Risk Factors for Malnutrition Among Under-Five-Year olds in an Inner City Community inIbadan: A Case-Control Study

Background:Morbidity and mortality rates associated with malnutrition in the under-five-year olds are high especially among children from the low socio-economic class, yet not all children from this deprived environment develop malnutrition. Objectives: To identify risk factors associated with the development of malnutrition in the under-five-year olds in a homogeneous inner city community. Design: A community-based, case-control study. Materials and Methods: One hundred and thirty eight children (subjects and controls) aged less than five years living in the traditional area of Idikan, Ibadan, participated in the study. All households with children under five years were listed and visited over a period of three months. All children in these households were examined and those with weight-for-age less than 2 standard deviations of the NCHS median value were enrolled as subjects. A control, who was not malnourished, was selected for every subject identified; they were matched 1:1 by age and sex from the same compound or adjacent compounds. Results: The youngest malnourished child was two months old while the mean age of the subjects was 22.5 ± 14.1 months. A significantly higher proportion of subjects than controls had primary caretakers who were not their parents (16.9 percent vs 6.2 percent; p0.05). In the case-control analysis, low paternal education (incomplete primary school education and less)(

Short Communication: Effect of Soil Moisture Level on the growth of the Giant African Land Snails, Archachatina marginata and Achatina achatina in different season.

This study focused on the evaluation of the effect of soil moisture on the feed intake and weight gain of the Giant African Land snails, Achatina achatina and Archachatina marginata in different seasons using a 2 x 2 x 4 factorial experiment with soil moisture at two levels (low 25ml of water/ week and high 100ml water/week), species at two levels (Achatina achatina and Archachatina marginata) and season at four levels (cold dry, hot dry, hot wet and cold wet) constituting the three factors. Result showed that there was a significant seasonal differences (P<0.001) for weekly feed intake of snails in which values of 3.85, 2.53, 3.88 and 4.44g were recorded in cold dry, hot dry, hot wet and cold wet seasons, respectively. Monthly weight gains of 5.41g recorded for Archachatina marginata was significantly higher (P<0.001) than the value of 1.94g recorded for Achatina achatina. There was significant interaction (P<0.001) between soil moisture level and species on monthly weight gains of the snails. The feed intake and weight gain of snails (4.28 g and 6.43 g) in the high soil moisture treatment was significantly (P<0.01) higher than those in the low soil moisture treatment (3.07 g and 5.30 g). In conclusion, it is evident that species, season and soil moisture level affected the feed intake and weight gain of the Giant African Land Snails. Keywords: Soil moisture, season, species, feed intake, weight gain and Giant African Land snail

Toxoplasma gondii

Background: Toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by Toxoplasma gondii, which can infect nearly all mammalian and avian species. Approximately 25% of the global human population is thought to be infected. Interest in toxoplasmosis has surged since it was discovered that with the onset of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, acute toxoplasmosis could induce cranial calcification. The ensuing encephalitis can be fatal. The African human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic, increasing levels of other immunosuppressive infections (such as tuberculosis), poor sanitation practices and lack of monitoring of at-risk populations point to a predicament that may be underrated. Objective: The objective was to review the available body of research on the seroepidemiology of T. gondii in Africa, in order to establish existing prevalence trends and to draw attention to available information on the pathogen in Africa. Method: The National Center for Biotechnology Information, Google Scholar and ToxoDB databases were searched for peer-reviewed articles that focus specifically on seroprevalence studies of T. gondii in Africa up until the 2012 year end. Results: Seroprevalence rates on the continent are high in humans and animals. There is a geographical trend of decreasing seroprevalence from the northern to the southern, and from the western to the eastern, regions of the continent. Most seroprevalence studies on humans were reported between 1981 and 2000. Conclusion: There is a need for further and more consolidated information on the prevalence of T. gondii in Africa, in order to address morbidity and mortality from opportunistic but treatable diseases, such as toxoplasmosis in the ongoing HIV pandemic, and to improve the lives of the African population