ABSTRACT
The 2014 Ebola Virus disease outbreak and the COVID-19 pandemic are prominent among the viral infectious diseases that threatened our existence in the last decade. We did a retrospective review of Nigeria's responses during the two crises using different keywords: pathogenicity, risk communication, data gathering, and vaccine issues. These served as discussion points, and we ended by highlighting a few salient observations that should serve as reflection, learning points, and recommendations for better responses in the future. Based on these keywords, we noticed some differences in the two outbreaks, some of which affected the mode of response. At some point, Nigeria was commended for curtailing the Ebola outbreak. This was not the same with COVID-19 which is still very much with us. Also, the latter received more global attention. We then concluded the review by outlining salient points that should serve as reflection and learning points to serve as a guide for a better approach in future epidemics/disaster outbreaks.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Odontogenic infections constitute a substantial portion of diseases encountered by oral and maxillofacial surgeons. Infections start from dental tissues and sometimes rapidly spread to contiguous spaces. The consequence is a fulminant disease with significant morbidity and mortality. The study was aimed at studying the pattern of spread, approach to management, and outcome of these infections at a Nigerian teaching hospital. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective study of all patients with orofacial infections who presented to our center over an 18-month period was carried out. The medical records were reviewed to retrieve the following: age, gender, source of infection, anatomic fascial spaces involved, associated medical conditions, various treatment modalities, types of antibiotics administered, causative micro-organisms, length of stay in the hospital, and any complications encountered. Infections were classified into 2 categories: those that are confined to the dentoalveolar tissues belong to category I, and those that have spread into the local/regional soft tissue spaces and beyond belong to category II. RESULTS: Odontogenic infections constituted 11.3% of the total oral and maxillofacial surgery cases. A total of 261 patients were treated for odontogenic infections. There were 146 female patients (59.8%) and 98 male patients (40.2%) in the first category, whereas the second category comprised 10 male patients (58.8%) and 7 female patients (41.2%). The fascial spaces involved, in descending order, were submasseteric in 10 (22.7%), submandibular in 9 (20.5%), and sublingual in 6 (13.6%). The causative micro-organisms commonly found were Klebsiella and Streptococcus spp. Incision and drainage were performed in the 17 cases with spreading infection. Amoxicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanate, and metronidazole were the most routinely administered antibiotics. CONCLUSIONS: Our experience shows that delay in presentation, self-medication, aging, male gender, and unusual causative agents are some of the factors associated with spread. Therefore efforts must be made to further improve public dental awareness.
