Background: Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum are major causes of diarrhoeal diseases of humans worldwide and are included in the World Health Organization’s ‘Neglected Diseases Initiative’. Aim: This research was designed to assess the prevalence of G. lamblia and C. parvum co-infections among undergraduate Students of Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria. Methods: An aggregate of 120 faecal specimens were obtained from 120 partakers (60 females and 60 males) who met the inclusion criteria. The clinical and demographic data of the participants were compiled with the use of patterned survey. Diagnosis was carried out using standard laboratory methods for the detection of these parasites. Results: The outcome of this study shows that there was no record of G. lamblia and C. parvum co-infections among the study participants; however, G. lamblia and C. parvum mono-infection exist among the examined participants with a preponderance of 10% and 4.2%, respectively. There were no substantial differences (P>0.05) in the percentage occurrences of the two parasites established on the individual-level characteristics of the partakers. All participants who tested positive for mono-infection by each parasite had a history of diarrhoea (14.2%). Meanwhile, the 12(10%) participants who tested positive for G. lamblia mono-infection indicated abdominal pain (10), nausea and bloating (2.5%), presence of foul smelling watery stool (0.8%), presence of blood and mucus in stool (0.8%) and weight loss (0.8%). While all the 5 participants who tested positive for C. parvum indicated that they had only abdominal pain (4.2%). Significant risk factors associated with the occurrence of these parasitic infections include: lack of awareness, history of diarrhea, poor toilet hygiene, poor toilet-student ratio, as well as infrequent visits to the hospital for medical check-ups/laboratory tests. Conclusion: Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum co-infection does .......

The situation whereby there is appearance of HBV DNA in the absence of observable hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) has been described as occult hepatitis B virus infection. The above situation was first mentioned in late 1970s and its prevalence depends on the differences in the distribution of HBV in each region or community, the study population, sensitivity and specificity of the adopted screening method. The sero-prevalence of HBsAg in Nigeria is estimated to range from 10-40% and this qualifies Nigeria as hyper- endemic area (Odemuyiwa et al., 2001; Fasola et al., 2008). There is also observable increase in detected HBV DNA among patients who were previously screened as negative for HBsAg (Adeniyi et al., 2022). Furthermore, high prevalence of HBsAg has been reported in the population of screened blood donors (Ejele and Ojule, 2004) and also in patients attending clinics (Nwokedi et al, 2011; Adeniyi et al., 2022). Occult HBV is clinically important as it can be contacted by means of blood transfusion and organ transplant among others (Kwak et al., 2014). In Nigeria, there has being increase in prevalence of occult HBV despite ongoing immunization program (Opaleye et al., 2015; Adeniyi et al., 2002). When compared to similar viruses that could be transmitted during transfusion, occult HBV is more common (Comanor et al., 2006).

Background: Studies have suggested that patients’ medical data could be correlated with the disease outcome in individuals with COVID-19. There is however, paucity of data on the impact of many of these factors especially in rural and semi-urban environment in Nigeria. Objective: This study seeks to establish the dynamics of patients tested for COVID-19 in a private tertiary facility located in a semi-urban area in Nigeria, with special focus on their symptoms, comorbidities, and demography. Methods: The study was a retrospective study carried out using data generated by the Babcock Molecular and Tissue Culture Laboratory of Babcock University Teaching Hospital Ilisan-Remo, Ogun state between October 17, 2020 and July 20, 2021. Statistical analysis was carried out using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 21.0. Result: Two thousand five hundred anonymized data were captured in the study. Under the period of review, only 9.5% of the entire tested population were positive to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. There was a significant relationship between age distribution, level of education and COVID-19 infection outcome (P < 0.05). Fever (42.6%) was the commonest symptom among the patient population while hypertension (34.6%) and diabetes (31.3%) were the leading comorbidities reported in this study. Conclusion: Targeted approaches in the areas of tests and enlightenment for certain demographic groups such as those that are elderly and with low level of education is highly recommended.

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