Chlamydia trachomatis also known as the “Silent Epidemic” is a major threat to the reproductive health of women. This study was aimed at determining the seroprevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis based one demographic factors among women attending clinics in Zaria metropolis, Kaduna State. Each participant completed a researcher-devised questionnaire and quasi design was used in the selection of hospitals. Subsequently about 5mls of peripheral blood for serological analysis was obtained after informed consent. Presence of antibodies to Chlamydia trachomatis was determined using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) to detect IgG and screening for HIV was also done using Determine® HIV 1/2 as well as Uni-GoldTM HIV Test Kits. Out of the two hundred and seventy (270) samples collected, 32(11.9%) were positive for Chlamydia trachomatis IgG, 7(2.6%). Chlamydial infection was found to be significantly associated with level of education. There was no significant association between chlamydial infection and occupation, subjects’ husbands’ occupation.

For longer than a century, the “meningitis belt” of sub-Saharan Africa has experienced the largest-ever global meningitis epidemic. Whereas HIV-associated immuno­suppression drives higher susceptibility to environmental infectious organisms with tropism for the central nervous system (CNS), most diagnostic laboratories in the belt stick to N. meningitidis, H. influenzae, and S. pneumoniae. Cryptococcus neoformans has been the leading cause of death (incidence, 89%; death, 75%). To establish whether diagnostic services target geographically important pathogens, there is a need to know the current spectrum of etiology. Given Africa’s agro-silvo-pastoralism, the One Health diagnostic approach is recommended. Considering  multipathogen detection capacity, needed speed for corticosteroid therapy decision, and susceptibility/resistance to antimicrobials with improved CNS penetration, proposed laboratory categorization will help neurologists to choose suitable services.

Objective: The prevalence of phage 80/81 Staphylococcus aureus strains, the pandemic strains that were dominant in the 1950’s had declined in the 1960s and 1970s. However, these strains have re-emerged in some countries in recent years. This study investigated the antibacterial resistance, virulence and the genetic backgrounds of CC30-MSSA isolates obtained from patients in three tertiary hospitals. Materials and Methods: In total, 22 CC30-MSSA isolates cultured from different clinical samples were investigated using antibiotic sensitivity testing, spa typing, multilocus sequence typing and DNA microarray analysis. Results: All 22 isolates were susceptible to vancomycin (MIC ≤ 2 μg/ml), teicoplanin (MIC ≤ 2 μg/ml) and cefoxitin but were resistant to penicillin G (n=22; 100.0%), tetracycline (n=12; 54.5%), ciprofloxacin (n=15; 68.2%), cadmium acetate (n=22; 100%), mercuric chloride (n=13; 59.1%), and ethidium bromide (n=3; 13.6%). The isolates belonged to sequence type, ST30, and five spa types; t012 (n=12; 54.5%), t019 (n=5; 22.7%), t017 (n=2; 9.1%), t037 (n=2; 9.1%) and t318 (n=1; 4.5%). All 22 isolates were positive for agrIII, cap8, clfA, clfB, icaA, icaC, icaD, cna and staphylococcal enterotoxin gene clusters (seg, sei, sem, sen, seo, seu). Eight isolates carried lukS-PV and lukF-PV that code for Panton-Valentine leukocidin. Conclusion: The current CC30-MSSA isolates shared phenotypic and genotypic characteristics with the pandemic phage 80/81 isolates that were common in the 1950s and 1960s. Continued surveillance is recommended to keep abreast of the changing epidemiology of S. aureus causing healthcare and community-associated infections.

Background: Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic pathogen that colonizes and causes infections in humans. Panton Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) is a cytolytic toxin produced by some strains of S. aureus and are mostly associated with skin and soft tissue infections and necrotizing pneumonia. Aim: To investigate the prevalence and genotypic characteristics of PVL-positive S. aureus strains cultured from patients in three tertiary hospitals in Jos, Nigeria. Methods: Two hundred and fourteen clinical S. aureus isolates were obtained from three tertiary hospitals in Jos. Polymerase chain reaction was used to detect lukSF-PV gene that encodes PVL, and sensitivity to antimicrobial agents was performed on PVL-positive S. aureus. Genotypic characteristics of the PVL-positive S. aureus was determined by spa typing and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Results: The genes for PVL were detected in 67/214 (31.3%) of S. aureus isolates. Majority of the PVL-positive isolates were obtained from wound (n=37; 55.2%), blood (n=11; 16.4%) and urine (n=10; 14.9). Most of PVL-positive isolates (n=58; 34.7%) were methicillin sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) while nine isolates (19.1%) were methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Spa typing identified 14 different spa types, dominated by t355 (n=33; 49.3%), followed by t174 (n=7; 10.4%), t019 and t159 (n=5; 7.5%). MLST revealed six sequence types (ST) namely, ST152 (n=35), ST121 (n=9), ST1 (n=8), ST30 (n=8), ST772 (n=6) and ST15 (N=1). Conclusion: This study revealed that 31.3% of S. aureus isolated in Jos hospitals carried genes for PVL, belonged to six sequence types and 14 spa types with t355-ST152-MSSA as the dominant genotype.