Honey is a sweet substance made by bees using nectar from flowers. Honey is of different types, but the Apis mellifera is the one most commonly used, consumed by people and collected by bee keepers. The flower from which bees gather nectar, determines the colour, chemical composition, flavour and aroma of the honey. The use of honey in folk medicine has been practiced since ancient times and has more recently been rediscovered by medical researchers for its use in dressing acute and chronic wounds, particularly where conventional modern therapeutic agents have failed. The wound healing property of honey is due to its antibacterial activity; the ability to maintain a moist wound condition, the high sugar content which hinders microbial growth, the high viscosity which help in providing a protective barrier to prevent infection, the immunomodulatory property which helps in wound repair, the enzymatic production of hydrogen peroxide and the high osmolarity which draws fluid out of the wound bed to enable an outflow of lymph, as occurs with negative pressure wound therapy. Different scientists reported honey, as having one of the most powerful inhibitory effect with regard to sixty species of bacteria. Although the inhibitory activity of honey has been established against wide spectrum of bacteria, it differs depending on the type of honey. Under different concentrations, honey has been reported to be active against a number of bacterial pathogens such as (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella, Salmonella, Shigella, Enterobacter and Coagulase positive/ negative Staphylococcus etc.) isolated from wounds.

Antibiotic discovery continue to play a critical role in disease containment. Misuse and overuse of these drugs are the main drivers in the development of drug resistant pathogens. The World Health Organisation has declared that Antimicrobial resistance is one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity. There is the fears that if nothing is done, it might end the antibiotic era soon. In 2017 alone, over 9000 human deaths were caused by ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae in the USA. The ability of bacteria to develop newer strategies to acquire and disseminate resistance, can be traced as far back to 1940s when (R-factor) plasmid mediated antibiotic resistance was observed. They become resistant via the production of 𝛽-Lactamases and ESBLs enzymes which inactivate or modify antibiotics. Extended Spectrum 𝛽-Lactamases are enzymes whose rates of hydrolysis of the extended-spectrum 𝛽-Lactam antibiotics are >10 % than that for benzylpenicillin. Some bacteria may produce multiple ß-lactamases, which may reduce the effectiveness of ß-lactam/ ß-lactamase inhibitor combinations. These enzymes are susceptible to inhibition by 𝛽-Lactam inhibitors such as clavulanic acid, tazobactam, or sulbactam but have no hydrolytic activity against cephamycins and carbapenems. The production of acquired 𝛽-Lactamase and ESBL makes the choice of antibiotic treatment of infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria very limited, these have been the major causes of treatment failures, outbreaks of both community and hospital acquired infections, surgical failures, long hospital stay and huge economic losses, which continue to claim uncountable lives, especially in Nigeria and Africa where the health system are weak. The emergence of drug resistannt strains may be minimized by maintaining high levels of the drug in the tissues to inhibit mutants, administering two drugs that do not give cross-resistance, and by limiting the use of valuable second line ‘reserve drugs’ such .....

The rising cases of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and cervical cancer cases in Nigeria are alarming. Only a few studies have looked at secondary school students in Nigeria’s understanding of HPV infection and vaccine acceptance, whereas earlier studies have mostly focused on screening. In this study, 400 students from two secondary schools in Kano State, Nigeria, were engaged with the aim of assessing their level of knowledge and attitudes regarding HPV infection. The study further seeks to understand the respondent’s opinion on HPV vaccination and sensitize them to the health effects of HPV infection, thereby communicating the findings to the authorities concerned with policy making. The study revealed that only 128 (32%) and 142 (35.5%) respondents have knowledge about HPV and cervical cancer, respectively. Furthermore, none of the respondents were administered the HPV vaccine, with 81% of them not ready to take the vaccine. It was observed that the majority of the respondents (91%) believed that early hospital visits could help in mitigating HPV or cervical cancer cases. Following their sensitization, the respondents were observed to have different levels of satisfaction, ranging from very satisfied and satisfied to not satisfied. Effective awareness creation amongst students as well as parents is therefore essential in HPV vaccination projects, as well as in reducing the burden of cervical cancer in Nigeria.

No abstract

For quite a long time, mainly due to fewer treatment options, Clindamycin have been regarded as an alternative drug to effectively manage all Staphylococcus aureus infections. Strains with inducible clindamycin resistance (iMLSB phenotype) raise concerns because therapeutic failure may occur during treatment. Clindamycin is mostly regarded in treating serious infections that cannot be treated by other antibiotics, as it may cause colitis or mild diarrhea. A double disc diffusion test (D-test) for detecting inducible resistance to clindamycin in erythromycin-resistant methicillin-resistant S. aureus was performed by placing a 15µg erythromycin disc in proximity to a 2µg clindamycin disc in adjacent positions. For erythromycin-resistant isolates, D-test can help to determine whether clindamycin could be used as a therapeutic option (reported as susceptible when the D-test is negative or reported as resistant when the D-test is positive). Twenty (20) out of the 30 (thirty) isolates collected were confirmed to be determined by D-test as per CLSI guidelines. Fifteen (15) isolates were D-test Negative, 5 were resistant to both Erythromycin and Clindamycin, and none was D-test positive. D-test should be included as a mandatory method in routine disc diffusion testing to detect inducible clindamycin resistance in staphylococci for the optimum treatment of patients.