Diagnostic and prognostic value of c-MYC gene expression in hematological malignancies.

Introduction: c-MYC plays vital role in regulation of cell proliferation and has been associated with tumorigenesis. This study is aimed at assessing diagnostic and prognostic value of plasma c-MYC expression to aid in early diagnosis and prognosis of hematological malignancies. Methods: Plasma c-MYC expression was determined by quantitative real time PCR using EVA Green chemistry and cluster of differentiation markers performed via immunocytochemistry. Result: Plasma c-MYC was higher in subject with hematological malignancies (8.8 ± 1.1) when compared with apparently healthy controls (4.5 ± 0.5). A screening cut-off c-MYC ratio value of 9.42 with sensitivity and specificity of 65.5% and 100% respectively were obtained using receiver operator characteristic curve analysis. Plasma c-MYC was found to have no prognostic value using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Conclusion: Plasma c-MYC ratio showed promising screening/diagnostic value for hematological malignancies.

Comparative analysis of hematological parameters of first-time and repeat blood donors: Experience of a blood bank in southern Nigeria

ABSTRACT Introduction: The safety of a blood transfusion practice is anchored on safe blood from a healthy donor, while further protecting the donor from future harm. This study aimed to evaluate the hematological parameters of blood donors in view of their donor category to aid in assessing the safety threshold in terms of donation frequency. Methods: This study made use of the descriptive cross-sectional design. The blood donors were bled and their samples analyzed using a hematology autoanalyzer. Results: A total of 178 male blood donors were recruited. Most of the donors were aged 18 to 39 years and were mostly students. A greater part of them were repeat donors who had donated blood more than four times. First- and second-time donors constituted the majority of the voluntary donors. While the total red cell count was significantly lower in repeat third-time donors, the hemoglobin and hematocrit of the first-time donors were significantly higher than those of the repeat fourth-time donors. The mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) of the first-time donors were significantly higher than those of the repeat fifth-time donors. The red cell distribution width (RDW) and mean platelet volume (MPV) were significantly lower in the first-time donors from those of the sixth- and seventh-time donors, respectively. Most of the fifth-time donors have subclinical anemia. There was more subclinical anemia in commercial donors than in voluntary donors. Conclusion: Repeat donors more than fifth-time donors are at risk of donation-induced iron deficiency anemia.

Assessment of knowledge, perception, preventive practices and effects of COVID-19 among Nigerians: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a disease of global public health concern. The current cumulative cases in Nigeria are high. The effective control of the pandemic is dependent on knowledge, attitude and willingness of people to adapt their life to the new reality. The purpose of this study is to determine the knowledge, perception, preventive practice, and effect of COVID-19 on the respondents. Methods: we conducted a cross sectional, online survey-based study (Google form) from May 25th, 2020 to June 25th, 2020. The survey questionnaire consisted of demographic characteristics, 13 items on knowledge, 6 items on preventive practices, 13 items on perception. Descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA and bivariate logistic regression were carried out. Results: the correct overall knowledge was 98.03% with average score of 11.7 ± 1.0 (9-13). Knowledge scores were comparable in all demographics except marital status. Most of the participants practiced preventive procedures such as wearing face mask (95.1%), use of alcohol based hand sanitizer (78.9%), avoidance of worship centers (62.4%) and regular hand washing. There were several perceptions ranging from rumors to unfounded scientific claims. Gender, level of education, monthly income and Christian denomination were predictors of use of hand sanitizer while age, level of education, monthly income, Christian denomination and region were predictors of attendance of worship centers during lockdown. Conclusion: the results of this study suggest government should gain trust of citizens to translate knowledge to practice and full compliance of regulations.

Comparative analysis of hematological parameters of first-time and repeat blood donors: Experience of a blood bank in southern Nigeria.

INTRODUCTION: The safety of a blood transfusion practice is anchored on safe blood from a healthy donor, while further protecting the donor from future harm. This study aimed to evaluate the hematological parameters of blood donors in view of their donor category to aid in assessing the safety threshold in terms of donation frequency. METHODS: This study made use of the descriptive cross-sectional design. The blood donors were bled and their samples analyzed using a hematology autoanalyzer. RESULTS: A total of 178 male blood donors were recruited. Most of the donors were aged 18 to 39 years and were mostly students. A greater part of them were repeat donors who had donated blood more than four times. First- and second-time donors constituted the majority of the voluntary donors. While the total red cell count was significantly lower in repeat third-time donors, the hemoglobin and hematocrit of the first-time donors were significantly higher than those of the repeat fourth-time donors. The mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) of the first-time donors were significantly higher than those of the repeat fifth-time donors. The red cell distribution width (RDW) and mean platelet volume (MPV) were significantly lower in the first-time donors from those of the sixth- and seventh-time donors, respectively. Most of the fifth-time donors have subclinical anemia. There was more subclinical anemia in commercial donors than in voluntary donors. CONCLUSION: Repeat donors more than fifth-time donors are at risk of donation-induced iron deficiency anemia.

COVID-19 in Nigeria: account of epidemiological events, response, management, preventions and lessons learned.

INTRODUCTION: After the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, a hand full of cases and deaths have been recorded globally, Nigeria inclusive. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of the COVID-19 weekly disease update report by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) covering February 29, 2020 (Week 9) and March 28, 2021 (Week 12) was adopted for this study. Data were curated from the NCDC database. RESULTS: As of March 28, 2021, Nigeria is the 5th most affected African country and the 77th most affected country globally with 162,593 COVID-19 cases and 2,048 COVID-19 related deaths. COVID-19 has been reported in all 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory. However, Lagos has remained the epicenter of the pandemic accounting for 35.4% of the pandemic in Nigeria while Kogi State is the least affected State (0.003%). The trend showed male predilection while the age bracket 35-39 years was the most affected. The attack rate was found to be 78.8 per 100,000 of the population while the cumulative death per 100,000 of the population was found to be 1.0. The case fatality rate was found to be 1.30. Approximately 1,778,105 COVID-19 tests have been performed while 923,623 doses of vaccine have been administered. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 has been reported in all states in Nigeria as well as the Federal Capital Territory with many of the cases involving males. The case trend showed a bimodal form indicating a second wave occurrence. Nigeria government has initiated some combative measures as well as vaccine initiation.

Coping with COVID-19 pandemic in blood transfusion services in West Africa: the need to restrategize

ABSTRACT Introduction The West African region has been lagging in terms of the availability of, and accessibility to, safe blood. According to the 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) Global Status Report on Blood Safety and Availability, none of the West African countries met the WHO benchmark of 10 blood units per 1000 inhabitants. This study is aimed at discussing the blood transfusion status of West African countries in the pre-COVID-19 period and analyze the capacity to respond to the COVID-19 blood crisis, as well as to outline the panacea. Methods Secondary data were extracted from published reports, journal articles and web pages, reviewed and analyzed. Result All the West African countries have recorded confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths. The confirmed cases have reached 55,697, with 1069 deaths and a fatality rate of 1.9%, as of June 17, 2020. The assessed countries lagged in most of the WHO benchmarks for effective blood transfusion services. Conclusion Blood transfusion services in the West African region lacked the basic benchmark practice and policy, are not coordinated and may find it hard to tackle the blood transfusion crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coping with COVID-19 pandemic in blood transfusion services in West Africa: the need to restrategize.

INTRODUCTION: The West African region has been lagging in terms of the availability of, and accessibility to, safe blood. According to the 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) Global Status Report on Blood Safety and Availability, none of the West African countries met the WHO benchmark of 10 blood units per 1000 inhabitants. This study is aimed at discussing the blood transfusion status of West African countries in the pre-COVID-19 period and analyze the capacity to respond to the COVID-19 blood crisis, as well as to outline the panacea. METHODS: Secondary data were extracted from published reports, journal articles and web pages, reviewed and analyzed. RESULT: All the West African countries have recorded confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths. The confirmed cases have reached 55,697, with 1069 deaths and a fatality rate of 1.9%, as of June 17, 2020. The assessed countries lagged in most of the WHO benchmarks for effective blood transfusion services. CONCLUSION: Blood transfusion services in the West African region lacked the basic benchmark practice and policy, are not coordinated and may find it hard to tackle the blood transfusion crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 in WHO African Region: Account and Correlation of Epidemiological Indices with Some Selected Health-related Metrics.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious and pathogenic viral disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Since it was first reported in Wuhan, China, it has spread across the continents. The study is aimed at describing epidemiological indices of COVID-19 as reported by the World Health Organization and to examine correlations with some country specific measures of general health status. Methods: Data from the WHO African region were extracted from World Health Organization, Global Health Security Index, Worldometer and World Bank databases, as at September 8, 2020. Other epidemiological indices were computed for the various countries. Epidemiological indices of COVID-19 were correlated with some selected health related metrics: Global Health Security index (GHSI) and current health expenditure (CHE). Pearson correlation was used to access the relationship between the health-related metrics and epidemiological indices. Results: Forty-seven (47) countries belonging to the WHO African region were evaluated. A total of 1,086,499 confirmed cases and 23,213 deaths were recorded giving a fatality rate of 2.1%. South Africa recorded the highest cumulative confirmed cases as well as deaths (Cases: 639,362; Deaths: 15,004) while Seychelles (Cases:135) and Eritrea/Seychelles (Deaths:0) had the least cumulative cases and deaths (135;0 and 330;0), respectively. South Africa recorded the highest attack rate (1127.67/100,000) while Republic of Tanzania recorded the least attack rate (0.78/100,000). The highest case fatality rate/ratio was observed in Chad (7.60%) while the least value was observed in Seychelles (0.0%). France was the most common country involved in travel history of index cases. Sporadic transmission was recorded in 3 countries, 9 countries had cluster of cases while the rest had community transmission. The first WHO African region country to record COVID-19 case was Algeria, while Comoros was the last. Significant positive correlation was found between COVID-19 case number/deaths and Global Health Security Index. Conclusion: The WHO African region has had its own share of the pandemic with all the countries being affected. The trio of cluster cases, sporadic and community transmission were recorded with majority being community transmission.