Accurate and complete maps are a necessary part of an effective polio microplan, and tracking vaccinators gives supervisors a tool to ensure that all settlements are visited.

Background: Despite the availability of an effective vaccine, measles outbreaks continue to occur. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a confirmed outbreak of measles is defined as if any 3 or more of blood specimens collected from a local government area (LGA) and within one month, having reached the laboratory in good condition, is IgM positive. This paper describes the outbreak investigation in two rural communities in a southwestern state in Nigeria.Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study design. The outbreak investigation was conducted by a team of multi-disciplinary experts. Detailed case investigation of index cases, active case finding, vaccination coverage surveys and social mobilization activities were carried out. Descriptive analysis was using Microsoft excel and quantum geographic information system (GIS) was used to represent cases geographically.Results: A total of 42 measles cases were detected based on the WHO measles case definition. Blood samples were collected from 12 of the suspected cases for IgM determination, out of which 7 cases were IgM+. Majority of cases were <5 years old. Sixty-nine percent of the cases had received Measles vaccine. Socio-cultural and traditional beliefs were not unconnected to the poor uptake of vaccination.Conclusions: We confirmed the occurrence of measles outbreaks in Akotogbo and Ala-Elefosu communities, in Ondo State. Both communities had suboptimal measles vaccination coverages, highlighting the need to strengthen routine immunization (RI) services but also immediately addressing the sociocultural factors responsible for poor health seeking behavior and utilization of RI and primary health care (PHC) services.

Background: There is no doubt that COVID_19 has impacted on all facets of human activities everywhere, including ONDO state, Nigeria. However, empirical evidence of the extent of this impact in ONDO is lacking. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of COVID_19 epidemic on the utilization of hospital services & determine the existence of community transmission of COVID_19 in ONDO state using a proxy “Respiratory Tract Infections, RTIs”.Methods: The study used resident clinicians to conduct peer review of hospital utilization records. The review was retrospectively for the months of January to May for four consecutive years (2018 to 2021). The team reviewed outpatient records from 11 health facilities before the advent of COVID_19 (2018) to date (2021). Thousands of such records were scrutinized to reveal six parameters: number of antenatal visits; number of live births and total number of infants served BCG; number RDTs conducted for Malaria, number of RTIs seen and total number of patients for all other illnesses. Results: Results showed a decline in all parameters investigated except RTIs. Indeed, the proportion of RTIs - related hospital visits increased by about 22.8%.Discussion: The decline in the utilization of hospital services is expected given the lock down measures implemented to halt transmission of COVID_19 that makes it difficult to access health facilities. The rise in the incidence of RTIs may probably be that, they were COVID cases that were undetected due to limited COVID_19 testing capacity.Conclusion: The study concludes that COVID_19 epidemic impacted negatively on all aspect of hospital services except RTIs. The increment is statistically significant. As the most prominent of all symptoms of COVID_19 presents as respiratory tract disorder, a continued rise in RTIs despite declining rates of confirmed COVID19 cases in the state at the moment suggests that, there’s an ongoing community transmission.

BackgroundThe SARS-CoV-2, the novel virus which causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has changed the world. No aspect of humanity is untouched from health, aviation, service industry, politics, economy, education, and entertainment to social and personal lives, since the outbreak of influenza-like illness in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The Lagos State COVID-19 response team deployed enhanced surveillance through Active Case Search (ACS) for Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) at health facilities and communities in the 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Lagos State. Lagos State was the first state in Nigeria to deploy this specific surveillance strategy for Nigeria’s COVID-19 response. MethodsWe utilized descriptive and quantitative approaches to describe and assess the impact of the Active Case Search (ACS) for Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) in health facilities and communities in 20 LGAs of Lagos State between 1st April and 15th May 2020.ResultsWe found a significant difference in mean scores of suspected COVID-19 cases (M=60, SD=109, before ACS for ARI compared to M=568, SD=732, after ACS for ARI, P=0.0039), confirmed cases (M=10, SD=19, before ACS for ARI compared to M=144, SD=187, after ACS for ARI, P=0.0028) and contacts (M=56, SD=116, before ACS for ARI compared to M=152, SD=177, after ACS for ARI, P=0.044) before and after ACS for ARI in 20 LGAs of Lagos State, between 1st April and 15th May 2020.ConclusionThe deployment of the Lagos State government’s polio-eradication structure for the COVID-19 response is both innovative and effective. The response to COVID-19 requires robust surveillance, credible and timely communication, collaboration, coordination among government, inter-governmental organizations (e.g., WHO), non-governmental organizations, and citizens to succeed and limit the medical, economic, social, and personal losses to the COVID-19 pandemic.