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ASSESSING THE KNOWLEDGE OF SMALLPOX AND MONKEYPOX VIRUS AMONG THE UNIVERSITY OF TLEMCEN MEMBERS IN THE WAKE OF COVID-19: A 2023 CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY.: a Cross-sectional Study
No full textBackground: A recently-surfaced virus called Monkeypox virus (MPXV) has gained widespread attention as it dominates the news, creating a sense of panic among people due to the potential threat it poses to their health.
Materials and Methods: To evaluate knowledge about this virus and its disease, and to raise consciousness among the members of the Faculty of Natural and Life Sciences and Earth and Universe Sciences at the University of Tlemcen, we launched an online web-based survey for a twenty days’ period that contained sociodemographic and perceptiveness questions about the emergent virus, its disease, and vaccination.
Results: Our findings showed that the majority of the respondents of our study have a satisfactory level of knowledge about this emerging virus and its disease. Moreover, most participants showed a positive attitude towards the vaccine, considering it the best preventive means to fight against Monkeypox disease.
Conclusion: Although the MPXV may not become a pandemic, but knowing the various ways that contribute to its spread is essential to avoid any possibility of a new one, especially in Algeria
Centella Asiatica (GOTU KOLA) TREATMENT ATTENUATES PRO-INFLAMMATORY MEDIATORS IN LIVER OF RATS WITH ELECTRICAL FOOT SHOCK STRESS MODEL
Full text linkBackground: Stress induces secretion of cathecolamines and glucocorticoids, which may produce liver injury. Followed by the production of inflammatory mediators, it causes apoptosis. Centella asiatica (CeA) has anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective effects. The present study aims to determine the role of CeA in the attenuation of liver pro-inflammatory mediator expression in rats with electrical foot shock stress model.
Materials and Methods: Twenty-four Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into four groups consisted of six rats each: (1) Control group, (2) CeA-treated group, (3) Stress group, and (4) CeA + stress group. Reverse transcriptase PCR of inflammatory and apoptosis markers as well as Real-Time PCR of β2-adrenergic receptor were performed from liver tissues.
Results: Electrical foot shock stress induced up-regulation of NFκB and TNF-α mRNA expressions as pro-inflammatory mediators, compared to control group. This alteration was followed by up-regulation of BAX and β2-adrenergic receptor, as well as the down-regulation of BCl2 compared to control. CeA treatment prevented enhancement of NFκB, TNF-α, TLR-4 and β-adrenergic receptor mRNA expressions, which was followed by down-regulation of BAX and up-regulation of BCl-2, compared to stress group.
Conclusion: CeA prevents secretion of pro-inflammatory chemokines and cytokines as well as apoptotic markers in liver cells through the activation of β2-adrenergic receptor
THE ETHNO MEDICINAL SURVEY AND EVALUATION OF TWO RECIPES USED IN MANAGING SICKLE CELL DISEASE IN ILE-IFE COMMUNITY OF OSUN-STATE, NIGERIA.: Ethnomedicinal survey
No full textBackground: Ethno-medicinal survey of herbal recipes used in managing sickle cell disease in Ile-Ife, Osun-State, Nigeria was carried out and two recipes selected for antisickling studies.
Materials and Methods: Information was obtained using semi-structured questionnaires and open interview from respondents consisting of herb sellers, traditional medical practitioners, artisans and traders in two local government areas of Ife. Two recipes from the survey were selected for antisickling studies. Aqueous extract of each recipe was obtained by boiling the constituents in water for 1 h while the hydro ethanolic extracts were obtained by maceration in 70% ethanol for 72 h. Inhibitory and reversal antisickling properties were assessed using sodium metabisulphite as deoxygenating agent, vanillic acid (inhibitory agent), para-hydroxybenzoic (reversal agent) acid as positive controls while phosphate buffered saline was employed as negative control.
Results: Fifty four recipes comprising forty six plants were obtained from the ethno-medicinal survey. The respondents comprised of 44% men and 56% women. The most frequently and commonly used plants belong to family Fabaceae. The inhibitory and reversal activities of the aqueous extract of recipe 1 (81.37± 1.09%, 88.56 ±1.38% respectively) were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than recipe 2 (78.51 ± 0.78% inhibition and 79.8 ± 2.16% reversal) at same concentration. The hydro-alcoholic extracts of recipes 1 and 2 gave highest inhibitory activities at 0.5 mg/mL (69.25 ±1.30% and 68.28 ±2.78% respectively).
Conclusion: This study documented the medicinal plants and recipes used in Ile-Ife for managing sickle cell disease, and validated the ethno-medicinal claim of two recipes
MORINGA OLEIFERA LEAF POWDER FOR TYPE 2 DIABETES: A PILOT CLINICAL TRIAL
Full text linkBackground: Moringa oleifera Lam. (Moringaceae) leaves are commonly used for diabetes in Mali. This pilot clinical study aimed to evaluate its effect on post-prandial blood glucose in preparation for a larger trial.
Methods: Diabetic patients and non-diabetic healthy volunteers (35 each) were asked to fast for 13 hours on three occasions. Blood glucose was measured before and after eating 100g of white bread (at 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 minutes). On their second and third study visits, they were given 1g and 2g respectively, of M. oleifera leaf powder, 30 minutes after eating the bread. The mean paired reduction in blood glucose at each time interval and the incremental area under the curve were calculated.
Results: Ingestion of Moringa powder had no effect on blood glucose in non-diabetic participants, but in diabetic patients, it lowered blood glucose at 90 minutes. There was a trend towards lower incremental area under the curve when diabetic patients took 2g of Moringa. No side-effects were reported by any participant.
Conclusions: Moringa oleifera leaf powder reduced post-prandial glycaemia in diabetic patients. A larger study is needed to define the optimal dose and to assess whether this translates into longer-term benefits
PERCEPTION AND WILLINGNESS TO THE UPTAKE OF COVID-19 VACCINE AMONG HOUSEHOLD-HEADS IN A RURAL COMMUNITY OF SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIA
Full text linkBackground: The COVID-19 pandemic and its vaccine have been met with varying perceptions that may have both negative and positive effects on the willingness to uptake the COVID-19 vaccine. The study is set to determine the perception and willingness of the household heads to the uptake of COVID-19 vaccine in a rural community in Southwestern, Nigeria.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 409 household heads selected through a multistage sampling technique. The instrument of data collection was a semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire using the Health Belief model constructs. Data were analyzed with IBM SPSS version 21.0 and Pearson's Chi-square test was used to determine the association between perception and willingness to uptake vaccine. P<0.05 was taken as significant at 95% confidence interval.
Results: The majority of the unvaccinated respondents in the study were not willing to take the COVID-19 vaccine (60.1%). There was a poor perception of the susceptibility/severity of unvaccinated respondents to COVID-19 infection and a poor perception of the benefit/barrier to the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine. Perception of susceptibility and severity of COVID-19 infection were statistically related to the willingness to uptake the COVID-19 vaccine.
Conclusion: There should be an increase in awareness campaigns to change the perception of people positively to COVID-19 infection and uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine
REVISITING THE EBOLA EPIDEMIC IN WEST AFRICA: THE ROLE OF EMOTIONAL DETERMINANTS IN PUBLIC RESPONSES
Full text linkBackground: The 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic was largely restricted to the three nations of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, yet it tested the world’s ability to address a potential global pandemic. This study provides an in-depth examination of the role of emotions in the response to the outbreak and engagement with public health measures, and the contextual factors which influenced them.
Methods: Historical research methods were utilised in the examination of primary and secondary sources. A multi-faceted SPEECH (Society and Politics, Economy, Epidemiology, Culture, Healthcare and Public Health) framework was developed to aid data synthesis and analysis.
Results: The outbreak occurred in a region still reeling from years of civil war, where poverty was widespread and healthcare severely underfunded. Internationally, global health security had been politically neglected. After a slow start, the international response to the outbreak was strong, yet the lack of community engagement and inadequate consideration of local culture and traditional beliefs, fueled fear and hindered engagement with professionals and uptake of public health measures. Improved collaboration and communication with rural communities in the latter phases of the response was crucial in effectively addressing the outbreak.
Conclusion: This study illustrates the importance of effective collaboration between international crisis responders, in-country public health practitioners and local communities in addressing public emotional responses to the Ebola outbreak. It highlights how community engagement and communications tactics can effectively be utilised to soothe and educate the public, abating counterproductive extreme emotional responses, and in turn improving uptake of public health measures
IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV IN MADAGASCAR: A SARS-COV2 SERO-PREVALENCE SURVEY
Full text linkBackground: In Madagascar, no study has reported the impact of COVID-19 on people living with HIV (PLHIV). The present work aimed to analyze the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Malagasy PLHIV before and during the three waves of COVID-19 pandemic.This is a retrospective study.
Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective serological survey in PLHIV followed up for HIV viral load (VL) monitoring at the Centre d’Infectiologie Charles Mérieux Madagascar (CICM) between June 2019 and April 2022. The presence of IgM and/or IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein was detected using a rapid diagnostic test (COVID-PRESTO®).
Results: A seroprevalence of 2.5% was found in the 877 patients tested before March 2020, compared to 25.4% (512/2,011) between March 2020 and April 2022. This seroprevalence was 21.7%, 22.3% and 60.1% after the first, second and third waves of COVID-19, respectively. We observed a marginally significant difference (p = 0.043) in SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence between patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) (27.5%) and those who were not (23.7%). No statistically significant difference was observed between PLHIV with undetectable HIV VL (27.4%) and the different detectable VL categories (p>0.05).
Conclusions: Our data show the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 among PLHIV as early as December 2019 in Madagascar. At least 25.4% (512/2,011) of Malagasy PLHIV have been in contact with SARS-CoV-2 since March 2020. There is no significant relation between HIV-1 VL and SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence. Additional studies with more robust assays in the general population are needed for a detailed knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 impact in Madagascar
ETIOLOGIES OF INFECTIONS IN DIABETIC PATIENTS HOSPITALIZED AT BOUAKE UNIVERTY TEACHING HOSPITAL
Full text linkBackground: Diabetic infections are frequent and the etiologies are multiple. The present study aims to identify the etiologies of the infections of the diabetic patient hospitalized in the University Teaching Hospital of Bouake in Côte d’Ivoire.
Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted in the Internal Medicine Department from January 2019 to December 2020. The study population consisted of hospitalized and infected diabetic patients. Of this study population we included in the study 136 patients. Data analysis was done with Epi Info 7.2.3.1 software.
Results: The prevalence of infection in hospitalized diabetics was 75.1%. The mean age of the patients was 52 ± 13.4 years. The sex ratio was 0.7. Diabetes was incidentally discovered in 50% and type 2 diabetes (88.2%) predominated. The reasons for hospitalization were dominated by ketoacidosis (58.1%), glycemic imbalance (19.1%) and hyperosmolar hyperglycemia syndrome (10.3%). Fever was present in 41.2% of cases. The infectious foci were urinary tract infections (29.4%), pneumopathies (28.7%), malaria (21.3%), skin infections (13.2%) and the undetermined focus (7.3%). The infectious focus was unique in 90.4%. The germs identified were plasmodium (21.3%), Escherichia coli (8.8%), staphylococcus (8.3%), yeasts (8.3%) and Enterobacter (6.7%). Beta-lactams (75.6%) were the most prescribed anti-infective treatment. Mortality was 14.7% related to type 1 diabetes (p=0.001), duration of diabetes greater than 5 years (p=0.005), hospitalization latency greater than 7 days (p=0.001), mucocutaneous focus (p=0.005) and Undetermined foci (p=0.001).
Conclusion: Diabetic infections are frequent and the etiologies are varied. They must be systematically sought in hospitalized diabetic
COVID-19; THE NEED FOR INCREASED RECOGNITION OF CUTANEOUS MANIFESTATIONS
Full text linkIt has been over three years since the first case of covid-19 was discovered in Wuhan, China. Since then there have been a lot of discussions around symptoms and sequelae of covid-19 such as respiratory, cardiac, and neurology problems. However, not a lot of attention has been drawn to skin manifestations of this disease despite the fact that the prevalence of covid-19 associated skin lesions could be as high as 20% in some countries
ASSOCIATION OF BLOOD TYPE AND MORTALITY OF COVID-19: A HOSPITAL-BASED STUDY IN NATIONAL REFERRAL HOSPITAL, INDONESIA
Full text linkBackground: The ABO blood type plays an important role in various diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular, and certain communicable and non-communicable diseases. However, there is currently little definite evidence between COVID-19 with ABO blood types.
Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between ABO blood type and the mortality of patients infected with COVID-19 in a national referral hospital, Indonesia.
Methods: This study used a retrospective cohort. The research sample was COVID-19 patients who were in Dr. M. Djamil Hospital Padang. The number of samples in this study was 93 subjects. Data analysis was performed using the Chi-square test. P < 0.05 was significant, and the data were analyzed using the SPSS version 21.0 program.
Results: The results of this study found the percentage of mortality of COVID-19 patients was higher for blood group O (46.2%), followed by AB (41.7%), B (26.3%), and A (13.9%). There was a relationship between blood type and mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients (p <0.05), where blood type O had the highest risk (OR = 5.31, 95% CI 1.57-17.98) followed by blood type AB (OR = 4.43, 95% CI 1.01-19.58).
Conclusion: This study confirmed there was a relationship between blood type and mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, where blood type O had the highest risk followed by blood type AB