MOTHERS WILLINGNESS TO VACCINATE THEIR IN-SCHOOL ADOLESCENTS AGAINST HPV INFECTION IN LAGOS STATE NIGERIA.

Introduction: Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake rates for adolescents are still low in Nigeria despite the availability of safe and effective vaccines. The knowledge and attitudes of mothers to HPV infection and vaccines play a role in adolescents HPV vaccination uptake. This study assessed mothers' willingness to vaccinate their in-school adolescents against HPV infection in Lagos State Nigeria. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study involving mothers of in-school adolescents was conducted using a multi-stage sampling technique. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Chi square test was used to determine association between categorical variable and the level of significant was set at 5%. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 43.0 ± 5.8. Majority (92%) had poor knowledge of HPV infection and vaccination. However, majority (79%) of the respondents had a positive attitude to HPV vaccination. More than half (65.8%) of the respondents' were willing to vaccinate their adolescents against HPV. There were statistically significant associations between respondents' number of daughters and attitude about HPV vaccination (p=0.021), previous pap smear screening and willingness to vaccinate their children against HPV (p=0.012) and overall knowledge of HPV vaccination and willingness to vaccinate their children against HPV (p=0.041). Conclusion: There is a need to increase public awareness and health education of mothers on HPV infection and cervical cancer in order to increase HPV vaccine uptake for their children. Health and education sectors can collaborate to achieve this using school-based HPV education programme.

Hypercholesterolaemia in pregnancy as a predictor of adverse pregnancy outcome.

BACKGROUND: Prevention of viable spontaneous preterm birth and low birth weight through screening is one of the key aims of antenatal care as these have implications for the child, mother and society. If women can be identified to be at high risk of these adverse birth outcomes in early pregnancy, they can be targeted for more intensive antenatal surveillance and prophylactic interventions. OBJECTIVES: This study is therefore aimed to determine the association between elevated maternal serum cholesterol level in pregnancy and adverse pregnancy outcome. METHODS: It was a prospective observational cohort study in which eligible participants were enrolled at gestational age of 14 to 20 weeks. Blood samples were obtained to measure total serum cholesterol concentrations and the sera were then analyzed enzymatically by the cholesterol oxidase: p-aminophenazone (CHOD PAP) method. Pregnancy outcomes were obtained by extraction from medical records and the labour ward register. RESULTS: The incidences of the two adverse pregnancy outcomes examined in the study (preterm births and low birth weight (LBW) in term neonates) were 8.0% and 14.4% respectively. Preterm birth was 6.89-times more common in mothers with high cholesterol than in control mothers with normal total cholesterol level (38.5% versus 5.4%, P=0.029) while LBW was 7.99-times more common in mothers with high total maternal cholesterol than in mothers with normal cholesterol (87.5% versus 10.5%, P=0.019). CONCLUSION: We can infer that the high maternal serum cholesterol (hypercholesterolaemia) is associated with preterm delivery/ low birth weight (LBW) in term infants. However, further validation of these findings with more robust prospective and longitudinal characterization of maternal serum cholesterol profiles is required in subsequent investigations.