Exploring the Antimicrobial Stewardship Educational Needs of Healthcare Students and the Potential of an Antimicrobial Prescribing App as an Educational Tool in Selected African Countries.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health threat and one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity. AMR contributes to 700,000 deaths annually and more deaths, as many as 10 million are projected to happen by 2050. Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) activities have been important in combating the ripple effects of AMR and several concerted efforts have been taken to address the issues of antimicrobial resistance. The Commonwealth Pharmacists Association through the Commonwealth Partnerships for Antimicrobial Stewardship (CwPAMS) programme has been enhancing the capacity of health institutions in Low-Middle-Income Countries (LMIC) to combat AMR. Through such efforts, an antimicrobial prescribing app (CwPAMS app) was launched and delivered to support antimicrobial prescribing and improve AMS practice in four African countries; Ghana, Uganda, Zambia, and Tanzania. The app provides easy access to infection management resources to improve appropriate use of antimicrobials in line with national and international guidelines. This study aimed to identify and explore the potential for the usability of the CwPAMS app among healthcare students across selected African countries that are part of the Commonwealth. The study equally evaluated the healthcare students' understanding and attitudes towards antimicrobial resistance and stewardship. Despite 70% of the respondents indicating that they had been taught about prudent use of antibiotics, diagnosis of infections and their management using antibiotics in their universities, notable knowledge gaps were discovered: 52.2% of the respondents had no prior information on the term AMS, 50.6% of them reported a lack of resources for accessing up-to-date information on drugs, for instance only 36% had had an opportunity to access an app as a learning resource even when 70% of the respondents thought that a mobile app would support in increasing their knowledge. Those challenges reveal an opportunity for the CwPAMS App as a potential option to address AMR and AMS gaps among healthcare students.

What is in Nigerian waters? Target and non-target screening analysis for organic chemicals.

Emerging organic contaminants (e.g., active pharmaceutical ingredients and personal care products ingredients) are ubiquitous in the environment and potentially harmful to ecosystems, have gained increasing public attention worldwide. Nevertheless, there is a scarcity of data on these contaminants in Africa. In this study, various types of water samples (wastewater, surface water and tap water) collected from Lagos, Nigeria were analyzed for these chemicals by both target and non-target analysis on an UHPLC-Orbitrap-MS/MS. In total, 109 compounds were identified by non-target screening using the online database mzCloud. Level 1 identification confidence was achieved for 13 compounds for which reference standards were available and level 2 was achieved for the rest. In the quantitative analysis, 18 of 38 target compounds were detected, including the parent compounds and their metabolites. Acetaminophen, sulfamethoxazole, acesulfame, and caffeine were detected in all samples with their highest concentrations at 8000, 5300, 16, and 7700 µg/L in wastewater, 140000, 3300, 7.7, and 12000 µg/L in surface water, and 66, 62, 0.17 and 1000 µg/L in tap water, respectively. The occurrence of psychoactive substances, anticancer treatments, antiretrovirals, antihypertensives, antidiabetics and their metabolites were reported in Nigeria for the first time. These results indicate poor wastewater treatment and management in Nigeria, and provide a preliminary profile of organic contaminants occurring in Nigerian waters. The findings from this study urge more future research on chemical pollution in the aquatic environments in Nigeria.

Preliminary Anti-Fungal Activity of the Aqueous Bark Extract of Calotropis procera (ASCLEPIADACEAE).

BACKGROUND: Calotropis procera is a species of flowering plant which belongs to the Asclepiadaceous family. Its other names are Apple of Sodom, Giant Milkweed and Swallow-wort. It's native to Africa and Asian countries where they exist as a spreading shrub or small tree with height of about 4m. They. exude copious milky sap when cut or broken. It has a broad grey-green leaves with a pointed tip, two rounded basal lobes and no leaf stalk. Their flowers are waxy white. The different part of this plant has been used for different medicinal purposes such as cure of leprosy, eczema, inflammation, cutaneous infections, syphilis, malarial and low hectic fevers, and as abortifacient. OBJECTIVE: The extract of the bark of the plant Calotropis procera used locally by people in Sokoto to treat ringworm infection was investigated for the claimed activity by subjecting the extract collected to both phytochemical and antifungal screening. METHODS: The extracts of water, n-hexane, petroleum ether and chloroform of the bark of the plant Calotropis procera were evaluated for the presence of alkaloids, tannins, glycosides, saponins, steroids and flavonoids. And the water extract which is often used by the local people was tested for antifungal activity using Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) in Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method developed by Kirby et al. Fulcin tablet was used as a standard and two petridishes that does not contain the extracts were used as control. RESULTS: In the phytochemical study using extracts of n-hexane, petroleum ether, chloroform and water, the presence of alkaloids, tannins, saponins and steroids (cardiac glycoside) were confirmed. Also, for the antifungal activity of the plant, there was a complete inhibition of Microsporum specie and Trichophyton specie in the sample after 10 days of inoculation when water extract at different concentrations (i.e. 20 mg/L, 30 mg/L and 40 mg/L) were applied. The tablet only completely inhibited Trichophyton specie. Epidermophyton specie was not found in the sample. The inhibitory effect of this extract was significant (p < 0.05) when compared with fulcin tablet. CONCLUSION: The research confirmed that the extract of the bark of the plant Calotropis procera has some antifungal activity.