Urogenital schistosomiasis in Nigeria post receipt of the largest single praziquantel donation in Africa.

Schistosomiasis control efforts in Nigeria received a boost in 2016 when Merck Group made the largest single donation of praziquantel to an African country. We examined urine samples from 2,023 school age children from 15 locations in 10 states and an Internally Displaced Person's (IDP) camp in Nigeria. We recorded an overall Schistosoma haematobium prevalence of 10.4% in the 10 states that ranged between 6 - 37%, while prevalence in the IDP camp was 2.9%. The highest infection prevalence (37%) recorded was from the population in Wasai Dam area in Minjibir (Kano State), while five locations had no positive urine samples. We observed heavy intensity of infection (≥ 50 eggs/10 ml urine) in 87.9% of infected samples and co-occurrence of the eggs of S. haematobium and S. mansoni in urine for two participants. The overall prevalence we recorded is slightly above the national average (9.5%) reported in 2015. Our findings indicate that despite the ongoing administration of praziquantel in Nigeria, urogenital schistosomiasis is still prevalent with heavy intensity of infection. Large-scale epidemiological monitoring is required to monitor the efficacy of schistosomiasis control in Nigeria.

High Prevalence of Phenotypic Resistance to Colistin, Tigecycline and Netilmicin in a Region with no History of Colistin Administration in Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Colistin is currently used as a last line antibiotic for the treatment of extensively drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. The widespread dissemination of ESBL-producing and carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria necessitated the re-introduction of colistin which was initially abandoned as a result of high toxicities. This study aimed at determining the epidemiology of Enterobacteriaceae isolates that are resistant to colistin, tigecycline, and netilmicin and the risk factors that may contribute to the resistance observed within Southeastern Nigeria. METHODS: A total of 400 participants who came to the hospitals for various reasons and suspected to have bacterial infections were enrolled in this study. Phenotypic resistance to colistin was detected using broth microdilution technique on cation - adjusted Mueller-Hinton broth while resistance to colistin and netilmicin was detected using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method using tigecycline disk (10 µg) and netilmicin disk (30 µg). Risk factors were determined by the administration of questionnaires to the participants. RESULTS: Our study found an overall high prevalence of colistin - resistant Enterobacteriaceae (45.8%) and a high prevalence for colistin and tigecycline (22.2%) and colistin and netilmicin (31.7%) resistant isolates. Among the risk factors that contribute to colistin, non-completion of antibiotics was found to be more significant (p = 0.039 and an odds ratio of 0.324 - 0.972 at 95% confidence interval). CONCLUSIONS: Our finding is significant in that colistin resistance was determined to be present among populations that have not been exposed to colistin therapy.