Co-infection of Parvovirus B19 and Plasmodium falciparum among Sickle Cell Disease Patients in Benin City, Nigeria

Background: Infections by parasites, bacteria, viruses such as human parvovirus B19 amongst others, have been widely reported as contributing to high prevalence of anaemia in many populations. This study was conducted to determine the co-infection of Plasmodium falciparum and human parvovirus B19 among sickle cell disease (SCD) patients in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. Methodology: A total of 400 participants consisting 300 SCD patients (134 males, 166 females) and 100 (38 males, 62 females) apparently healthy subjects with haemoglobin AA (which served as control) who were contacted in homes, schools and offices, were enrolled for the study. The age of the participants ranged from 1 to 54 years. Venous blood was collected for detection of P. falciparum using Giemsa stain while parvovirus B19 was detected with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Full blood count was estimated using Sysmex KX-21N haematology auto-analyzer. Results: An overall prevalence of parvovirus B19 and P. falciparum co-infection observed among SCD patients in this study was 3.0% while single infection was 14.0% for P. falciparum and 26.7% for parvovirus B19. Religion was associated with 0 to 22 fold increased risk of acquiring co-infection of P. falciparum and parvovirus B19. Gender was significantly associated with P. falciparum infection (p=0.0291) while tribal extraction, platelet index and seasonal variation were significantly associated with single parvovirus B19 or co-infection of P. falciparum and parvovirus B19 (p<0.05). Conclusion: The provision of strict regulatory policy concerning the screening of whole blood or pooled plasma before the use of blood products and transfusion of SCD patients is advocated

Seroprevalence of Salmonella Agglutinins among Apparently Healthy Students of a Tertiary Institution in North-Eastern Nigeria

Aim: To determine the level of Salmonella agglutinin and its titre among apparently healthy students of Tertiary Institution in North-eastern Nigeria. Study Design: A cross-sectional study on Seroprevalence of Salmonella agglutinin; Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Biological Science Technology, Federal Polytechnic Mubi, Adamawa State, between September to December, 2016. Methodology: This study was a cross-sectional study in which 200 apparently healthy students of Federal Polytechnic Mubi were tested for Salmonella agglutinin using both slide and tube agglutination methods. Statistical Analysis: Non-parametric Mann-Whitney statistics and least significance difference (LSD) were used to test for significant difference in all the data obtained. Significance difference was taken when P?0.05. Results: The result showed that the number of male with positive Widal agglutinin was significantly higher than that of female (P=0.028). The number of positive titre was significantly higher in age group 21-25 years (P=0.002) when compared to other age brackets. However, there was no statistical difference between the age bracket 16-20 years and 31-35 years (P=0.747). The result of the agglutination titre showed that more male had Salmonella titre for Salmonella Typhi O (81.8%) and Salmonella Typhi H (72.7%) while more female had Salmonella agglutinin titre for Salmonella Typhi H (44.4%) and Salmonella Paratyphi B-H (33.3%). It was also observed that only agglutinin for Salmonella Paratyphi A-O, B-O, C-O, B-H and C-H were present in the sera of male subjects up to the titre of 160 and at frequencies ranging from 1.6-58.8%. Furthermore, among females, it was observed that only agglutinins for Salmonella Paratyphi A-O, Salmonella Typhi C-H and Salmonella Typhi O and H were present in the sera of the subjects up to the titre of 160 and at frequencies ranging from 2.5-25.0%. Conclusion: Detecting Salmonella agglutinin titre up to 160 among apparently healthy individuals is of public health significance. Thus, there is need to monitor this trend and create awareness on environmental and behavioural risk factors for Salmonella infections.

Effects of HIV-1 and HIV-1/2 coinfection on patients with asymptomatic urinary tract infection attending HIV clinics in Benin City, Nigeria

Conflicting reports exist on the effect of HIV types on disease progression and relation to opportunistic infections. This study aims to determine the effect of HIV types on the prevalence and aetiologic agents of urinary tract infection (UTI). A total of 485 subjects consisting of 335 HIV patients and 150 non-HIV subjects without symptoms of UTI were recruited for this study. The HIV patients comprised of 251 on HAART and 84 HAART-naive patients. Blood and urine specimens were collected from all subjects. The blood specimens were used to determine HIV type and CD4 count while significant microbial isolates were recovered from the urine specimens and identified using standard techniques. Only HIV patients on HAART had significantly higher prevalence of asymptomatic UTI compared with non-HIV subjects (p=0.0234). However, comparing the prevalence of asymptomatic UTI of the various HIV types with that of non-HIV subjects, the results showed only HIV-1 to be significantly associated with asymptomatic UTI (p<0.05). CD4 count <200 cells/?L was not associated with UTI. Generally, Staphylococcus aureus was the most common aetiologic agent of UTI. Among HIV patients (both HAART-naive and those on HAART) with HIV-1, Staphylococcus aureus was the most common cause of UTI, while among those with HIV-1/2 dual infection, Escherichia coli predominated. HIV types have an effect on the prevalence and aetiologic agents of asymptomatic UTI