The 500 mg/Kg of A. africana extract proved to be the most effective, while the 750 mg/Kg proved to be the least effective in comparison with the control. The results of this study further strengthened the earlier works on the medicinal benefits of Aspilia africana and its virtue as a good pharmacological source of haematopoiesis.