Summary:This study was designed to determine the effects of cigarette Smoking on intra ocular pressure and arterial blood pressure of normotensive young male adults. Fifty male students (who met the screening conditions and devoid of obvious ocular pathology and systemic diseases and nonsmokers) had their intra ocular pressure (IOP) measured with a schiotz tonometer and blood pressure(BP) measured with standard syphgmomanometer respectively prior to smoking of two sticks of cigarette each day for one month and thereafter. The result showed a significant (P< 0.01] effect on the intra ocular pressure with a mean control of 37.760.98 for both eyes and test of 41.930.98. Cigarette smoking increased the blood pressure from mean control of 197.240.88 to 208.460.82. The increase of both intra ocular pressure and arterial blood pressure was due to nicotine, the principal constituent of cigarette. It is recommended that health care workers should check regularly the IOP and BP of their cigarette smoking patients for early diagnoses of ocular hypertension (glaucoma) and hypertension.

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Purpose: Accommodative-convergence mechanism failure could occur in non presbyopic HIV- sero positive patients on Highly Active Anti-Retroviral  Therapy (HAART). This could be due to either direct neuronal infection by HIV, pathologic changes of the lens or the ciliary body or adverse effects of some individual drugs constituting the HAART regimen on the cranial nerves which play vital roles in the mechanism of accommodation and convergence. Case report: This is a case report of an accommodative- convergence mechanism failure in HIV positive non presbyopic 32-year-old male patient  that was on HAART for more than five years. He presented with distance visual acuity (VA) of OD: 6/9 +2, OS: 6/9, and near visual acuity (NVA) of N24 both eyes, 3Δ esophoria at distance and 4Δ esophoria at near. Amplitude of accommodation (AA) was 3.50D and accommodative  convergence/accommodation (AC/A) ratio was 6/1. Following comprehensive evaluation, his refractive correction was OD: Plano/-0.50DC X 180 6/5 and OS: Plano/-0.50DC X 90 6/5 at distance with near addition (Add) 2.50D N5. This was prescribed for regular wear in form of D-Top bifocal lens. Conclusion: These findings showed that HIV sero-positive adults on HAART could develop accommodativeconvergence mechanism failure, which may be characterized by low amplitude of accommodation, receded near point of convergence and high non presbyopic reading addition. These conditions may be under-recognized and need for reading addition of a non presbyopic age is often overlooked. Key Words: Accommodative-Convergence, HIV, Lateral Phoria, Refractive error.

Onchocerciasis also known as river blindness is a chronic parasitic disease caused by the filarial worm Onchocerca volvulus. This study was a cross sectional experimental study carried out to compare the diagnostic methods used in detecting river blindness in selected endemic areas of Imo state, Nigeria. The multistage sampling technique was adopted to select samples for the study. All subjects used for this study gave an informed consent to be part of the study. Bloodless skin snips were collected from the center of the nodule or other parts of the body with the assistance of a laboratory scientist and taken to the laboratory for analysis. A total of four hundred inhabitants of the studied communities (Umulolo, Amuro, Umuna, Umunumo, Onicha, Nzerem, Umuneke and Umulewe) were examined. Out of these, the number infected by onchocerca volvulus based on Skin-Snip Microscopy, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), Mazzotti test, Dietylcarbamazine (DEC) patch test and Enzyme linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) test were 59, 197, 50, 107, 201 respectively. SPSS analysis using the one way ANOVA showed a significance difference (P< 0.05) in the sensitivity of the PCR, Skin Snip Microscopy, Mazzotti, DEC Patch test and ELISA used for detecting Onchocerca volvulus in all the study areas. In conclusion, the diagnostic screening efficiency of ELISA and PCR were observed to be higher than that of the other diagnostic methods analyzed. It was recommended that further evidence-based, comparative research studies on current and conventional diagnostic methods should be done to ascertain reliability, reproducibility, sensitivity and accuracy of methods used for detecting River Blindness. Keywords: River Blindness, Onchocerciasis, Skin-Snip Microscopy, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), ELISA test.