Prevalence of rotavirus among children under five years of age with diarrhea in Kaduna State, Nigeria

Rotavirus (RV) is a major etiological agent of acute infantile gastroenteritis and is associated with 20%-25% of diarrhea cases in infants. Nigeria continues to be among the first five countries with greatest number of RV disease associated deaths per year. The objective was to determine some demographic factors that might be associated with rotavirus diarrhea among children in Kaduna State. From September 2013-August 2014, 401 diarrheic stool samples were collected from children under 5 years of age in Kaduna State, Nigeria and analyzed for RV antigen using ELISA. An overall RV prevalence of 32.2% (129/401) was obtained with the infection occurring throughout the study period. The infection was higher in males (33.0%:63/111) compared to females (31.4%:66/210). The highest burden was detected in children 25 -36 months of age (37.3%:22/59). Highest prevalence was detected in children whose parents had primary education (35.8%:19/53) and those whose parents were civil servants (35.6%:36/101). There was no statistically significant association between breast feeding and RV infection (P> 0.05). The study has revealed that rotavirus remains an important cause of acute diarrhea in children under five years in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Hence the need to introduce the vaccines into the childhood immunization program in the country

Antimicrobial suseptibility of neisserria gonorrhoeae isolated from patients attending various clinics in Pambeguwa, Kaduna State

Abstract: Antimicrobial resistant strains of gonococcal isolates have spread in many developing countries. In most African countries, the susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae is rarely tested. The antimicrobial susceptibility of one hundred and eight (108) Neisseria gonorrhoeae was therefore determined. Of the 108 isolates tested, 80 (74.07%) were resistant to penicillin, 74 (68.5%) were resistant to ampicillin. The resistance profiles for the remaining antibiotics tested were as follows: Erythromycin (58.3%), Tetracycline (62%) and gentamicin (25.9%). All the isolates were susceptible to ceftriaxone, cefuroxime and ofloxacin. Of the 80 penicillin resistant strains, 65 (81.3%) were penicillinase producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae (PPNG). The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of Penicillin against 9 gonococcal isolates, Ampicillin against 5 Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates and Tetracycline against 2 gonococcal isolates was 32.0µg/ml. A total of 108 isolates were susceptible to 0.125µg/ml of ceftriaxone, cefuroxime and ofloxacin respectively. The high prevalence of PPNG and multiple drug resistance strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae is associated with self-medication and sexual interaction between commercial sex workers (CSWs) resident in Pambeguwa and the long-distance truck drivers. Antimicrobial susceptibility test should be carried out on every gonococcal isolate obtained to ensure effective therapy. The present study was undertaken to assess the antimicrobial susceptibility of gonococcal isolates recovered from patients in Pambeguwa,Kaduna state, Nigeria