Seroprevalence of cytomegalovirus Antibodies among pregnant women and it's correlation with spontaneous abortion in Khartoum state

Cytomegalovirus is a common virus that infects most people at some time during their lives. It becomes dormant for a while and may reactivate later. In pregnant women, intrauterine infection may be associated with congenital abnormalities, intrauterine growth retardation and intrauterine death of the fetus as well as late sequelae such as developmental delay, blindness and congenital deafness. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of CMV infection among women presenting with spontaneous abortion to major hospitals in Khartoum State and to find out the correlation between CMV infection and spontaneous abortion in the group under study. In this study a total of 180 spontaneously aborted females, and 80 normally delivered females [control] were included. Three mls of venous blood were collected from each subject under study in a plain container allowed to clot and after clot retraction centrifuged at 4000rpm. The sera were then separated and stored at -20c[degree] in a deep freezer. The stored sera were tested for CMV IgG and IgM antibodies using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay [BIOTECH - ENGLAND]. In the case group, 176 [97.8%] women were positive for Anti-CMV IgG and 69 [38.3%] for Anti-CMV IgM. The CMV antibodies significantly co related with increasing age [P-value = - 0.0185], the number of abortion [P-value = -0.0177] and congenital malformation in children [P value= 0.037]. Seroprevalence of CMV antibodies was found to be 97.8% and 38.3% for IgG and IgM respectively. There was significant association between CMV infection and frequency of abortion, age and congenital malformation in children

Assessment of the immunization status of individuals vaccinated by hepatitis B virus vaccine in Khartoum state

Hepatitis B virus [HBV] is widely distributed all over the world. Quite a large number of the population worldwide is exposed to the virus. It is estimated that 378 million are chronically infected and at risk of developing serious complications like liver cirrhosis and hepatocelluar carcinoma leading to death. Fortunately, an effective vaccine has been introduced to prevent infection with the virus. The rate of infection by HBV has been effectively reduced by universal vaccination with that vaccine. Post-vaccination concentration of vaccine induced neutralizing antibodies against HBsAg above 10 mlU is considered protective against the virus. To assess the state of immunization of Sudanese individuals previously vaccinated by HBV vaccine in Khartoum State. A total of 90 individuals previously vaccinated with HBV vaccine and 70 unvaccinated persons [control] had their blood tested anti-HBsAg. Specimens negative for anti-HBs Ag were further tested for total [IgM and IgG] anti-HBcAg and HBsAg by ELISA. Specimens positive for total anti-HBcAg were iurther tested for IgM anti-HBcAg. The majority 76 [88.4%] of the vaccinated subjects and 4.28% of the control were found to be positive for anti-HBsAg. Out of the 76 subjects with positive antibody response; 68.4% showed good antibody response [protected against the virus]. The remaining [31.6%] showed low antibody response and are therefore at risk of infection. In general 42.2% of the vaccinated subjects and all the control group revealed low or no antibody response and are at risk of infection. The results of this study showed statistically significant difference in the antibody response between those who received three vaccine doses [72.7%] and one dose [18.8%] with P value < 0.05. Two [2.22%] of the vaccinated subjects have developed HBV infection, compared to four [5.71%] of the control group. Antibody response to HBV vaccine was found 88.4% of the vaccinated subjects, however, considerable number of the vaccinated subjects revealed low or no antibody response. Individuals, who received three doses of the vaccine, had statistically significant antibody response than those who received only one dose

Use of cowpea and pigeon pea as nutritional ingredients in culture media

Dehydrated commercial culture media are hygroscopic and expensive. Cheap, locally available plant seeds such as cowpea [Vigna unguiculata] and pigeon pea [Cajanus cajan] could be used in the design and formulation of microbial culture media in order to reduce the cost. To make use of locally cheap seeds as a basic nutrient medium for the isolation of different microorganisms. Solid culture media from locally available plants were designed to include three types, [i] simple; [ii] enriched with the addition of human blood; [iii] differential with lactose and phenol red as a pH indicator, and formulated to contain cowpea and pigeon pea flours in combination in a concentrations of 2%. The name DANIEL and SHAMSOUN [D and S] was used for the designed media. Twenty bacterial species and Candida albicans were inoculated for the observation of the growth response. On D and S simple medium all the organisms grew typically except, Corynebacterium diphtheriae which did not grow and Streptococcus pyogenes and Neisseria meningitidis which revealed atypical colonies. On D and S human blood agar medium, all the organisms grew typically, but the beta- hemolysis of some of the [3-haemolytic species was not detected and some species revealed green pigmented colonies and green pigmentation on the medium. On D and S differential medium, all lactose-fermenting species revealed typical, yellow colonies and all non-lactose-fermenting species revealed typical, pink-red colonies, except, Vibrio cholerae, Bacillus cereus and Candida albicans which revealed typical, yellow colonies. The flours of cowpea and pigeon pea are good sources of protein, carbohydrates and minerals, so they can be used in the preparation of different types of culture media for the isolation of different species of bacteria and Candida albicans as shown in this study

Bacterial vaginosis

Among the causes of vaginal discharge, bacterial vaginosis [BV] is the commonest in most communities, with variation in the prevalence from one place to another and according to the method used and the group of patients studied. Evidences are available that, the disease is associated with preterm labour, pre mature rupture of the membranes, post-induced abortion pelvic inflammatory disease, post-hysterectomy vaginal cuff cellulitis and plasma cell endometeritis1-4. Moreover in pregnant women bacterial vaginosis may be associated with amniotic fluid infection and post-partum endometeritis4. In Sudan, the disease was first reported in 2000 by Kafi and his co-workers who found bacterial vaginosis to be the commonest cause of vaginal discharge [17.2%] in a suburban Sudanese community. It's occurrence rate was almost equal to that of trichomonasis and gonorrhea [collectively] 5. Despite these facts to date, bacterial vagionosis is almost neglected as a cause of vaginal discharge, evidenced by lack of practical advices to the laboratory personnel on how to diagnose it. Moreover, no clinical attention is paid to the disease and its possible clinical outcome. The aim of this article is to throw light on this important subject particularly history, epidemiology, clinical features, diagnosis and management. It is hoped that, this will draw the attention of the gynecologists and laboratory personnel to this subject

Screening the efficacy of some traditional herbal drugs for treatment of hymenolepis diminuta infection in rats

Hymenolepis nana [human infecting tapeworm] and H. diminuta [rodent infecting tapeworm] are currently incriminated to be the cause of non-specific bowel disturbances. They are in most instances resistant to the available anticestodal compounds due to misuse of drugs and probably adaptation of the parasites to the commercially available drugs Our objective is to study the toxicity and curative efficacy of different medicinal plants that are candidate for the treatment of tapeworm infections in man. Four medicinal plants were tested for their ability to treat Hymenolepis diminuta tapeworm infection in rats. These plants are Amaranthus viridis, Cucurbita maxima, Hagenia abyssinica and Balanites aegyptiaca. Selection of these plants was based on ethnobotanical information. The evaluation of the efficiency of these medicinal plants was based on the controlled test design, modified from Moskey and Harwood10: Following pre-infection screening, and life cycle establishment rats were grouped to six experimental groups for each plant. Stool specimens were collected from all groups, the mean of eggs counts per gram of faeces were counted. The reduction percentage of eggs per gram [EPG] was calculated and time to clear eggs was compared with that of Niclosamide. Niclosamide drug was used in this study as a control treatment14. There were no signs of toxic effect on the rats due to administration of any of the tested medicinal plants. Amaranthus viridis leavs exhibited a very weak efficacy. It did not reduce eggs in either water or food significantly as compared to the untreated control group [p>0.05]. The deparasitization activity of this plant [35%] was not significant. Similarly, Balanites aegyptiaca seeds were not effective in treatment of the infection in rats. Egg counts and deparasitization in food and water, were not significantly [p>0.05] different from those of the untreated control group. On the other hand, Cucurbita maxima and Hagenia abyssinica seeds were very effective in the treatment of Hymenolepis diminuta infection in rats. Egg reduction [100%] was highly significant [p<0.01] in food and water as compared to that of the untreated control group of rats [zero%]. C. maxima seeds in food deparasitized 80% of the worms, while Hagenia abyssinica deparasitized 100%. Our conclusion was that Hagenia abyssinica was the most active plant of this group in the treatment of Hymenolepis diminuta infection in rats

Diarrhea due to Cryptosporidium parvum in immunocompromised and immunocompetent patients in Khartoum State

The objective of this study is to search for Cryptosporidium parvum in Sudanese immunocompromised and immunocompetent patients presenting with diarrhea. Two hundred and thirteen stool specimens were collected from different groups of patients presenting with diarrhea and healthy control [immunocompromised: 78; immunocompetent: 90; Control: 45]. The immunocompromised group included 25 HIV positive patients, 27 tuberculosis patients, 11 patients with renal failure and 15 patients receiving immunosuppressive chemotherapy. Antigen ELISA was performed to detect the presence of the parasite in stool. Positive specimens were examined by the modified ZN stain to look for the oocyst of C.parvum. Seventy one of the immunocompromised patients [91.0%], twenty nine of immunocompetent patients [32.2%] and ten of the control group [22.2%] were found to be positive for C.parvum. A significant difference was noticed between the immunocompromised patients and the other groups [P<0.05]. Among the immunocompromised patients, the highest percentage of positive results [96.1%] was in the HIV patients. The percentage of positive results within the tuberculosis, renal failure and immunosuppressive patients were 92.6%, 83.3% and 86.6% respectively. The significant detection of C. parvum among the different groups of immunocompromised should raise the awareness of the clinicians towards this parasite as an important cause of diarrhea in such groups of patients