Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic heralded an unprecedented race to the development of several vaccine candidates at record speeds never seen in global health. Within nine months, Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine was approved by the United States FDA. Unfortunately, while these advances were ongoing, there was a burgeoning epidemic of disinformation about the virus and the vaccines that affected the willingness of people, especially minority groups, to get vaccinated. In Nigeria, this wave of vaccine hesitancy was happening against the backdrop of landmark pharmaceutical litigations such as the 2007 Pfizer trovafloxacin lawsuit in the country. Aim: To assess the determinants of the COVID-19 vaccine's acceptability among Nigerians. Materials and methods: Following ethical approval, a population-based cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2020 to January 2021 using an adapted pretested, self-administered questionnaire originally designed by Amyn Malik and colleagues who conducted a similar study at Yale University School of Public Health. The participants were recruited through simple random sampling using a list of community and corporate sites obtained from Google Maps in the three regional zones of Nigeria (north, east, and west) in diverse occupational and residential settings. Information obtained includes socio-demographics, medical history related to COVID-19, level of knowledge, risk perception, and attitudes toward COVID-19 and the vaccines. Descriptive and inferential statistics were done, and results were summarized into percentages and associations. The level of statistical significance was set at a p-value of <0.05. Using the open EpiR package (Emory), we determined a minimum of 340 participants for a statistical power of 80%. Results: A total of 358 responses were obtained out of the 120 questionnaires distributed in each of the three regions, of which 189 (53%) were females. The mean age of respondents was 32 years (±11.2 SD). About 75% of the participants had at least a college education. The majority (66.2%) of the participants were willing to accept the approved vaccine. The mean risk perception score for COVID-19 was 5.1 (±2.2 SD) out of 10, while the mean COVID-19 symptom knowledge score was 8.6 (±4.1 SD) out of 19. Variables such as being male, identifying as Christian, Hausa ethnicity, and living in northern Nigeria had a statistically significant relationship with the willingness to get vaccinated. Conclusion: Over 60% of Nigerians are willing to take the COVID-19 vaccines if recommended by health workers. We found male gender, religion, ethnicity, and geographical location to positively influence the willingness of Nigerians to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Health workers should be supported to go beyond the confines of the hospital to educate the general public in schools, marketplaces, churches, and corporate organizations on the efficacy and safety of the approved vaccines.
HIV/AIDS is associated with systemic immune dysfunction which makes the body susceptible to certain opportunistic infections and tumours. The advent of HAART his know to provide some desired improvement leading to altered patterns of clinical finding which includes the ocular manifestations Objective: To determine the socio-demographic association, frequency and types of ocular manifestations of HIV/AIDS in adult HIV positive patients in Enugu. Methods: This was a hospital-based cross-sectional descriptive study. It comprised 331 randomly selected and consenting adult HIV positive patients on Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) at the retroviral disease clinic of UNTH Enugu, Nigeria. They had slit lamp examination of the anterior and posterior segment. Data was obtained using an interviewer administered semi-structured questionnaire. Data analysis was with SPSS version 21. Their demographic data, frequency and pattern of ocular manifestations were presented in frequency and percentages. A p-value of < 0.05 was used to define statistical significance at 95% confidence interval. Results: The hospital prevalence of HIV related ocular manifestations was 18.4%. HIV microangiopathy was the commonest (18.8%). Posterior segment ocular manifestations were the commonest (37.7%) observed class of HIV ocular manifestations. Of those with HIV related ocular manifestations, only 33.3% had a previous history of eye problem. There was no statistically significant association between the socio-demographic variables and the ocular findings. Conclusion: Pharmacotherapy has altered the overall clinical course of HIV/AIDS. However, HIV related ocular manifestations are still common, though no association was found between the demographic variables of the population and the ocular findings. We recommend that all patients on follow up in for HIV/AIDS should continue to adhere strictly to recommended HAART regimen.
AimTo assess the degree and determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine among NigeriansMaterials and methodsFollowing appropriate ethical protocol, a population-based cross-sectional study conducted from November 2020 to January 2021 using a pretested, self-administered questionnaire from a previous study adapted to suit the Nigeria setting and distributed among Nigerians aged 18 years and above. The country was grouped in to three regions: East, North and West representing the major ethnic groups in Nigeria. Participants were recruited based on six different catchments: residential, marketplace recreational areas, cooperate organizations, schools, and Faith-based organizations. Information obtained include socio-demographics, medical history related pertinent to COVID-19, level of knowledge, risk perception, and attitudes towards of COVID-19 and the vaccine amongst others. Descriptive and inferential statistics were done on the variables and results were summarized into percentages and associations noted.ResultsA total of 358 responses were obtained out of the 120 questionnaires distributed in each of the three regions of which. The mean age of respondents was 32years (± 11.2SD). Igbo and Yoruba were the major ethnic groups comprising 38% and 31% of study participants respectively. Three-quarter had tertiary education, 43% of them were civil servants and professionals, 34% of them were unemployed, and 8.9% of them were roadside traders. Majority (66.2%) were willing to accept the approved vaccine with male gender, identifying as Christian, Hausa ethnicity and living in the northern Nigeria had a significant positive association with COVID-19 vaccine uptake.Conclusiontwo out of three Nigerian adults indicated interest in accepting the corona virus vaccine. This calls with critical stakeholders and leaders at all levels to be involved in public education based on sound evidence and the discouragement of the spread of conspiracy theories to eliminate the negative associated factors will reduce vaccine hesitancy and increase COVID-19 vaccination rates in Nigeria.
Background: Primary Open Angle Glaucoma has been noted to be more prevalent and aggressive in blacks. Treatment of glaucoma involves lowering of intraocular pressure (IOP) to a targeted level where further glaucomatous damage is unlikely. The aim of this study was to determine sociodemographic factors and clinical history among primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) patients on medical treatment at the glaucoma clinic of Enugu State University of Science and Technology Teaching Hospital Parklane (ESUTTHP), Enugu with a view for better patient management. Methods: The study was a hospital based cross sectional study on POAG patients on medical treatment attending the eye clinic of ESUTTHP, Enugu. Patients were selected by simple random sampling. Their socio-demographics and clinical history were obtained using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 20 (U.S.A). Categorical variables were presented in percentages. Results: A total of 130 POAG patients on medical treatment were interviewed comprising of 56 males (43.1%) and 74 females (56.9%). Their age ranged between 42 and 83 years with mean age of 62.25 ± 9.002. Civil servants made up of 27.7% of the patients while 26.9% were traders, 16.2% were farmers and 9.2% were artisans. One hundred patients were on prostaglandin analogues, 90 patients were on beta blockers, 31 patients were on topical carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, 20 patients were on alpha agonist while 2 patients were on miotics. These drugs were used either singly or in combination. Ninety-five of the patients (72.1%) reported they were using their drugs regularly while 35 (26.9%) reported they were not using their drugs regularly. Out of those that do not use their drugs regularly, 62.9% reported that it was due to forgetfulness, 40.0% reported that it was due to limited finances and none of the patients reported that it was due to the side effects of the drug. Approximately, 66.2% of the patients had used drugs for 1 - 5 years with the mean duration of treatment being 4.5±3.36 years. About half (57.7%) of the patients did not have family history of glaucoma, 30% of the patients had family history of glaucoma while 17.3% were not sure of any family history of glaucoma). Conclusion: The study revealed that greater number of the patients suffering from glaucoma were women and civil servants. Majority of the patients use their drugs regularly and higher number of the patients do not have family history of glaucoma. Women, civil servants and the entire society should check their eyes with ophthalmologists regularly to avert the danger associated with glaucoma.
Aim: To determine the prevalence, pattern and impact of colour vision defects among public secondary school students in Enugu, Nigeria with a view to guiding the affected students on appropriate career choice. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among students attending public secondary schools in Enugu-East Local Government Area, Enugu state. A total of 950 students (361 males, 589 females) were selected by multistage sampling. The students were assessed for colour vision using Ishihara 38 plate edition and Farnsworth D-15 colour caps. An interviewer-administered structured questionnaire was used to obtain the socio-demographic data and impact of colour vision on colour-related school tasks and activities of daily living. Data was analysed using statistical package foe social sciences, version 20. Result: The age of the students ranged from 10-20 years with mean age of 14.2 ± 1.9 years. Eleven (1.2%) students were found to have colour vision defect out of whom 9 were boys and 2 were girls, 6 (54.5%) were deutan and 5 (45.5%) were protan. No tritan defect was detected. Greater percentages of the students with colour vision defect had difficulties with colour-related school tasks and daily activities when compared to those with normal colour vision. Conclusion: Colour vision defect may affect students’ performance in colour-related school tasks and activities of daily living. Therefore, early detection of colour vision defect is important so as to guide in the choice of future career
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