Ninetynine percent of the nearly four million newborn deaths occur in developing countries with newborn deaths remaining relatively invisible and neglected1. In these countries, traditional attitudes and practices dominate newborn care and are often harzadous2. As most births and newborn deaths in developing countries occur outside health care facilities, a reduction in neonatal mortality may depend significantly on interventions involving adaptation of traditional care behaviours practiced at home3. However, despite the importance of traditional practices in the newborn period, little is known about the impact of these practices on newborn health2. We herein present a case of an eighteen day old female who was rushed to the hospital with severe wasting, recto-vaginal prolapse and septic umbilical cord resulting from repeated traditional homecare practices by her mother and grandmother. This case highlights the impact of harmful traditional home care practices on newborn health and emphasizes the urgent need for public enlightenment campaigns and other policy decisions and interventions aimed at reducing this societal menace.Keywords: Harmful traditional practices, newborn, neonatal morbidity, neonatal mortality

The present study was carried to determine the changes in haematological parameters in P. falciparum infected patients in Ajeromi Ifelodun area of Lagos, Nigeria. Seventy (70) human subjects comprising of 50 P. falciparum malarial infected and 20 non-infected (control) subjects between 10-60 years were selected for this study. RDT test and microscopy were carried out to ascertain the presence of P. falciparum. They were grouped based on age criteria and level of parasitaemia. This work was carried out in the Department of Biochemistry, Nigeria Institute for Medical Research Laboratory, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria between August 2016 and January 2017. Blood samples were collected for the determination of P. falciparum, level of parasitaemia and haematological parameters. Haematological parameters were determined using a Coulter A-T Pierce haematology analyzer (Beckman Coulter, Inc. Fullerton, CA, USA), P. falciparum was determined by rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and Microscopy. There was a significant increase in the mean level of total white blood cells (WBC) and red blood cells distribution width (RDW), and a significant decrease in the mean level of haematocrit (HCT), haemoglobin (HGB), red blood cells (RBC), and platelets (PLT) in the malaria infected patients than in the controls (p<0.05). There was also a higher malaria parasite density among malaria infected patients for ages above 20 and a lower malaria parasite density for ages below 20 in this study. The findings of this study show that infection with P. falciparum produces changes in haematological parameters in those infected and tested positive for malaria. The most commonly affected parameters are haemoglobin, haematocrit, white blood cells and platelet count.