Background: In February 2020, Nigeria officially announced its first case of COVID-19. As numbers rose, government-led non-pharmaceutical interventions such as lockdowns, curfews, restrictions on mass gatherings and other physical distancing measures ensued, negatively affecting blood donor mobilisation activities. Objectives: We aimed to assess the blood service activities across 17 National Blood Service Commission (NBSC) centres in Nigeria, including number of blood donations, mobile blood drives, blood units screened, screening outcomes, number of hospitals NBSC provided services to and number of blood units discarded over the study period. Materials and Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on blood services in 17 NBSC centres in Nigeria, comparing from January–December 2019 (pre-COVID-19) to January–December 2020 (peri-COVID-19). Results: Mobile blood donation drives declined by 100% in the first 2 months following government-imposed lockdowns, the number of all blood donations and voluntary blood donations declined by 9.8%. The number of blood units screened declined by 11.9%, while the number of blood units that screened positive for transfusion-transmissible infections reduced by 28.6%. Discarded blood units reduced by 3.1%, while a 32.6% increase was observed in the number of hospitals that NBSC issued blood for transfusion. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic affected NBSC operations in Nigeria. However, by strengthening hospital linkages and employing innovative strategies, NBSC ensured continuity of operations, thereby significantly managing the challenges of COVID-19 to voluntary blood donor recruitment and the availability of safe blood for transfusion.

Background Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is an acquired defect of the cellular immunity associated with the infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The disease has reached pandemic proportion and has been considered a public health concern. This study is aimed at analyzing the trend of HIV/AIDS research in Nigeria. Method We used the PUBMED database to a conduct bibliometric analysis of HIV/AIDS-related research in Nigeria from 1986 to 2021 employing “HIV”, “AIDS”, “acquired immunodeficiency syndrome”, “Human immunodeficiency virus”, and “Nigeria” as search description. The most common bibliometric indicators were applied for the selected publications. Result The number of scientific research articles retrieved for HIV/AIDS-related research in Nigeria was 2796. Original research was the predominant article type. Articles authored by 4 authors consisted majority of the papers. The University of Ibadan was found to be the most productive institution. Institutions in the United States dominated external production with the University of Maryland at the top. The most utilized journal was PLoS ONE. While Iliyasu Z. was the most productive principal author, Crowel TA. was the overall most productive author with the highest collaborative strength. The keyword analysis using overlay visualization showed a gradual shift from disease characteristics to diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Trend in HIV/AIDS research in Nigeria is increasing yet evolving. Four articles were retracted while two had an expression of concern. Conclusion The growth of scientific literature in HIV/AIDS-related research in Nigeria was found to be high and increasing. However, the hotspot analysis still shows more unexplored grey areas in future.

Background: Several studies reveal abnormalities in liver function tests of COVID-19 patients. However, there are little data on African patients. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate liver function tests (LFT) in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infected patients admitted in Asokoro COVID-19 Isolation and Treatment Centre in Abuja, Nigeria. Patients, Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective study of 201 laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2-infected patients hospitalized in Asokoro District Hospital COVID-19 Isolation and Treatment Centre between April 10 and July 31, 2020. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were obtained, and the outcome measure was LFT abnormalities at presentation. Statistical analysis was done using IBM SPSS Version 24, with P < 0.05 considered statistically significant. Results: Patient median age was 39.3 years (IQR: 26–52); 65.7% were males and 33.8% were health workers. Approximately 49.2% of patients were overweight or obese. Hypertension (22.9%) and diabetes mellitus (7.5%) were the most common comorbidities and only 1% had a known history of liver disease. Abnormal LFTs were observed in 53% of patients (n = 106), most frequently elevated direct bilirubin (78.3%) and alanine aminotransferase (38.7%). Comorbidities were not found significantly associated with LFT abnormalities. Females (odds ratio [OR] = 0.367 P = 0.004 confidence interval [CI] 0.186–0.724) and patients aged 20–29 years (OR = 0.067 P = 0.043 [CI] 0.005–0.916) were found less likely to have abnormal LFTs. Conclusion: Regardless of clinical status at presentation, about half of SARS-CoV-2 patients admitted at the Asokoro Isolation and Treatment Centre in Abuja had abnormal LFT results. It is therefore recommended that LFT is included as a part of baseline investigations during the management of COVID-19 for improved outcomes.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic affected blood supplies globally. Mobile blood drive campaigns halted, and voluntary blood donations reduced, challenging available blood supplies. Furthermore, fears of virus transmission led to deferrals of elective surgeries and non-urgent clinical procedures with noticeable declines in blood donations and transfusions. Aims: We aimed to assess the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of blood donations and transfusions across the country by blood product type across various hospital departments. Materials and Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on blood services in 34 tertiary hospitals in Nigeria, comparing January to July 2019 (pre-COVID-19) to January to July 2020 (peri-COVID-19). Data were collected from the country's web-based software District Health Information System, Version 2 (DHIS2). Results: A 17.1% decline in numbers of blood donations was observed over the study period, especially in April 2020 (44.3%), a 21.7% decline in numbers of blood transfusions, especially in April 2020 (44.3%). The largest declines in transfusion were noted in surgery department for fresh frozen plasma (80.1%) [p = 0.012] and accident and emergency department transfusion of platelets (78.3%) [p = 0.005]. The least decline of statistical significance was observed in internal medicine transfusions of whole blood (19.6%) [p = 0.011]. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the numbers of blood donations and transfusions in Nigeria. Strengthening blood services to provide various blood components and secure safe blood supplies during public health emergencies is therefore critical.

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