ABSTRACT
The ABO and Rhesus blood group systems are very important clinical tools that are commonly used in blood transfusion and their associations with various disease conditions have been widely reported. This study investigated the distribution of these blood group systems and assessed the association of malaria infection with the ABO blood groups among children in Federal Capital Territory; Abuja. Blood specimens from deep finger pricks of 730 children aged between 0-2 years were examined for malaria parasites using Field stains method. ABO and Rhesus blood group antigens tests were also performed using standard tile protocols. Of all the children admitted into the study; 445 were sick while 285 were apparently healthy. The prevalence of malaria parasites was significantly higher (P = 0.00047) among the sick children (69.8%) than the apparently healthy children (30.2%). The most prevalent blood group was O (55.7%) and the Rhesus D antigen was positive for 98.4% of all the children. The prevalence of blood group B among the sick children was significantly lower (P = 0.00373) than the other blood group types. There is no association between malaria infection and ABO blood groups but the prevalence of higher malaria parasite density was significantly greater (P = 0.0404) in children with blood group A (7.7%). In conclusion; blood group O was the most prevalent blood group in the study and children with blood group A appeared to be more susceptible to higher level of malaria parasitemia
Subject(s)
ABO Blood-Group System , Child , Malaria , Nigeria , Plasmodium falciparumABSTRACT
Background: Nasal Staphylococcus aureus is a major source of community and hospital associated staphylococcal infections. This study determined the prevalence of nasal S. aureus isolates and investigated their antimicrobial resistance profile in healthy volunteers. Methods: Nasal specimens of healthy volunteers in Amassoma were cultured and screened for S. aureus using standard microbiological protocols and their antibiotic profile susceptibility was investigated using disc diffusion and agar dilution techniques. Results: A total of 40 (33.3) S. aureus isolates were obtained from 120 nares specimens screened. Twenty three (57.5) and 17 (42.5) of the isolates were from university students and villagers respectively. The isolates showed an overall 75resistance to ampicillin; 52.5to doxycycline; 47.5to chloramphenicol; 35to erythromycin and 32.5to cotrimoxazole; with 27.5methicillin resistant. No isolate was resistant to gentamicin while few isolates were resistant to cefuroxime (2.5); augmentin (5.0); ciprofloxacin (10.0); ofloxacin (10.0) and vancomycin (7.5). Twenty one (52.5) of all the isolates were multi-drug resistant; ten (47.6) of which were methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and only 3 (7.5) were fully susceptible to all the tested antimicrobial drugs. Conclusions: The observation calls for strategies to prevent their spread to more vulnerable populations where the consequences of their infections can be severe
Subject(s)
Drug Resistance , Health , Population , Staphylococcus aureusABSTRACT
Purpose: An investigation of the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from healthy women to ten commonly used antimicrobial drugs was carried out as a basis for a guide for empirical antimicrobial treatment using urine samples. Method: The samples collected from healthy women volunteers in Zaria were cultured and screened for S. aureus using standard microbiological procedures. The antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates was investigated using disc diffusion technique. Result: A total of 54(36) S. aureus isolates were isolated from 150 urine samples collected. Of the 54 isolates; 16 (29.6); 15 (27.8) and 23 (42.6) were from married but not pregnant; pregnant and single women respectively. The isolates were highly susceptible to ciprofloxacin; gentamicin; ofloxacin; sparfloxacin and pefloxacin in both groups (married and single). The differences observed in all the antimicrobial drugs tested for both groups were not statistically significant (p0.05). A total of 34 (63) of the isolates showed multi-drug resistance and only 6 (11) were susceptible to all the antimicrobial drugs tested. Conclusion: This observation calls for measures to reduce the reservoir of antimicrobial resistant organisms in healthy populations