Prevalence and Risk Factors of Genital Human Papillomavirus Infections among Women in Lagos, Nigeria

Regional variations exist in HPV prevalence worldwide despite reports of high prevalence rates among African women. Limited data on genital HPV prevalence necessitated this study with the aim of determining the prevalence of genital HPV and associated risk factors among women in Lagos, Nigeria. Exfoliated cervical cells were collected with consent from 165 women using a cervical brush. Viral DNA was extracted and amplified by nested PCR using two sets of consensus primers (MY09/11 and GP5+/6+). An unconditional logistic regression model was used to identify predictors of HPV positivity. The HPV prevalence was 81.82% in all women and 87.59% in women with normal cytology. The risk of HPV infection was significantly increased among women who had a history of STI (odds ratio (OR) 3.94; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.51-10.25, p = 0.005) while there was a significantly reduced risk of HPV infection among those who used condoms (odds ratio (OR) 3.94; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.18-0.91, p = 0.03). The HPV prevalence observed shows an increased transmission of the virus in Lagos, Nigeria. Therefore, there is a need for intense public awareness and the implementation of early detection tests, treatment, and vaccination to prevent an increase in cervical cancer cases in Lagos, Nigeria.

Zoonotic and reverse zoonotic transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2: a review and implications for Africa

There is an urgent need to properly understand the transmission dynamics of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in the event of continuous rise in morbidity in both humans and animals as well as an increase in the mortality rate in man. Since the novel SARS-CoV-2 emerged in Wuhan, China with its global spread in over 200 countries, several studies have been published on the epidemiology of the virus in man with limited information on the roles of animals and the possibility of reverse zoonosis. We therefore collected published research literature on COVID-19 from public search engines for information on SARS-CoV-2 in animals and reverse zoonosis from man. A critical and thorough study appraisal/evaluation was performed to include recent quality publications that focus on the scope of this write-up including zoonosis and reverse zoonosis of SARS-CoV-2. We highlighted what is known about SARS-CoV-2 in animals, identify gaps for future research, summarized possible reverse zoonotic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from man to animals and included the likely implications of our summary for Africa, despite the dearth of information in Africa on the key concepts of this study.

Parvovirus B19 DNA detection in treatment-naïve HIV anemic patients in Lagos, Nigeria: a case control study

BACKGROUND

Parvovirus B19 (B19) has tropism for cells of the erythroid lineage, which may lead to transient inhibition of erythropoiesis. Several studies and case reports suggested that B19 infection may contribute significantly to severe chronic anemia in HIV infected persons.

OBJECTIVE

To detect parvovirus B19 DNA in treatment-naïve HIV patients.

METHODS

This was a case control retrospective study. One hundred nineteen anemic and 81 non-anemic treatment-naïve HIV infected patients participated in the study at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria. Polymerase chain reaction was used to detect B19 DNA.

RESULTS

Out of 200 patients analysed, 13(6.5%) had parvovirus B19 DNA. Eight HIV patients with anemia had B19 DNA while five non-anemic HIV patients had B19 DNA. This suggests that the presence of B19 DNA in the blood of HIV positive individuals may contribute to anemia because the majority (61.5%) who were positive for B19 DNA had anemia as compared to the non-anemic control group (38.5%).

CONCLUSION

This study shows that the presence of B19 DNA in anemic HIV infected patients is not associated with chronic anaemia in HIV infection because no significant association exist.