Treatment Outcomes in COVID-19 patients with comorbidities in Kaduna state, NorthwesternNigeria

Background: Severe COVID-19 disease has been reported among people with underlying conditions such as diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, cancer, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. This study determined the outcomes of COVID-19 among patients with comorbidities in Kaduna state, where we have the highest incidence in northern Nigeria.Methods: This study was a retrospective, descriptive cross-sectional review of the clinical records involving all age groups of 902 COVID-19 patients admitted at the four isolation centers of the Kaduna State Infectious Disease Control Centre (IDCC) between March 27th2020 to December 31st2021. Data was analyzed with SPSS version 25 and STATA SE 12 with p <0.05.Results: Out of the 902 cases, 245(27.2%) had comorbidities, hypertension 206(22.8%) was the most recorded comorbidity, others were diabetes 77(8.5%), asthma 7 (0.78%), HIV 7(0.78%), sickle cell anemia 7 (0.78%) and PTB 3 (0.33%). Patients with comorbidities had prolonged mean duration of symptoms 8.36±3.5 days, compared to 7.2±2.7 days in those without comorbidities (p=0.001).Multivariate logistic regression analysis further shows that the odds for clinical recovery from the COVID-19 disease was significantly lower for patient with hypertension (AOR=0.13, 95%CI=0.06-0.27, p = <0.01), diabetic (AOR=0.20, 95% CI=0.10-0.40, p<0.01) and HIV comorbidities (AOR=0.1, 95%CI=0.01-0.98, p=0.05) compared to those without comorbiditiesConclusion: Hypertension and diabetes were the major comorbidities in this study. Most patients with comorbidities had severe presentations and fatal poorer outcome. There is a need for sustained public health education targeted at patients with chronic diseases to be screened and treated early for COVID 19 Disease

Responses of haptoglobin and serum amyloid A in goats inoculated intradermally with C. pseudotuberculosis and mycolic acid extract immunogen.

Haptoglobin (Hp) and Serum Amyloid A (SAA) are a group of blood proteins whose concentrations in animals can be influenced by infection, inflammation, surgical trauma or stress. Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis is the causative agent of caseous lymphadenitis (CLA), and Mycolic acid is a virulent factor extracted from C. pseudotuberculosis. There is a dearth of sufficient evidence on the clinical implication of MAs on the responses of Hp and SAA in goats. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the potential effects of Mycolic acid (MAs) and C. pseudotuberculosis on the responses of Hp and SAA in female goats. A total of 12 healthy female goats was divided into three groups; A, B and C each comprising of 4 goats and managed for a period of three months. Group (A) was inoculated with 2 mL of sterile phosphate buffered saline (as a negative control group) intradermally, while group (B) and (C) were inoculated intradermally with 2 ml each of mycolic acid and 1  × 109 cfu of active C. pseudotuberculosis respectively. The result of the study showed that the Hp concentration in goats inoculated with C. pseudotuberculosis was significantly increased up to 7-fold (1.17 ±â€¯0.17 ng/L) while MAs showed a 3-fold increased (0.83 ±â€¯0.01 ng/L) compared with the control. Whereas SAA concentration in C. pseudotuberculosis and MAs groups showed a significant 3-fold (17.85 ±â€¯0.91 pg/mL) and 2-fold (10.97 ±â€¯0.71 pg/mL) increased compared with the control. This study concludes that inoculation of C. pseudotuberculosis and MAs have significant effects on Hp and SAA levels, which indicates that MAs could have a role in the pathogenesis of caseous lymphadenitis.

Mucosal and systemic responses of immunogenic vaccines candidates against enteric Escherichia coli infections in ruminants: A review.

Innumerable Escherichia coli of animal origin are identified, which are of economic significance, likewise, cattle, sheep and goats are the carrier of enterohaemorrhagic E. coli, which are less pathogenic, and can spread to people by way of direct contact and through the contamination of foodstuff or portable drinking water, causing serious illness. The immunization of ruminants has been carried out for ages and is largely acknowledged as the most economical and maintainable process of monitoring E. coli infection in ruminants. Yet, only a limited number of E. coli vaccines are obtainable. Mucosal surfaces are the most important ingress for E. coli and thus mucosal immune responses function as the primary means of fortification. Largely contemporary vaccination processes are done by parenteral administration and merely limited number of E. coli vaccines are inoculated via mucosal itinerary, due to its decreased efficacy. Nevertheless, aiming at maximal mucosal partitions to stimulate defensive immunity at both mucosal compartments and systemic site epitomises a prodigious task. Enormous determinations are involved in order to improve on novel mucosal E. coli vaccines candidate by choosing apposite antigens with potent immunogenicity, manipulating novel mucosal itineraries of inoculation and choosing immune-inducing adjuvants. The target of E. coli mucosal vaccines is to stimulate a comprehensive, effective and defensive immunity by specifically counteracting the antibodies at mucosal linings and by the stimulation of cellular immunity. Furthermore, effective E. coli mucosal vaccine would make vaccination measures stress-free and appropriate for large number of inoculation. On account of contemporary advancement in proteomics, metagenomics, metabolomics and transcriptomics research, a comprehensive appraisal of the immeasurable genes and proteins that were divulged by a bacterium is now in easy reach. Moreover, there exist marvellous prospects in this bourgeoning technologies in comprehending the host bacteria affiliation. Accordingly, the flourishing knowledge could massively guarantee to the progression of immunogenic vaccines against E. coli infections in both humans and animals. This review highlight and expounds on the current prominence of mucosal and systemic immunogenic vaccines for the prevention of E. coli infections in ruminants.

Effects of orally administered tetracycline on the intestinal community structure of chickens and on tet determinant carriage by commensal bacteria and Campylobacter jejuni.

There is a growing concern that antibiotic usage in animal production has selected for resistant food-borne bacteria. Since tetracyclines are common therapeutic antibiotics used in poultry production, we sought to evaluate the effects of oral administration on the resistance of poultry commensal bacteria and the intestinal bacterial community structure. The diversity indices calculated from terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis of 16S rRNA amplicons did not indicate significant changes in the cecal bacterial community in response to oxytetracycline. To evaluate its effects on cultivable commensals, Enterococcus spp., Escherichia coli, and Campylobacter spp. were isolated from the cecal droppings of broiler chickens. Enterococcus spp. and E. coli expressed tetracycline MICs of >8 microg/ml and harbored a variety of tet resistance determinants regardless of the tetracycline exposure history of the birds. The enterococcal isolates possessed tetM (61%), tetL (25.4%), and tetK (1.3%), as well as tetO (52.5%), the determinant known to confer a tetracycline resistance phenotype in Campylobacter jejuni. E. coli isolates harbored tetA (32.2%) or tetB (30.5%). Tetracycline MICs remained at <2 microg/ml for Campylobacter isolates before and after tetracycline treatment of the chickens, even though isolates expressing MICs of >16 mug/ml were commonly cultured from flocks that did not receive oxytetracycline. The results imply that complex ecological and genetic factors contribute to the prevalence of antibiotic resistance arising from resistance gene transfer in the production environment.

Pulmonary lesions in mice inoculated with Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae hemolysin and lipopolysaccharide.

Non-Swiss albino (CF1) male mice were used as a model to study the effects of specific toxic components of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae on the respiratory system. Mice were divided into five groups of ten each and were inoculated by the intranasal route with whole-cell Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serotype 1, cell-free culture supernatant fluid (CFCSF) containing hemolysin protein, purified lipopolysaccharide (LPS), heat-treated CFCSF, or phosphate-buffered saline solution. Pulmonary lesions were evaluated at 6 and 12 hours after inoculation. Mice inoculated with whole cells, CFCSF, and LPS developed severe purulent bronchiolitis and alveolitis. Focal pulmonary necrosis was also observed in these three groups but was most consistent in the CFCSF-inoculated mice. Ultrastructurally, lungs from mice inoculated with whole cells, LPS, and CFCSF were characterized by severe degenerative changes in type I and type II pneumocytes. Alveolar spaces contained cellular debris and fibrin. Endothelial cells were swollen, and selected pulmonary capillaries were occluded with platelets and fibrin. Infiltrating neutrophils were often swollen, vacuolated, and degranulated. Although inoculation with relatively large numbers of A. pleuropneumoniae are required to kill mice, the mouse lung appears quite sensitive to the toxic components produced by these bacteria. The elaboration of these two toxic components by A. pleuropneumoniae may be responsible for the characteristic pulmonary inflammatory and necrotic lesions observed in infected swine.

The anthelmintic efficacy of Artemisia herba-alba against Haemonchus contortus infection in goats.

The anthelmintic activity of the powdered shoots of Artemisia herba-alba was investigated in experimental haemonchosis in six Nubian goats which had been infected with single doses of 800 to 1,000 infective Haemonchus larvae. The clinical signs of caprine haemonchosis included inappetence, dullness and soft faeces and were correlated with the pathological findings. None of these changes were observed in four of the six goats following the treatment with 2, 10 or 30 g of Artemisia shoots. This successful therapy was supported by the absence of eggs in the faeces, of adult worms in the abomasum at necropsy and of significant lesions in the tissues of the goats and return of the concentrations of serum ammonia, sodium, potassium, total protein and creatinine and of the activity of aspartate aminotransferase (GOT) to normal. In two goats, treated with either 10 or 30 g of Artemisia shoots, egg production was not completely suppressed and a few adult Haemonchus worms were found in the abomasum.