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Typhoid fever treatment failure due to emergence of antibiotics resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi has become a matter of concern to public health sector. This study was aimed at investigating the in vitro antimicrobial activity of stem bark extracts of Azadirachta indica A. (JUSS) against antibiotic resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi isolates from stool samples of patients manifesting clinical features of typhoid fever. Fortyseven (47) isolates were identified as Salmonella sp. using conventional biochemical test, Microbact TM 12A/12E Gram-negative kits, and confirmed molecularly using ompC primers. Twelve (12) isolates out of the 47 were Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi identified serologically and confirmed molecularly using STY4220 primers. Antibiotics resistance profile of the Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi isolates showed that 12 (100%) were resistance to amoxicillin and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, 9 (75%) resistance to tetracycline, cotrimoxazole and cefotaxime, 6 (50%) resistance to ceftriaxone, 3 (25%) resistance to nitrofurantoin, 2 (17%) resistance to chloramphenicol, 1 (8%) resistance to ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin; while 12 (100%) were sensitive to nalidixic acid and imipenem. Qualitative phytochemical and spectroscopic analysis of Azadirachta indica stem bark extracts revealed the presence of tannins, alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins, phenolic and other organic compounds. At concentrations of 25-400 mg/ml, potency test of acetone and ethanolic bark extracts of the plant against the Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi isolates produced diameter zones of growth inhibition ranges from 18-35 mm and 15-31 mm respectively. The minimum inhibitory concentrations values of the extracts against the isolates also ranged from 50-100 mg/ml. It may be concluded from this results that the bark extracts of Azadirachta indica A. (JUSS) have good growth inhibitory effects against the antibiotics resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi and can be developed further for chemotherapeutic application.

Background: Nigeria and Rwanda are both developing countries located in Sub-Saharan Africa. They are differently endowed with natural and human resources but what does that translates into in terms of health care? This study aimed at a critical comparative analysis of selected health indicators of Nigeria and Rwanda(a country ravaged by genocide 16 years ago). Materials and Methods: I performed MEDLINE and bibliographic searches for English-language studies relevant to health indicators of Nigeria and Rwanda, including a search of non-indexed local journals. Personal observation and experience as Nigerian Technical Aid Corp Volunteer in Rwanda from May 2005 to May 2007 was also used. The information obtained included: demographic and socioeconomic data, mortality statistics, selected burden of diseases, health service coverage, risk factors for some diseases, health system resources and health expenditure of Nigeria and Rwanda. Results: The findings showed that most of the health indicators such as poverty index, life expectancy, child mortalities, immunisation coverage, contraceptive prevalence, access to improved drinking water, tuberculosis treatment success, hospital beds per population, among others of Rwanda are better than that of Nigeria despite the huge human and natural resources Nigeria is endowed with. Conclusion: There is need for concerted effort at the Federal, State and Local levels in Nigeria to harness the human and natural resources of the nations to improve on the health status of the people, and this should bemulti-sectoral, multi-dimensional and disciplinary in nature.

This study was carried out to determine the correlation between patients with wounds and isolated Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus in clinics at Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital, Kaduna, Nigeria. The Socio-demographic, medical and drug histories and characteristics of the wounds from each consented patient were taken using a questionnaire along with sixty samples of the patient’s wound swab samples. Isolation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus from the wound swab samples was carried out using standard phenotypic and genotypic procedures. Out of the 60 samples collected, 30 (50.0%) each were from general out-patient and inpatients. The higher percentage 12 (20.0%) and 39 (65.0%) were patients in the age group between 61 and above and male patients respectively. Regarding the patient’s occupations, the higher percentage 20 (33.3%) of the patients were businessmen and women. The patient’s wound location indicated that a higher percentage of 38 (63.3%) wounds were located on the leg. Also, only 13 (21.7%) patients had diabetes and 44 (73.3%) of the wound patients were receiving antimicrobials; the commonest being metronidazole 11 (18.33%), followed by mupirocin/Supirocin 9 (15.6%). A total of eleven isolates each of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus were isolated from the sixty wound swab samples of the in-and out-patients. Association between antimicrobial agents use and the organisms showed significant difference (P < 0.05), while the association between sex, diabetes status, duration of the wound and the isolation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus from the wound of patients showed no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05).