Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), is an important global infection with a worldwide prevalence of about 40 percent. This infection is contagious and mostly acquired during childhood through the fecal-oral and oral-oral route. A total of 1560 blood specimens were aseptically collected from Internally Displaced Persons comprising female and male from the warring communities of Bakassi Peninsular and Etim Ekpo Local Government Area in South Southern, Nigeria. The specimens were screened for H. pylori using Elisa kits following standard serological techniques. The overall prevalence rate was 464 (29.7%). There was significant difference (p < 0.05) in the inter-community endemicity of H. pylori infection; its distribution varied between age group, educational status, habits or behaviors of the subjects with children within 5 to 14 years having the highest rate of 274 (17.6%), followed by 78 (4.99%) from adults (51 years and above) and 17 (1.08%) from active age range of 36-45 years old. Subjects with primary and quranic level of education showed a total of 274 (17.56%) positive cases to H. pylori. Analysis of sex-specific distribution revealed that females had the highest prevalence of 312 (20%). The helicobacter infection shows a significant difference at (p < 0.05) among the occupational groups of the subject. The study of habits such as smoking and snuffing consumption have been linked as risk factors with a prevalence rate of 11%, 12.4% respectively, while regular alcoholic drink was indicted as enhancing factor for H. pylori infection. Crowding in camps and increasing household contact have been considered as risk factors of H. pylori infection. Adequate infrastructural provision and availability of portable water with good hygienic environment will drastically reduce the high rate spread of H. pylori bacterium in the IDPs communities in Nigeria.

ImportanceThe number of deaths of children younger than 5 years has been steadily decreasing worldwide, from more than 17 million annual deaths in the 1970s to an estimated 5.3 million in 2019 (with 2.8 million deaths occurring in those aged 1-59 months [53% of all deaths in children aged &amp;lt;5 years]). More detailed characterization of childhood deaths could inform interventions to improve child survival.ObjectiveTo describe causes of postneonatal child deaths across 7 mortality surveillance sentinel sites in Africa and Asia.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThe Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) Network conducts childhood mortality surveillance in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia using innovative postmortem minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS). In this cross-sectional study, MITS was conducted in deceased children aged 1 to 59 months at 7 sites in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia from December 3, 2016, to December 3, 2020. Data analysis was conducted between October and November 2021.Main Outcomes and MeasuresThe expert panel attributed underlying, intermediate, and immediate conditions in the chain of events leading to death, based on histopathologic analysis, microbiological diagnostics, clinical data, and verbal autopsies.ResultsIn this study, MITS was performed in 632 deceased children (mean [SD] age at death, 1.3 [0.3] years; 342 [54.1%] male). The 6 most common underlying causes of death were malnutrition (104 [16.5%]), HIV (75 [11.9%]), malaria (71 [11.2%]), congenital birth defects (64 [10.1%]), lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs; 53 [8.4%]), and diarrheal diseases (46 [7.2%]). When considering immediate causes only, sepsis (191 [36.7%]) and LRTI (129 [24.8%]) were the 2 dominant causes. An infection was present in the causal chain in 549 of 632 deaths (86.9%); pathogens most frequently contributing to infectious deaths included Klebsiella pneumoniae (155 of 549 infectious deaths [28.2%]; 127 [81.9%] considered nosocomial), Plasmodium falciparum (122 of 549 [22.2%]), and Streptococcus pneumoniae (109 of 549 [19.9%]). Other organisms, such as cytomegalovirus (57 [10.4%]) and Acinetobacter baumannii (39 [7.1%]; 35 of 39 [89.7%] considered nosocomial), also played important roles. For the top underlying causes of death, the median number of conditions in the chain of events leading to death was 3 for malnutrition, 3 for HIV, 1 for malaria, 3 for congenital birth defects, and 1 for LRTI. Expert panels considered 494 of 632 deaths (78.2%) preventable and 26 of 632 deaths (4.1%) preventable under certain conditions.Conclusions and RelevanceIn this cross-sectional study investigating causes of child mortality in the CHAMPS Network, results indicate that, in these high-mortality settings, infectious diseases continue to cause most deaths in infants and children, often in conjunction with malnutrition. These results also highlight opportunities for action to prevent deaths and reveal common interaction of various causes in the path toward death.

Brucellosis is a re-emerging zoonotic disease that causes more than half a million infections to humans every year. The disease is common in most developing countries, the human mortality rate is about 2%, and the disease causes severe rheumatism, infertility in males, spontaneous abortion and also results in wastage of resources through prolonged treatment. Brucella organisms are also potential biological weapon which could be cheaper to produce but more devastating than chemical weapons. About 5 mililitres of blood was drawn from 228 subjects using sterile vacutainers and analyzed by using standard tube agglutination tests: (SAT 3 160) and ELISA (IgG, IgM) kits specific for Brucella abortus and Brucella melitensis antibodies. Semi structured questionnaire was administered to collect data. In the study, overall sero-prevalence was 70 (30.8%). More male participated in the study with a frequency of 24.6% of whom 7.92% falls within the age group of 20 to 30, followed by 31 -35 years with 5.72% and 3.52% within 36 -45 years. Least affected were those in the age groups above 46 years (2.20%). Approximately, 21.54% of the subjects had formal education either at Quranic, primary and secondary or tertiary level. Majority acquired Quranic education (9.68%), 7.48% primary and 0.88% had tertiary training. A total of 21 (9.24%) never acquired any form of education. Headache, muscle aches, malaise, chills and fatigue were the most common clinical signs and symptoms experienced by about 30% among the participants. In the distribution of Brucella antibodies, ELISA diagnostic kits showed high sensitivity with the prevalence rate of 18.04% (n = 41) followed by SAT 12.76% (n = 29). The sensitivity and specificity of RDPT kits were 37 % and 69%, with a positive and negative predictive value of 18% and 86% respectively. Unprocessed milk from the market and consumption of unboiled milk were associated with brucellosis. There-How to cite this paper: Owowo, fore, patients with brucellosis should be treated to prevent the devastating effect of the disease and the accompanying sequelae, public health education programs should explain modes of transmission and Brucella febrile diagnostic kit should be used at the health facilities.

The study was conducted to provide insight into malaria control efforts in Guyana, and to identify areas to emphasize in future educational campaigns. To do this, a community-based survey of knowledge, treatment-seeking patterns, and socio-economic impact of malaria was conducted at four outdoor markets in Region 2 Guyana. One hundred and eight individuals between the ages of 16 and 65 who had a malaria infection in the previous twelve months were interviewed. Within the study population, 94% identified mosquitoes as being the source of malaria infection. More than 70% of respondents identified fever, headache and chills as symptoms of malaria. Sixty percent of individuals incorrectly believed that women could not be treated with antimalarials when pregnant or they risked spontaneous abortion or congenital defects. Most individuals (76%) used bed nets although very few nets were chemically treated. Mean delay in presentation to a health clinic was 6.3 days. Use of the official health care sector was high (96%) and relatively few individuals (15%) self-treated with antimalarials. Compliance with antimalarial regimens was also found to be relatively good (92%). Cost of treatment was significantly higher among those who used private clinics (US$ 13.74) than those who used public clinics (US$ 0.96) (p < 0.001). The good level of knowledge of malaria may be due to the relatively high literacy rate and level of education in Guyana. The fact that public clinics in Guyana provide treatment and antimalarials at no cost may explain the relatively high use of the official health sector, low levels of self-treatment, and good compliance.