BACKGROUND:Intestinal helminthiasis occurs in sub-optimal living conditions with poor hygiene practices and is more prevalent in rural, suburban and institutionalized centres. Heavy helminthic burden negatively affects the nutritional status and the severity of anaemia among children living in orphanages.AIM:To determine the risk factors and relationship of intestinal helminthiasis with nutritional status and anaemia among institutionalized children in three states of South-East Nigeria.METHODS:A cross-sectional study was conducted over seven months involving 198 children recruited from orphanages in Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu states. Their stool samples were analyzed using the Kato-Katz and Ether concentration techniques, and packed cell volume and anthropometric indices were documented. Data were analyzed.RESULTS:Of the 198 children, 109 (55.1%) were females with a median age of 2.5 years and interquartile range (3 months - 17 years). The prevalence of intestinal helminthiasis was 2.5%. Among the children that had intestinal helminthiasis, 4 (80%) had mono-parasitism with Ascaris lumbricoides, while 1 (20%) had mixed infestation of Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura. There was a significant association (p=0.01) between being infested with intestinal helminthiasis and caregiver handwashing practices. The anthropometric indices demonstrated that 5.6%, 6.6% and 13.1% of the children were underweight, wasted and stunted respectively. No helminth-infested child had malnutrition and only 1 (20%) infested child had moderate anaemia.CONCLUSION:Caregivers' good handwashing practice was associated with reduced prevalence of intestinal infestations and should be encouraged. There was no relationship found between the presence of helminthic infestations and nutritional status or anaemia among the institutionalised children.

This study unveils immunodominant epitopes from the African Swine Fever Virus Major Capsid protein and created a multiepitope vaccine candidate. Protein sequences of 42 strains of ASFV from 28 countries were selected. Binding to MHC proteins were predicted. T and Linear B Lymphocytes epitopes were adopted and evaluated for antigenicity, immunogenicity, allergenicity, and toxicity. Selected epitopes were modelled and molecularly docked against the appropriate MHC proteins. An adjuvant and multiple linkers were used to create multiepitope vaccine candidate (VC). After evaluating the physicochemical and immunological properties of the vaccine candidate, its structure was refined, validated, and mutated. The Molecular Dynamics Simulation of the VC with the TLR4 receptor was performed and cloned in silico in a plasmid vector. A VC with 130 amino acid residues, 14.60 KDa weight and isoelectric point of 10.63 emerged. The VC is hydrophilic and non-allergenic; has MHC I immunogenicity and antigenicity values of 1.43 and 0.72 respectively, an instability index value of 33.11 and half-life of 1 h, 0.5 h and > 10 h in reticulocytes of mammals, yeast, and E. coli respectively. The VC shows good promise and further tests are required to determine its safety and efficacy.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 has triggered intense scientific research into the possible therapeutic strategies that can combat the ravaging disease. One of such strategies is the inhibition of an important enzyme that affects an important physiological process of the virus. The enzyme, Guanine 7 Methyltransferase is responsible for the capping of the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA to conceal it from the host’s cellular defense. The study aims at computationally identifying the potential natural inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 GuanineN7 methyltransferase binding at the active site (Pocket 41). A library of small molecules was obtained from edible African plants and were molecularly docked against the SARS-CoV-2 Guanine-N7 methyltransferase (QHD43415_13. pdb) using the Pyrx software. Sinefungin, an approved antiviral drug which had a binding score of -7.6 kcal/ mol with the target was chosen as a standard. Using the molecular descriptors of the compounds, a virtual screening for oral availability was performed using the Pubchem and SWISSADME web tools. The online servers PKCSM and Molinspiration were used for further screening for pharmacokinetic properties and bioactivity respectively. The molecular dynamic simulation and analyses of the Apo and Holo proteins was performed using the GROMACS software on the Galaxy webserver. The lead compounds are Crinamidine, Marmesin and Sinensetin which are obtained from waterleaf, mango, and orange plants respectively. All the lead compounds performed better than the standard. Crinamidine is predicted to show the greatest inhibitory activity. Further tests are required to further investigate the inhibitory activities of the lead compounds.

Background: Intestinal helminthiasis is one of the most common and neglected diseases affecting all age groups, especially among school children. It is a disease condition of suboptimal environment and poor personal hygiene, and is more prevalent in children in institutionalized centers. Aims: This study was aimed to determine the prevalence, pattern, and intensity of intestinal helminthiasis among children in motherless babies' homes/orphanages and the relationship between the prevalence and demographic characteristics of the children. The outcome may be useful in strengthening these homes through advocacy to the appropriate authorities on general health promotion and awareness for the management of the homes. Subjects and Methods: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out over 7 months (March–September 2017) in three states of the South-East Nigeria. Prior to the studies ethical clearance and permissions from relevant bodies were obtained. A total of 198 children aged 3 months to 17 years were recruited using multi-stage sampling methods from the homes and orphanages in Anambra, Ebonyi, and Enugu states. Their stool samples were collected and analyzed for ova of intestinal helminths using ether concentration and Kato–Katz techniques.Frequency tables were designed for relevant variables while quantitative variables were summarized using median and interquartile range (IQR). The relationship between demographic factors and presence of intestinal helminths amongst study participants was tested using Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test (FET) where appropriate. All analyses were done at the 5% level of significance, and a P value <.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Children aged 1–5 years constituting the highest proportion 110 (55.6%). The median age (IQR) of the participants was 2.5 years (3 months to 17 years). They comprised of 89 (44.9%) males and 109 (55.1%) females with a male: female ratio of 1:1.2. The overall prevalence of intestinal helminths among institutionalized children was 5/198 (2.5%). Ascaris lumbricoides only was seen in four out of five (80%) infested subjects while mixed infestation of A. lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura was seen in one out of five (20%) subjects. All the infected subjects had light intensity of 100–300 EPG. It was noted that three out of five infested subjects were preschool children. However, the difference between the age groups and intestinal infestation was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). All the subjects with helminthic infection were females. Gender and location of motherless babies' homes/orphanages were not significantly associated with the presence of infestation (P > 0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that the prevalence and intensity of intestinal helminthiasis amongst the surveyed children in the South-Eastern Nigeria are 2.5% and more common among preschool aged children.

Background: The pathophysiology of the inflammatory process reveals intricate signaling which includes the IL-1β, IL-6, and TNFα pathways that could serve as drug targets.Aim: This study determined the effect of the aqueous extract of Gongronema latifolium (AEGL) leaves on the expression of IFNγ, IL-10, CD3, and CD56 in rabbits.Materials and Methods: ELISA tests were performed to determine the effect of the AEGL on the expression of a pro-inflammatory cytokine (IFNγ), an anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10), and CD3 and CD56 cell surface markers in rabbits.Twenty cross-bred male rabbits with an average weight range of 1.0 -1.5 kg were selected.The rabbits were separated into four groups of four rabbits each treated as follows: Grp1 is the untreated control; Grp2 is the treated control; and Grp3, Grp4, and Grp5 were treated with 200, 400, and 600 mg/kg of AEGL respectively for 28 days.Results: The AEGL showed its greatest inhibitory effect in Group 4 on IL-10 (118.5 pg/ml), and IFNγ (332 pg/ml) on days 14 and 21 respectively.AEGL also showed the highest inhibition of CD3 expression on days 14 and

The menace of COVID-19 continues to ravage the world despite deployment of vaccines, and the development of oral antiviral pills whose effectiveness are still being evaluated. As the problems persist, Scientists are continuously searching for new resources and re-evaluating old ones that be used to effectively contain the pandemic. A search through literature has shown a huge amount of scientific resources in medicinal plant research which could be leverage. Many medicinal plants have been demonstrated to possess various antiviral activities against influenza virus, SARS-CoV, herpes simplex virus, vesicular stomatitis virus, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, human immunodeficiency virus, simian immunodeficiency virus, echovirus, adenovirus, Newcastle disease virus, duck plague virus, measles virus, polio viruses, yellow fever viruses, Sindbis virus, human cytomegalovirus, Rift valley fever virus, feline herpesvirus, lumpy skin disease virus, and canine distemper virus. Medicinal plants are known to be a reservoir of bioactive compounds with useful pharmacological actives. This revision has identified one hundred and twelve (112) plants found with various antiviral activities. These plants cut across different families. An intriguing observation is the reported presence of antiviral in different classes of phytochemicals like alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, anthraquinones, glucosides, polyphenols, saponins, essential oils, peptides and polysaccharides. There is the need for concerted paradigm shift to natural products of plant origin towards developing novel antiviral agents against COVID-19 especially with the reported safety challenge of adverse events and serious adverse events associated with already developed vaccines and pills.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have a number of side effects. However, some medicinal herbs have anti-inflammatory properties with few side effects. This study aimed to determine the effect of the aqueous extract of Gongronema latifolium (AEGL) leaves on the level of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in rabbits. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to determine the effect of the AEGL on the activities of pro-inflammatory cytokine (TNF alpha), and regulatory cytokine (TGF-beta) in rabbits. Also, a colorimetric method was performed to evaluate the levels of AST and ALT. Overall, the weight of the animals increased until the 21st day and then slightly decreased in the last week of treatment. AEGL showed significant (p < 0.05) inhibitory activity against pro-inflammatory and regulatory cytokines. The greatest inhibitory activities against TNF-alpha (21 days) and TGF-beta (14 days) were obtained at a dose of 400 mg/kg of AEGL. No hepatotoxicity was observed within a 28-day period. This study showed that AEGL can be used as a safe herbal anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory treatment. Further clinical trials are needed to approve this potential.

Background: Antibiotic resistance has remained a global concern. Food pathogens that carry resistance genes will cause public health threat irrespective of their pathogenicity, as this pool of resistance genes are disseminated via food chain. The antibiotic susceptibility of E. coli isolates to different antibiotics were investigated and resistance genes were genetically identified by multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The study aimed to determine the phenotypic antibiotic resistance pattern of the E. coli isolates and characterize the antibiotics resistance genes in the E. coli isolates from the Cow milk and milk products. Results: The study showed that the E. coli isolates were Multidrug resistant (MDR) to several antibiotics with resistance pattern of four to ten combinations of antibiotics and the antibiotics resistance occurred mostly in three classes of antibiotics, namely: β-lactams, Amphenicol and Tetracycline. The antibiotics resistance genes expressed in the multidrug resistant E. coli isolates were tetA 22(78.6%), dfrA1 9(32.1%), blaCITM and blaSHV 3(10.7%), tetB and blaTEM 1(3.6%), qnr 0(0%) and aac (3)-iv 0(0%). Conclusion: The study showed that the cow milk and its products sold on the streets of Abuja are contaminated with resistant E. coli that can pose health risk to the consumers. Monitoring and screening for resistant food pathogens in food especially of animal origin is vital to mitigate the prevalence of antibiotics resistance.

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli have been identified as an emerging foodborne pathogen which portends serious risk to human health. Cow milk and its products are potential sources of shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli. A relatively small number from the family of shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli are pathogenic. It becomes necessary that Cow milk and milk products are regularly screened for the presence of virulence genes in microbes. The study aimed to genetically determine the presence of virulence genes that are characteristic of Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli in 600 milk samples. The E. coli isolates were recovered from the milk samples (n=35), biochemically examined and genetically screened for virulence genes by multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The results of the molecular profiling revealed that (stx2) was detected in 17(60.7%), (hlyA) 11(39.3%) and eae genes 8(28.6%) of the E. coli isolates respectively, while (stx1) was not detected. The results indicated a high prevalence of virulent shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in the milk samples. Priority attention should be given to this microbe as it will demand stringent steps in the detection given that they are known to be rigorous in identification.

Cellular therapy involves use of whole cell or cell cytoplasmic macro-molecular inclusions and their derivatives as resources for treatment and management of diseases and their complications in animals and humans. The use of these biological and bio-medical resources in modern times is increasingly gaining popularity within the community of health care givers.

The management, control and elimination of tuberculosis (TB) have been difficult with the advent of HIV and cases of multidrug resistant (MDR-TB) tuberculosis. The cases of multidrug resistance to rifampicin and isoniazid pose greater challenges on first line and second line drugs to eliminate TB. The study is aimed at establishing anti-tuberculosis activity of Tetrapleura tetraptera against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and MDR-TB and the phytochemical present. The leaves of Tetrapleura tetraptera were collected, weighed, dried and pulverized to powder. The pulverized leaves of Tetrapleura tetraptera were subjected to 70% methanol extraction and screened for phytochemical. The crude extract was further purified into fractions using silica gel and thin layer chromatography techniques. M. tuberculosis and MDR-TB were obtained from positive acid fast bacilli sputa of TB patients and confirmed using GeneXpert to differentiate genotypic drug susceptible M. tuberculosis and MDR-TB. The sputa were digested using sodium hydroxide-cysteine technique and cultured in Middlebrook 7H9. The crude extract and fractions were screened for anti-tuberculosis activity using tetrazolium microtitre plate assay. The results showed that Tetrapleura tetraptera crude had activities against M. tuberculosis at 7.4 ± 0 mg/ml and 27.5 ± 0 mg/ml for MDR-TB. One of the fractions inhibited the growth of M. tuberculosis at 0.24 ± 0 mg/ml and MDR-TB at 0.89 ± 0 mg/ml. The phytochemical screened includes tannins, alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, phenols and resins. T. tetraptra possesses anti-tuberculosis potential at low concentration on MDR-TB and can be a lead compound in drug development for the treatment of tuberculosis and multidrug resistant tuberculosis.

Raw milk and milk products are traditional staple diets that are popularly consumed by both rural and urban population of Northern Nigeria and many other parts of Africa. The aim of the study was to isolate E. coli from unpasteurised raw milk and milk products (Mandara, Kindrimo, Nono and Manshanu) during the rainy and dry seasons in Abuja in order to ascertain the hygienic status of the dairy products. Three hundred unpasteurised raw milk and its products were collected in both rainy and dry seasons respectively. Escherichia coli was isolated by microbiological techniques and confirmed by Microbact™ (Oxiod™) GNB 24E System Identification Kit. Results showed that dry season had higher occurrence of E. coli (21, 7.0%) while occurrence during rainy season was (14, 4.7%). There was no statistically significant difference in occurrence of E. coli isolates during the two seasons (p> 0.05). These ready- to eat dairy products frequently harbor coliforms that indicates poor hygiene and insanitary conditions possibly during processing and cause infections that are of great public health importance. Educating the milk handlers on the importance of personal hygiene and proper sanitary methods is necessary.

Microsporidia are obligate intracellular parasite that infect both vertebrate and invertebrate. In human, infection mostly focus on immunodeficiency and immunosuppressive individual. This study describes the prevalence, association of microsporidia infection with CD4 T Cell and risk factors associated with microsporidiosis among apparently health subject and immunocompromised individual in Minna, Niger state, Nigeria. Six hundred and Ninety-four (694) stools samples were collected and examined for microsporidia using Giemsa staining. Cytometer flow was used to determine CD4 T cell count. Pretest questionnaire was used to determine demographic, environmental hygiene, living condition and characteristics of the participants. Results showed 42 (6.06%) of the participant with and without diarrhoeawere positive for microsporidia infection. Histogram were used to describe distribution of microsporidia infection across diseases state. With cytometer flow, 6 (33.3%) among HIV/AIDS with ≤ 50 cell/µl. Highest prevalence were recorded among age ≥ 15 when compare with < 15 with 32 (10.8%) and 10 (7.47%), respectively. This study is first report of microsporidia in Niger state. Diagnose of microsporidia should be included in management of HIV/AIDS infection in Niger state.

Adolescents in Africa have low HIV testing rates. Determining the HIV prevalence among this group is very important because adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV) have worse health outcome than other populations of people living with HIV. This study aimed at determining the prevalence of HIV among children of adolescents age (10 - 18 years) that come for HIV testing in virology laboratory of National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Abuja from January 2013 to December 2018. The result was expressed in percentage and disaggregated by sex. Out of 533 adolescents tested over 6 years, 252 (51.9%) females and 234 (48.1%) were males. A total of 69 (14.1%) of them were tested HIV positive which 42 (8.6%) were females and 27 (5.5%) were males. The result of this study indicates that there is epidemics of HIV among adolescents living in Federal Capital Territory Abuja. It is also evident that females are more vulnerable to HIV infection than the males. There is therefore need for urgent standard and comprehensive procedure for adolescents living with HIV transitioning from paediatric to adult care. This also calls for intensive enlightment on HIV education especially in our basic and post basic schools in Abuja.

A random sampling and cross sectional study was carried out in General Hospital, Minna, Niger State, Nigeria using parasitological techniques to screen faecal samples for Cystoisospora belli. Blood samples of participants were also screened to determine the CD4 counts of infected subjects while Body Mass Index of subjects was determined to describe their nutritional status. A total of 783 individuals consisting of 317 apparently healthy subjects and 466 HIV/AIDs patients were screened for cystoisosporiasis. Out of the 783 subjects screened, 81 (10.34%) were positive for Cystoisospora belli. The infection was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in HIV/AIDs patients (12.45%) than in apparently healthy subjects (2.84%). The infection was more prevalent (6.69%) in males than in females (6.40%), (P < 0.05). The rate of infection in relation to age group was highest in subjects who were ≤10 years old (11.90%) and least in subjects who were 11 to 20 years old (4.24%). A significant difference in infection rate (P< 0.05) was found between the categories of subjects screened and age groups. The infection rate was highest (22.64%) in subjects who were nutritionally deficient and least (13.12%) in subjects with normal body mass index. Subjects with CD4 cell counts < 200 cells/µl had the highest infection rate (38.24%) while those with CD4 cell counts ≥ 500 cells/µl had the least infection rate (2.78%). Chi – square analysis showed significant difference (P < 0.05) in infection rates between the categories of subjects screened and CD4 counts.

Schistosomiasis of the urethral tract leads to the destruction of the mucosal cells of the reproductive organs by the piercing action of the oval spines.Urogenital schistosomiasis has remained a major contributor to the disease burden in Plateau State, Nigeria.The urine syringe filtration technique and urine strip test were diagnostic methods used to determine the prevalence, intensities and symptoms of Schistosoma haematobium infections in the study population.Out of the 1245 persons screened parasitologically, 1007 were apparently healthy with a prevalence of 265 (26.3%: 95% C.I. 23.5 -29.1%) with an overall mean egg excretion of 87eggs/10ml and females aged 11-20years had the highest prevalence (21.7%; 95% C.I 19 -24%) compared to the children 0 -10years who were the least infected (0.2%; 95% C.I. 0.1 -0.5%).Statistically, a significant difference was observed among the different age groups (Cal χ2 0.05 = 40.94> Tab χ2 0.05 df 5 = 11.07;P < 0.05 ;).The remaining 238 persons were symptomatic with a prevalence of 51 (21.4%: 95% C.I. 16.1 -26.7) and an overall mean egg excretion of 78eggs/10mls with females aged 21-30 years (29.6%)having the highest infection.Although, statistically, symptomatic urogenital schistosomiasis was not dependent on age (Cal χ2 0.05 = 8.32 < Tab χ2 0.05 df 5 = 11.07;P > 0.05).In relation to associated symptoms, 4.9% persons had haematuria, 27.9% had proteinuria while a larger population of 64.6% had neither haematuria nor proteinuria in their urine.For water contact patterns, economic activities (65.7%) including, irrigation agriculture and domestic chores (23.6%) accounted for most water contacts especially during the main dry season.

Toxoplasma gondii infection has become a major public health concern in recent times due to the ravaging HIV/AIDS pandemic. The seroprevalence of T. gondii infection was determined in Kwal, a rural district of Plateau-Nigeria using IgG-ELISA. Epidemiological assessment was also conducted for the purpose of establishing the infection dynamics. Antibodies to T. gondii were detected in 30 (20.8%) of the 144 individuals studied. The prevalence of infection was slightly higher amongst the males (22.0%) than the females (20.0%), individuals of age group 21-30 years had the highest prevalence of 33.3% while the least (7.4%) occurred amongst the 41-50 years age group. No significant difference was noted (p < 0.05). The seroprevalence of Toxoplasma antibodies was significantly higher amongst individuals who handle/eat rodents (29.6%) and those who constantly had contact with soil (21.2%). These were the predominant risk factors of T. gondii infection in the area. Consequently, the infection occurred most amongst farmers (25.0%). This study contributes to the development of guidelines for the prevention and management of toxoplasmosis. Results were discussed in relation to the T. gondii epidemiological factors inherent within the population studied.

Schistosoma mansoni infection constitutes significant economic and public health consequences. Accurate diagnosis of the infection is imperative in order to identify subjects needing care in the broadest sense. In this study the dot-ELISA and direct parasitological method were compared in the diagnosis of S. mansoni infection in Jos, Nigeria. Of the 106 subjects studied 64.2 % were S. mansoni positive serologically while only 10.4 % of them were found to have the parasite’s egg in their stools. Individuals aged 20–29 years of both sexes had highest prevalence of 73.9 % and 21.7% by serological and parasitological diagnosis respectively. Prevalence of infection among males was 13.5 % and 7.4 % among females by parasitology. By serology the corresponding figures were 59.6 % and 68.5 % respectively. No significant difference was observed by parasitology (χ2=4.534, P ≤ 0.05) and by serology (χ2=2.00, P ≤ 0.05). Results advocate for serodiagnostic technique over parasitological method in S. mansoni surveillance and epidemiological studies.

Toxoplasma gondii IgG antibody seroprevalence was studied in two different populations of 219 HIV-infected patients and 144 apparently healthy individuals (AHIs). Clinical toxoplasmosis was assessed among the HIV-infected patients. Antibodies to T. gondii were detected in 85 (38.8%, 95% CI: 32.36%-45.26%) of the HIV-infected patients and in 30 (20.8%, 95% CI: 14.20%-27.46%) of the AHIs. Among the AIHs, males represented 22.0% of infections compared to females (20.0%) and individuals within age group 21-30 years accounted for the highest prevalence of 33.3% (95% CI: 11.56%-55.10%). There was no significant difference in the trend (Chi-square, P < or = 0.05). Assessment of epidemiological factors showed higher seroprevalence of Toxoplasma antibodies among those who eat rodents (29.6%) and those who constantly have contact with the soil (21.2%). Among the HIV-infected, individuals 31-40-years-old had the highest T. gondii seroprevalence (36.5%). Evaluation of the clinical findings of patients with concomitant toxoplasmosis and HIV infection greatly implicated fever (63.5%), headache (44.7%), rashes (41.2%) and anorexia (34.1%). This study contributes to the development of guidelines for the prevention and management of toxoplasmosis in HIV-infected patients and in apparently healthy individuals in a resource scarce setting.