Background: A co-morbidity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been identified as ane-mia. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is now known to have systemic inflammation, making it a po-tential cause of chronic anemia (ACD). According to preliminary findings, anemia may be more common than predicted in COPD patients, occurring in 10% to 15% of cases. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of anemia in COPD patients and look for biomarkers linked to the disease. Methods: In a retrospective study conducted at a university hospital in Kwara state, Nigeria, 280 patients (166 men and 114 women) with spirometry-confirmed COPD were assessed for the incidence of anemia. The gene expression profiles of microarray data, including GSE148004, were acquired from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database to discover potential candidate key genes linked to the onset and prognosis of COPD. DAVID was used to examine the pathway enrichment analysis of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG). Results: Anemia was found in 104 people (88 men and 16 women), providing a frequency of 37.1%. Addi-tionally, 57.1% of the patients developed acute exacerbations. There were 9458 DEGs overall, of which 3772 were up-regulated, and 5686 were down-regulated. In the current study, DEGs revealed that the NEDD9 gene was over-expressed in COPD patients. Conclusion: Patients with COPD typically experience anemia, which is linked to higher morbidity in hospi-tal admissions and exacerbations. These patients’ clinical outcomes may be improved by treating their ane-mia. A potential biological relationship between anemia and COPD is IL1R1..

Background: This study assessed the knowledge, attitude and perception of COVID-19 vaccine among lecturers in higher institutions in Ilorin. Methods: It was a web based cross-sectional study conducted for a period of eight weeks among lecturers in higher institutions in Ilorin. Data on socio-  demographics, COVID-19 and vaccinerelated concerns were collected and analyzed. Descriptive and inferentialfrequency statistics were done. Chi-square  test was used to evaluate associations between the categorical variables. P-value was set at <0.05. Ordinal logistic regression was used to evaluate the  determinants of willingness to accept COVID-19 vaccine. Results: A total of 1800 lecturers participated in this study. The gender distribution showed male preponderance (n=1217, 67.6%) and most participants  were married (n=1546, 85.9%). Most common age group was 36-50year (n=772, 42.9%). Majority of the participants got information on COVID-19, vaccine  and preventive measures through the social media. Less than half (46.5%) of the participant used the preventive measures only when present in crowded  environment. Most (93.4%) of the participant believed the preventive measures helps to reduce the spread of the disease. Female gender (p= <0.001),  good perception (p= <0.001) and some other factors affected the willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccine. Conclusion: There was high awareness and good perception of COVID-19 and its vaccine among the study participants. Information about COVID-19  vaccine and the disease were mostly gotten from the social media, as few of the study participants practiced the preventive measures though most were  willing to take the vaccine when it becomes available. Thus, healthcare policy makers should take advantage of social media to disseminate appropriate  information on COVID-19 and vaccine to improve disease control.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease is a chronic medical condition that requires lifelong treatment. Specialist care is of importance in its management and referral process to a specialist is mostly initiated through a referral letter. The ability to design a good management plan during consultation depends on the quality of clinical information in the referral. This study was designed to assess the information provided in referral letters presented to Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) outpatient specialist clinic in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria It was a retrospective study conducted between January and June 2022. All referral presented to ART clinic on clinic days were reviewed for information provided using a data capture form. A total of 142 referrals were analyzed. The majority of the referral provided information on patient identifiers. Information on clinical parameters considered important for quality review and management were generally unsatisfactory. Less than a quarter of the referral provided information on laboratory investigations like cluster of differentiation 4 count. Majority (97.9%) of the referrals stated the reason for the referral but physical examination findings and medication history were only reported in 38.7% and 43% respectively. Referral letters to ART clinic were deficient in the information needed for quality review. The deficiencies delayed patient management. Institution of measures to address the deficiencies will help to improve HIV care. The use of a structured referral form and training of doctors on the required information in a referral letter will also impact positively on HIV care.