Background Sex workers, like others, are facing economic hardships and anxiety about their health and safety due to coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), an infectious disease caused by a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Universally, most sex work has largely reduced, moved online, or undertaken covertly because of lockdown measures and need for social distancing to break the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. However, the ability of sex workers to protect themselves against COVID-19 depends on their individual and interpersonal behaviors and work environment. In this study, we sought to determine the relationships between COVID-19 knowledge, awareness and prevention practice (KAP) among female commercial sex workers (FCSW) in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria to inform the development of prevention interventions for this vulnerable population. Methods Data used in this study were obtained from a cross-sectional survey of 604 FCSW operating in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. We used descriptive and inferential statistics to assess their socio-demographic characteristics and COVID-19 KAP adopted against the novel coronavirus. Latent class analysis was used to systematically classify participants’ attributes and behaviors into the most likely distinct clusters or risk groups. Results The majority of the FCSW were singles (86.8%) of childbearing ages, 21–35 years (86.2%), with almost three quarters (73.2%) of them having sex with 3–4 clients per day during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, almost three quarters of the participants had both good knowledge and awareness about COVID-19 but less than half of them (41.1%) implemented good practice to prevent the spread of the disease. However, a highly significant and positive relationship was recorded between COVID-19 knowledge ( r =0.90, p <0.0001) and awareness ( r =0.65, p <0.0001), and preventive practice of FCSW, respectively. About 89.1% of the participants were not very familiar with the symptoms of COVID-19 (p<0.0001). Only 10.9% of the FCSW indicated that they wear facemask at all times, while 45.2% of them do not wear facemask during sexual intercourse with their clients ( p <0.0001). Based on the FCSW attributes and behaviors, we identified three distinct clusters or risk groups (p<0.0001), namely, low-risk takers (Cluster 1), high-risk takers (Cluster 2) and very high-risk takers (Cluster 3) with latent class prevalence rates (γ c ) of 41.13% (95% CI: 37.26–45.10), 33.17% (95% CI: 29.53–37.02) and 25.71% (95% CI: 22.38–29.34), respectively. Conclusion Sex work has high transmission potentials for SARS-CoV-2 because of its operational nature, which does not permit social distancing, and thus, renders certain preventive measures practically ineffective. This is a major c...

Purpose: Parturients in the Sub-Saharan African are susceptible to malaria disease due to their reduced immunity during pregnancy. Asymptomatic placental malaria causes neonatal and maternal mortalities, preterm deliveries as well as low birth weight babies. Current studies on malaria in pregnancy indicated that the risk factors are location specific, and there are limited studies in Nigeria on asymptomatic placental malaria and pregnancy outcome (babies birth weight and delivery term). The purpose of this study was to determine the association between asymptomatic placental malaria infection and pregnancy outcome (baby’s birth weight and delivery term) among parturients in Asaba, Delta State, Nigeria. Methodology: Quantitative methodology with primary and secondary healthcare facility data from 483 subjects aged 18–49 years generated from four healthcare facilities between May and July 2021 was used for this study. The Socio-Ecological Model framework was used to describe how parturients can achieve enhanced pregnancy outcome through the utilization of multi-levels of supports to enhance the compliance of pregnant women to the existing malaria interventions. The research questions and hypotheses were tested with the binomial logistic regression. Result:  The findings showed a statistically significant association between baby’s birth weight, delivery term and placental malaria parasitemia (PMP), in the study population. Also, the identified risk factor for baby’s birth weight in this study was gravidae, while that of delivery term was age groups, gravidae, ITN frequent use and ANC attendance. Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: The findings of this study could inform malaria control policymaking in Asaba and Delta State on tracking and treating asymptomatic malaria among underserved pregnant women accessing antenatal services to improve baby’s birth weight, delivery term, and the associated complications.

Background: There has been a growing concern about the health of people exposed to cement dust. Objective: This study was aimed at assessing the effect of cement dust on inflammatory markers on cement loaders with different duration of hourly exposure. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study design conducted in Port Harcourt, Nigeria with 100 male cement workers grouped into 3 groups based on the hourly duration of cement dust exposure. Group 1 (27 subjects) was exposed to 1-5 daily hours; Group 2 (62 subjects), was exposed to 6-10 daily hours, and Group C (11 subjects), was exposed to more than 10 daily hours. The ELISA analysis of C-Reactive protein (CRP), IL-1β, and IL-10 was performed. The data generated were analyzed for mean and standard deviation by ANOVA. Results: The CRP levels were 5.42 ± 4.72; 6.71 ± 4.96 and 9.04 ± 8.83 in groups 1, 2, and 3 respectively. The p-value was 0.1771 implying no significant difference. The IL-10 levels were 15.72 ± 12.58; 12.23 ± 10.12 and 11.83 ± 8.88 in groups 1, 2, and 3 respectively. The p-value was 0.3421 implying no significant difference. The IL-1β levels were 3.81 ± 1.02; 3.63 ± 1.36 and 3.91 ± 1.21 in groups 1, 2, and 3 respectively. The p-value was 0.7031 implying no significant difference. Conclusion: The study has shown that hourly changes in exposure to cement dust don’t have an impact on the studied inflammatory markers among cement workers in Port Harcourt.

The study was aimed at evaluating the effect of cement dust exposure on cement loaders in Port Harcourt. The study was a cross sectional study which used convenient sampling size of 100 healthy male cement workers recruited in one cement depot and eight cement loading sites in Port Harcourt using simple random technique. Subjects were classified into three groups based on daily hour cement exposure; group 1 (1-5 hrs), group 2 (6-10 hrs) and group 3 (>10 hrs). Group 1 had 27 subjects, group 2 had 62 subjects and group 3 had 11 subjects. 4 ml of the venous blood was drawn into plain vacutainer bottles for the evaluation of Neuron specific Enolase, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A, and Total Antioxidant Status. ELISA method was used for the laboratory determination of VEGF-A and NSE while a colorimetric method was used for TAS estimation. Results showed TAS level among the classes was not significantly different (p=0.3304) and has the mean value of 2.02±0.40; 2.16±0.41 and 2.1 ±0.41 in groups 1, 2 and 3 respectively. VEGF-A level among the classes was not significantly different (p=0.7123) with mean value of 406.00 ±234.80; 439.60 ±369.40 and 361.00 ±171.00 in groups 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The mean value for NSE level among the groups (1, 2, and 3) were 3.78±1.49; 4.17±2.91 and 3.42±0.98 but there was no significantly difference (p=0.5551). This has shown that hourly exposure to cement dust among healthy cement workers does not have significant impact on cancer markers (VEGF-A, NSE and TAS). A higher timeframe assessment may provide a better picture of the effect of cement dust exposure since many diseases associated with cement dust exposure are chronic.

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