International Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology

International Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology ISSN 2326-7291 Vol. 14 (7), pp. 001-008, July, 2025. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Malaria Vector Bionomics in Zambia's Low Transmission Settings: Assessing the Impact of Entomological Interventions

Emmanuel Chanda^1,3*, Faustina N. Phiri¹, Javan Chanda¹, Varsha Ramdeen², Mulakwa Kamuliwo¹ and Kumar S. Baboo³

¹Ministry of Health, National Malaria Control Centre, P. O. Box 32509, Lusaka, Zambia.
²Malaria Research Programme, Medical Research Council, Ridge Road, Durban, South Africa.
³University of Zambia, School of Medicine, P. O. Box 50110, Lusaka, Zambia.

Accepted 12 June, 2025

Entomological interventions for malaria control are being scaled up in the context of the integrated vector management strategy in Zambia. This paper reports the continuous entomological monitoring of the operational impact of indoor residual insecticide spraying (IRS) and distribution of about 6 million insecticide-impregnated bed-nets (ITN) over two peak malaria transmission seasons. Mosquitoes were captured daily using exit window traps at monitoring sentinel sites and analyzed for species identification, densities, and sporozoite rates to assess the efficacy of the vector control tools. All the three major malaria vectors; Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto (s.s.), Anopheles arabiensis and Anopheles funestus were collected and identified. The intervention effect of IRS and ITNs was more pronounced on A. gambiae s.s. and A. funestus than A. arabiensis (c2 = 0.003, df = 1, P = 0.956), indicating that A. gambiae s.s. and A. funestus are amenable to control by IRS and ITNs. None of these vectors tested positive for Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites, thus, signifying their lack of transmission potential. This study demonstrates that entomological monitoring and evaluation is an indispensable underpinning for rational insecticide based malaria vector control. It provides compelling evidence for the need to integrate entomological parameters into routine surveillance systems, and also strongly substantiates the deployment of the integrated vector management strategy.

Key words: Zambia, malaria, impact, indoor residual spraying, insecticide treated nets, transmission.
 

International Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology ISSN 2326-7291 Vol. 14 (6), pp. 001-005, June, 2025. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Tuberculosis Knowledge and Beliefs Among Traditional Healers in Remo North, Nigeria

Albert Adekunle Salako and O. O. Sholeye

Obafemi Awolowo College of Health Sciences, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Department of Community Medicine, Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Accepted 10 April, 2025

With the aid of a pre-tested semi-structured interview questionnaire, 30 traditional healers in Remo North Local Government Area of Ogun State in the Southwestern part of Nigeria were identified by their certificate of apprenticeship. A cross-sectional study was carried out to assess their knowledge on the symptoms of tuberculosis, their perceptions, beliefs and their practices as regards to the management of tuberculosis. A large percentage (60.0%) of the traditional healers knew the symptoms of tuberculosis but did not refer to the hospital because they believed that the disease is due to witchcraft, spells, poisons, eating forbidden food, familial causes, alcohol, cigarette smoking or mystical causes, and 70.0% rely on herbal concoctions to treat the disease. Intensive tuberculosis health education should be extended to traditional healers. Government through public health institutions should mobilize health educators and organize workshops to educate the traditional healers about tuberculosis. The referral system should be improved- that is, via these organized workshops. The traditional healers need to be conversant with early signs and symptoms of tuberculosis for early referral to the appropriate health institutions.

Key words: Tuberculosis, perception, tuberculosis health education, referral system.
 

International Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology ISSN 2326-7291 Vol. 14 (5), pp. 001-006, May, 2025. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Hepatitis C Virus Infection Among Blood Donors in Kano, Nigeria: A Sero-Prevalence Study

A. H. Kawo1*, J. A. Bala2 and Y. U. Dabai3

1Microbiology Unit, Department of Biological Sciences, Bayero University, P. M. B. 3011, Kano, Nigeria.
2Department of Pathology, Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital, Kano, Nigeria.
3Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, P. M. B. 2346, Sokoto, Nigeria.

Accepted 13 April, 2025

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection afflicts more than 170 million people worldwide, with the great majority of patients having acute hepatitis C later developing into chronic HCV infection. 320 participants (80 in each of four blood banks from Wudil, Gaya, Sumaila and Takai Local Government Areas (LGA)) were tested for antibodies to HCV. Out of a total of the 320 subjects, 319 were males and 1 female between the ages of 14 to 54 years. Third-generation enzyme–linked immunosorbent assay was used in the analysis. 16 out of the 320 were reactive, representing 5.0% of the total population studied. This showed a high prevalence of HCV infection among blood donors in this part of the country when compared with those established for western countries. Prevalence rate based on the 80 subjects in each LGA indicated Gaya and Wudil to have highest prevalence of 5(6.3%) each, followed by Sumaila with 4(5.0%). Takai was observed to have the least prevalence rate of 2(2.5%). The relationship between the demographic data with HCV infection revealed no statistical significance (P > 0.05). However, the relationship between possible risk factors and HCV infection revealed significant statistical association in the transmission through family (vertical transmission), receipt of injection as well as consumption of alcohol. Other possible risk factors such as blood transfusion did not reveal statistical association even though there were differences in positivity across the risk factors.

Key words: Seroprevalence, Hepatitis C virus, Blood Banks, Kano.
 

International Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology ISSN 2326-7291 Vol. 14 (5), pp. 001-008, May, 2025. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Toxoplasma gondii Infection Among Pregnant Women: A Seroprevalence Study

Malarvizhi A.1, Viswanathan T.2, Lavanya V.1, Arul Sheeba Malar S.1 and Moorthy K.1*

1Department of Microbiology, Vivekanandha College of Arts and Sciences for Women, Elayampalayam, Tiruchengode,
India.
2Department of Microbiology, Government Arts College (Men), Krishnagiri, India.

Accepted 4 March, 2025

The present work aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii and their associated risk factors among the pregnant women. This study was carried out from 2009 to 2010 in 232 pregnant women attending the private hospitals in and around Salem, Tamil Nadu. Anti-toxoplasma specific IgG and IgM were assessed using Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test kits. Of these 232 samples, anti-toxoplasma specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies were detected in 23 (9.9%) cases while 9 (3.9%) had positive anti-toxoplasma specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) suggestive of acute infection during or just before pregnancy. A structured questionnaire interview for pregnant women was performed to investigate the risk factors associated with the T. gondii infection. The higher infection rate of 7.9% (for anti-toxoplasma IgG antibodies) was found with pregnant women living in rural area (15 subjects) than in urban area (8 subjects) and it was statistically significant (P<0.03). A few risk factors such as stillbirth (P<0.02), miscarriage (P<0.009), rearing cat as pet animal (P<0.005) and outdoor gardening (P<0.03) were statistically associated with the seroprevalence rate. Even with low seroprevalence rate of 9.9% latent infection and 3.9% acute infection there is a need for the pregnant women to be educated on the ways to minimize the exposure to T. gondii infection and to reduce the risk of congenital transmission.

Key words: Toxoplasma gondii, seroprevalence, pregnancy, anti-toxoplasma immunoglobulin G (IgG), immunoglobulin M (IgM).
 

International Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology ISSN 2326-7291 Vol. 14 (5), pp. 001-014, May, 2025. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Healthcare Waste Disposal Options in Port Harcourt, Nigeria: A Hospital-Based Study

David N. Ogbonna1*, Alex Chindah2 and Ndubuisi Ubani3

1Department of Applied and Environmental Biology, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Nkpolu-
Oroworukwo, P. M. B. 5080, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
2Institute of Pollution Studies, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, P. M. B. 5080,
Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
3Institute of Geosciences and Space Technology, Rivers State University of Science and Technology,
Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, P. M. B. 5080, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Accepted 16 March, 2025

This study was undertaken to identify the waste disposal options adopted by the different hospital authorities in managing wastes generated as well as determining their awareness level on hospital waste management issues. A daily waste inventory study of each hospital department was carried out for six months in five different hospitals as representative healthcare institutions in Port Harcourt, Nigeria to estimate the waste types and quantities generated. Results obtained showed that 5.53 kg of hazardous portions of hospital wastes and 20.4 kg of non-hazardous waste portions were generated per day by the three categories of hospitals. The waste composition obtained for the different hospital categories show a positive linear relationship between and among the categories of hospitals and the wastes they generate. The findings further show that all the hospitals fell below the recommended waste management practices as prescribed by the World Health Organization and other regulatory authorities. Wastes were not segregated into marked or colour coded containers/bins for the different waste streams neither do they keep records of waste generation and disposal. Recommendations are made for training of personnel on waste handling and provision of safety gadgets and proper education on waste reduction strategies. This process will ensure a reduction in the quantity of medical waste generated which is more expensive to manage.

Key words: Healthcare  wastes, health workers, infectious diseases, waste disposal,  waste management, hospitals.
 

International Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology ISSN 2326-7291 Vol. 14 (5), pp. 001-006, May, 2025. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Tuberculosis in Contrasting Settings: A Comparative Study of Nigeria and the UK

Semeeh A. Omoleke

Medical Research Council Unit (UK), Fajara, P. O. Box 273, Banjul, The Gambia. E-mail: [email protected] or

[email protected]. Tel: +2203124499.

Accepted 9 January, 2025

Tuberculosis (TB) is a re-emerging infectious disease of international health priority. It is particularly worrisome in Africa, which informed the declaration of public health emergency by the World Health Organisation in 2005. In this study, inferences were drawn from the literature, secondary data and empirical observations. The results indicated that TB still remains a major public health challenge, particularly in the developing world where the socio-economic indices are quite appalling. Despite these, there seems to be little or no sincere political will, as the health systems in such settings are still weak (infrastructural decay, poor workforce strength and low level of motivation, poor health financing and poor service delivery) and incapable of coping with this challenge. There are also concerns about surveillance data generated from the developing world as this might have undermined TB control strategies. Therefore, if the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 6C is to be realised, the socio-economic and political determinants of TB, being the root cause should be given adequate attention while simultaneously addressing the challenges confronting the medical approach. In addition, a countrywide prevalence survey is strongly recommended as a first step in understanding the true epidemiology and combating the scourge of TB in these regions. A well conducted national prevalence survey can serve as a better and more reliable source of data for strategic TB planning and resource allocation in Africa and other developing countries.

Keywords: Tuberculosis (TB), millennium development goals (MDGs), directly observed therapy short-course (DOTS), surveillance, social determinants, prevalence survey, developed and developing countries.