Efficacy of repeated doses of diminazene aceturate (Dinazene®) in the treatment of experimental Trypanosoma brucei infection of Albino rats

The efficacy of repeated doses of Dinazene^® in Albino rats experimentally infected with Trypanosoma brucei (Gboko strain) was investigated. A total of 30 adult female Albino rats weighing 130-190 g were used for the study. They were assigned to six groups (groups A-F) of five rats each. Groups A-D were infected intraperitoneally with 1.0 × 10⁶ trypanosomes in 400 µL of PBS diluted blood while groups E (uninfected treated) and F (uninfected untreated) served as controls. The rats in the groups A-D as well as those in group E were treated with 7.0 mg/kg body weight at day 11 post infection. Groups B, C and D however received two, three and four repeated doses of the drug at weekly intervals following initial treatment. There was complete clearance of the parasite within 120 h post treatment. Parasitaemia, packed cell volume (PCV), total red blood cell (RBC) and white blood cell (WBC) counts, haemoglobin concentration (Hb), rectal temperature, and body weight were used to assay the efficacy of treatment. Following treatment and parasite clearance from the blood, there was improvement (P<0.05) in the values of parameters measured when compared to the uninfected controls. However, relapse infection was observed in the rats of group A, B and C, with a resultant decline in clinical condition and values of parameters used to assess efficacy. We concluded that four consecutive treatments using same dose at weekly intervals proved efficacious in the experimental management of T. brucei infection in rats.

Incidence of birth asphyxia as seen in central hospital and GN children's clinic both in Warri Niger Delta of Nigeria: an eight year retrospective review

BACKGROUND

Birth asphyxia is one of the commonest causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Together with prematurity and neonatal sepsis, they account for over 80% of neonatal deaths.

AIM

To determine the incidence and mortality rate of birth asphyxia in Warri Niger Delta of Nigeria.

MATERIALS AND METHOD

Recovery of case notes of all the newborn babies seen from January 2000 to December 2007 at Central Hospital Warri and GN children's Clinic, Warri, was undertaken. They were analyzed and those with birth asphyxia were further analyzed, noting the causes, severity of asphyxia, sex of the babies, management given.

RESULTS

A total of 864 out of 26,000 neonates seen within this period had birth asphyxia. 525 (28/1000 live births) had mild asphyxia while 32% were severely asphyxiated. 61.5% of the asphyxiated were born at maternities, churches or delivered by traditional birth attendants or at home. Prolonged labour was the commonest cause of asphyxia and asphyxia was more in neonates from unbooked patients.

CONCLUSION

The incidence of bith asphyxia in Warri is 28/1000. Majority of patients are from prolonged labour and delivery at unrecognized centres. Health education will dratically reduce the burden of asphyxia neanatorum as unsubtanciated religous beliefs have done a great havoc.

Knowledge of disease notification among doctors in government hospitals in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria

STUDY OBJECTIVE

Notifiable diseases are conditions where regular, frequent and timely reporting of individual cases is considered necessary for the prevention and control of the disease. They can be classified into immediate, routine, international, and occupational notifiable diseases. Despite its importance, notification suffers some setbacks, as shown by worldwide studies. This study was carried out from August to November 1999 to assess the knowledge of disease notification among doctors at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital and Central Hospital, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study design was used, and a self-administered questionnaire, which was pretested, was used to collect data.

SETTING

All doctors from the University of Benin Teaching Hospital and Central Hospital, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria were included in the study.

PARTICIPANTS

In total, 134 doctors participated in the study.

MAIN RESULT

Only 11.9% of doctors had a good knowledge of disease notification. Thirty-one (23.1%) doctors knew where to obtain notification forms, and 32 (23.9%) knew how to complete these forms.

CONCLUSION

Knowledge of disease notification among doctors in these major institutions is poor. It has therefore been recommended that quarterly seminars should be conducted to update doctors' knowledge and serve as reminders about disease notification.