Prevalence and route of transmission of undiagnosed human immunodeficiency virus infection among children using provider-initiated testing and counselling strategy in Ido-Ekiti, Nigeria: a cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: Ninety-one percent of global Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection in children occurs in sub-Saharan Africa. Provider Initiated Testing and Counselling (PITC) Strategy is a means of reducing missed opportunities for HIV exposed or infected children. The present study determined the prevalence of HIV infection using PITC Strategy among children seen at the Paediatric Emergency Unit of Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ido-Ekiti, and the possible route of transmission. METHODS: Cross-sectional study on prevalence of HIV infection using PITC model. 530 new patients whose HIV serostatus were unknown and aged 15 years or below were recruited consecutively and offered HIV testing. Serial algorithm testing for HIV infection using Determine HIV-1/2 and Uni-Gold rapid test kits was adopted. Seropositive patients younger than eighteen months had HIV Deoxyribonucleic Acid Polymerase Chain Reaction (HIV DNA PCR) test for confirmation. RESULTS: Twenty-four (4.5%) of the 530 patients were confirmed to have HIV infection; of whom 19 (79.2%) were less than 18 months of old; with age range of 5 to 156 months. Fifteen (62.5%) of the infected children were females; likewise, the gender specific infection rate was higher (%) among the females compared with (%) among the males. Two of the HIV infected children's mothers were late, while the remaining 22 mothers (%) were HIV seropositive. Mother-to-child-transmission was the most likely route of transmission in the children. CONCLUSION: PITC strategy is vital to the early diagnosis and effective control of HIV infection in children. However, this cannot be totally effective if PMTCT is not optimized.

Prevalence and route of transmission of undiagnosed human immunodeficiency virus infection among children using provider-initiated testing and counselling strategy in Ido-Ekiti, Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

Introduction: ninety-one percent of global Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection in children occurs in sub-Saharan Africa. Provider Initiated Testing and Counselling (PITC) Strategy is a means of reducing missed opportunities for HIV exposed or infected children. The present study determined the prevalence of HIV infection using PITC Strategy among children seen at the Paediatric Emergency Unit of Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ido-Ekiti, and the possible route of transmission. Methods: cross-sectional study on prevalence of HIV infection using PITC model. 530 new patients whose HIV serostatus were unknown and aged 15 years or below were recruited consecutively and offered HIV testing. Serial algorithm testing for HIV infection using Determine HIV-1/2 and Uni-Gold rapid test kits was adopted. Seropositive patients younger than eighteen months had HIV Deoxyribonucleic Acid Polymerase Chain Reaction (HIV DNA PCR) test for confirmation.Results: twenty-four (4.5%) of the 530 patients were confirmed to have HIV infection; of whom 19(79.2%) were less than 18 months of old; with age range of five to 156 months. Fifteen (62.5%) of the infected children were females; likewise, the gender specific infection rate was higher (%) among the females compared with (%) among the males. Two of the HIV infected children's mothers were late, while the remaining 22 mothers (%) were HIV seropositive. Mother-To-Child-Transmission was the most likely route of transmission in the children. Conclusion: PITC strategy is vital to the early diagnosis and effective control of HIV infection in children. However, this cannot be totally effective if PMTCT is not optimized

Prevalence and determinants of susceptibility to cigarette smoking among non-smoking senior secondary school students in Ilorin, North Central Nigeria.

Background Globally, efforts are being made to control tobacco use. However, adolescents who are susceptible to cigarette smoking constitute a major challenge to control efforts. Defining the magnitude of susceptible adolescents and associated factors in any setting is critical to the development of measures that will successfully address this issue. This study estimated the prevalence and factors associated with susceptibility to cigarette smoking among non smoking students in Ilorin, North Central Nigeria. Methods A cross sectional study involving 2000 secondary school students selected via multistage sampling technique. Data was collected using a self administered questionnaire, while analysis was done using SPSS 16.0. Results Prevalence of susceptibility to cigarette smoking among non smoking respondents was 13.6% (14.5% among males and 11.4% among females, respectively). Factors associated with susceptibility to cigarette smoking were parental smoking habit [odds ratio (OR) = 4.43], having close friends who smoke (OR = 6.54), engagement in vocational training (OR = 1.39), exposure to environmental tobacco smoke at home (OR = 1.61), knowledge of harmful effects of tobacco (OR = 2.35) and perceptions of the effect of cigarette smoking such as enhancing attractive among boys (OR = 2.03), and causing weight gain among boys (OR = 2.39) and among girls (OR = 6.05). Conclusion The high prevalence of susceptibility to cigarette smoking among the non smoking students highlights the potential for future increase in prevalence of cigarette smoking in the setting. Efforts at controlling cigarette smoking will not be totally successful if susceptibility to cigarette smoking among adolescents is not addressed.