Stimulation and generation of T and B cell mediated long-term immune response is essential for the curbing of a deadly virus such as SAR-CoV-2. Immunoinformatics approach in vaccine design takes advantage of antigenic and non-allergenic epitopes present on the spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 to elicit immune responses. T cells and B cells epitopes were predicted, and the selected residues were subjected to allergenicity, antigenicity and toxicity screening which were linked by appropriate linkers to form a multi-epitope subunit vaccine. The physiochemical properties of the vaccine construct was analyzed and the molecular weight, molecular formula, theoretical isoelectric point value, half-life, solubility score, instability index, aliphatic index and GRAVY were predicted. The vaccine structure was constructed, refined, validated, and disulfide engineered to get the best model. Molecular binding simulation and molecular dynamics simulation were carried out to predict the stability and binding affinity of the vaccine construct with TLRs. Codon acclimatization and in silico cloning were performed to confirm the vaccine expression and potency. Results obtained indicated that this novel vaccine candidate is non-toxic, capable of initiating the immunogenic response and will not induce an allergic reaction. The highest binding energy was observed in TLR 4 (-1398.1) and the least is TLR 2 (-1479. 6). The steady rise in Th (helper) cell population with memory development was noticed and IFN-g was provoked after simulation. At this point, the vaccine candidate awaits animal trial to validate its efficacy and safety for use in the prevention of the novel COVID-19 infections.

Africa, challenges, COVID-19, implications, laboratory diagnosisThe COVID-19 infection has been a matter of urgency to tackle around the world today, there exist 200 countries around the world and 54 countries in Africa that the COVID-19 infection cases have been confirmed. This situation prompted us to look into the challenges African laboratories are facing in the diagnosis of novel COVID-19 infection. A limited supply of essential laboratory equipment and test kits are some of the challenges faced in combatting the novel virus in Africa. Also, there is inadequate skilled personnel, which might pose a significant danger in case there is a surge in COVID-19 infection cases. The choice of diagnostic method in Africa is limited as there are only two available diagnostic methods being used out of the six methods used globally, thereby reducing the opportunity of supplementary diagnosis, which will further lead to inappropriate diagnosis and affect the accuracy of diagnostic reports. Furthermore, challenges like inadequate power supply, the method used in sample collection, storage and transportation of specimens are also significant as they also pose their respective implication. From the observations, there is an urgent need for more investment into the laboratories for proper, timely, and accurate diagnosis of COVID-19.

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Zoonotic diseases occur as a result of human interactions with animals with the inadvertent transmission of pathogens from one to another. Zoonoses remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality among human populations, as they have been a source of pandemics in human history. Viral zoonoses account for a significant percentage of pathogens of zoonotic sources, posing a huge risk to men’s general health and fertility. This review identifies the existing knowledge on the effects of viral zoonotic diseases on male fertility. Evidence from reviewed articles showed that viral zoonotic diseases elicit an immune reaction that induces inflammatory mediators and impairs testicular functions such as spermatogenesis and steroidogenesis, leading to abnormal semen parameters that lead to subfertility/infertility. Although most zoonotic viruses linger in semen long after recovery, their presence in semen does not directly translate to sexual transmission. There is a need to further delineate the possible risk of the sexual transmission of these diseases. While a few of the viral zoonotic diseases discussed have been well-studied, there is a need to place attention on others so as to fully understand their effects on male reproduction and therefore take the right steps towards preserving male fertility.