ifeyinwa amamilo | Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki (original) (raw)
Papers by ifeyinwa amamilo
International journal of contemporary pediatrics, Apr 25, 2024
Schistosomiasis is a common intravascular infection caused by parasitic Schistosoma trematode wor... more Schistosomiasis is a common intravascular infection caused by parasitic Schistosoma trematode worm. 1 It is a major neglected tropical disease considered as the third most devastating tropical disease in the world, after malaria and intestinal helminthiasis, with more than 200,000 people dying from it each year. 2,3 It occurs in 78 countries, with 240 million infected people and close to 700 million at risk individuals. 4,5 It is a disease of poverty ABSTRACT Background: Schistosoma haematobium infection occurs worldwide with the largest number of cases seen in sub-Saharan Africa. Most of the infections are acquired during childhood and are linked to urogenital diseases which contributes significantly to morbidity and mortality. A study on the use of urinary symptoms, signs and urinalysis in the diagnosis of S. haematobium infection might aid in providing early, prompt and rapid intervention that will limit associated complications. Methods: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional of 421 children aged 6-12 years in Ohaukwu LGA, Ebonyi State, recruited from four public primary schools using multistage sampling method. Urinary symptoms and signs were obtained using a questionnaire; urine samples were collected for urinalysis and urine microscopy. Simple proportions and odds ratio (CI) were used to analyze the data. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were calculated for various symptoms and signs. The data was analyzed with IBM-SPSS 20. Significance was set at p<0.05. Results: The prevalence of S. haematobium infection among school children in Ohaukwu LGA was 30.17%. Visible blood in urine 71.77% and dysuria 70.16% were the predominant symptoms while liver tenderness 8.87% was the most common sign. The sensitivity vs specificity of visible blood in urine and microscopic haematuria were 71.77% vs 94.43% and 100.00% vs 97.21% respectively. Conclusions: Microscopic haematuria alone was highly sensitive and specific and can be a reliable alternative to the gold standard in making diagnosis of S. haematobium infection in children living in this endemic region.
Journal of Advances in Medicine and Medical Research
The COVID-19 pandemic spread to Nigeria, resulting in a nationwide lockdown from 30th March 2020.... more The COVID-19 pandemic spread to Nigeria, resulting in a nationwide lockdown from 30th March 2020. Consequently, there was enormous impact on the health and socio-economic facets of life affecting individuals, families, and communities. A key component of primary health care that was affected was routine childhood immunisation which is one of the fundamental pillars of the Nigerian government’s child health care policy. The study aimed at evaluating the impact of the pandemic on routine immunization, as well as, make recommendations to strengthen routine immunization during a pandemic based on lessons learnt. Primary data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires administered to 150 parents or caregivers across the childcare and wellness clinics of four selected secondary health facilities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) from January to June 2020 (January to March representing the pre-lockdown period while April to June, the lockdown period). Secondary data were coll...
Journal of Advances in Medicine and Medical Research, 2020
Background: Diarrhoea is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children below five years of... more Background: Diarrhoea is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children below five years of age especially in developing countries. One of the consequences of diarrhoea in children is zinc deficiency, which may worsen the diarrhoea itself, and thus increase morbidity and mortality. Aim and Objectives: The study aimed to determine the serum zinc status of under five children with diarrhoea attending Federal Medical Centre Owerri. Also, to compare the serum zinc level between children with diarrhoea and their age and sex-matched controls, as well as determine the relationship, if any between types of diarrhoea, and frequency of diarrhoea episodes. Methodology: The study was a comparative cross-sectional study carried out at the Emergency Paediatric Unit, The Children’s Outpatient Clinic and The Children’s Ward of the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri. A total of 402 study participants were analyzed. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data including participants’ socio d...
Current Overview on Disease and Health Research Vol. 7, Feb 3, 2023
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND DIAGNOSTIC RESEARCH
Introduction: Diarrhoea significantly leads to morbidity and mortality in under-five children, pa... more Introduction: Diarrhoea significantly leads to morbidity and mortality in under-five children, particularly in developing countries. Reduced serum zinc levels in acute non infectious diarrhoea has an impact on the frequency, severity and duration. However, evidence is still evolving on the status of zinc level in bacterial diarrhoea. Aim: To assess serum zinc level in bacterial diarrhoea and compare the serum zinc level in children with the different bacterial pathogens. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Department of Paediatrics at Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria, from August 2015 to February 2016, including 201 children aged 6 to 59 months with diarrhoea. Stool specimens were isolated for bacteria, using conventional culture techniques, while serum zinc levels were determined using atomic absorption spectrometry. Serum zinc level <65 µg/dL was regarded as zinc deficiency. The data collected was analysed using the Statistical P...
Tropical Journal of Medical Research, 2016
Background: In most developing countries, the body temperature of children is routinely measured ... more Background: In most developing countries, the body temperature of children is routinely measured through the axilla because it is convenient. However, concerns have been raised concerning the reliability of axillary temperature in screening for fever especially in under five children. Objective: This study was carried out to determine the reliability of axillary temperature in screening for fever in under five children. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out at the Paediatric Department of Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, Imo State. Eligible children were consecutively recruited. Rectal and axillary temperatures were taken simultaneously in each eligible child with a mercury-in-glass thermometer. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 20. Results: A total of 156 children were recruited and the children were aged 1 day to 59 months. There were 81 males and 75 females. There was a positive correlation between rectal and axillary temperature. Using t...
Nigerian Journal of Paediatrics, Jul 1, 2016
Objective: To determine the level of awareness, knowledge and practice of human immunodeficiency ... more Objective: To determine the level of awareness, knowledge and practice of human immunodeficiency virus post exposure prophylaxis (HIV PEP) among paediatricians in Nigeria. Methodology: The study was a cross sectional questionnairebased survey conducted among paediatrcians that attended the Paediatric association of Nigeria annual scientific conference in 2015. Results: Most of the respondents (96%) were aware of the concept HIV PEP. The scores on knowledge of PEP for all the respondents ranged from 18% to 91 % with a mean score of 46.5 ± 14.1%. There was no significant difference between the performance of those who had received training on HIV PEP (48.0 ± 13.2%) and those who had not (45.1 ± 14.8%), p = 0.21, t =1.26. Ninety one (60.7%) of the respondents had been exposed to percutaneous injury during work. Thirty (33%) of the exposed paediatricians did not know the patient's HIV status and only 10 (11%) received PEP, with only 7 (7.7%) of them completing the PEP for 4 weeks Conclusion: Despite the high level of HIV PEP awareness, there was an unacceptable high rate of occupational exposures and poor knowledge of HIV PEP among Paediatricians. Additionally, there was a low uptake of HIV PEP services amongst exposed Paediatricians in Nigeria. There is need for urgent action to curb this trend.
Journal of Advances in Medicine and Medical Research
Background: Childhood hypertension is a public health concern because of associated cardio-metabo... more Background: Childhood hypertension is a public health concern because of associated cardio-metabolic morbidities in adulthood. Overweight and obesity are main drivers and predictors of childhood hypertension. There is paucity of studies on waist circumference (WC) and waist-hip ratio (WHR) – measures of central obesity - as predictors of hypertension in children. The study was done to determine if WC and WHR predicts hypertension in children. Study Design: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Primary schools in Owerri Municipal Local Government Area (LGA), Imo State, Nigeria between September 2017 to April 2018. Methodology: 809 school children aged 6-12 years were recruited from three public and six private primary schools using multi-staged sampling method. Their blood pressure (BP), weight, height, hip circumference and WC were measured using standard techniques. The BMI and WHR were then calculated. Central obesity was defined as WC ≥9...
Pediatric Emergency Care, 2014
Temporal artery (TA) thermometry has come as one of the new methods for temperature measurement, ... more Temporal artery (TA) thermometry has come as one of the new methods for temperature measurement, especially in children in whom accurate temperature monitoring can save lives. The device which is convenient and simple to use is yet to gain popularity in several parts of the world, as there are conflicting reports of its accuracy. This study compares the accuracy of the TA thermometry in children younger than 5 years using the rectal thermometry as the gold standard. Temperature was measured simultaneously in eligible children younger than 5 years from the forehead and rectum using the TA thermometer (TAT-2000C Exergen, USA) and standard mercury in glass rectal thermometer, respectively. The difference between the mean temperatures obtained by the 2 thermometry methods was tested using the paired t test. Pearson correlation coefficient, linear regression, and Bland-Altman plot were also used to test the relationship and agreement between the 2 instruments. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were also calculated. Overall, the mean TA temperature (37.80°C ± 1.07°C) was significantly lower than the mean rectal temperature (38.07°C ± 0.95°C), P &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; 0.001. In neonates, however, the mean difference was not significant, 0.02 ± 0.59 (P = 0.810). There was a significant positive correlation between the rectal and the temporal temperatures (r = 0.80, P &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; 0.01). The Bland-Altman plot showed wide variation in the limit of agreement between the rectal and the TA temperatures which ranged from -1.02°C to +1.56°C. The sensitivity of the TA thermometer was 64.6% and 83.5%, respectively, at a TA fever cutoff of 38.0°C and 37.7°C. Temporal artery thermometer is not accurate enough for the measurement of core body temperature in children younger than 5 years. However, it may be used as a tool for screening for fever in very busy clinics and emergency room at a fever cutoff of 37.7°C.
Nigerian Medical Journal, 2014
if their children have fever. 4 The objective use of the thermometer to detect the presence of fe... more if their children have fever. 4 The objective use of the thermometer to detect the presence of fever is often limited to health care settings in most resource-poor settings. An accurate determination of the absence of fever in a child assures parents and saves cost by preventing unnecessary investigations and medication. Ownership of thermometer seems poor, although no study in our environment was found to support that. In a study in New York, USA, of the 78% of caregivers that owned thermometers, nearly half (48%) still utilised tactile method to assess fever. 4 In another study, in India in contrast, only 15% owned thermometer with 23.8% of them not knowing how to use it. 5 This underscores the fact that the use of palpation as a means of assessing fever by mothers is common and universal. Majority of mothers and care givers in our environment still utilise tactile assessment to determine if their children have fever. Controversies over the reliability of tactile assessment of fever have been variously reported; while a study found it accurate enough, at least in younger infants, 4 others reported that it overestimates the presence of fever. 6,7 The reliability of the use of palpation to detect fever still remains uncertain.
International journal of contemporary pediatrics, Apr 25, 2024
Schistosomiasis is a common intravascular infection caused by parasitic Schistosoma trematode wor... more Schistosomiasis is a common intravascular infection caused by parasitic Schistosoma trematode worm. 1 It is a major neglected tropical disease considered as the third most devastating tropical disease in the world, after malaria and intestinal helminthiasis, with more than 200,000 people dying from it each year. 2,3 It occurs in 78 countries, with 240 million infected people and close to 700 million at risk individuals. 4,5 It is a disease of poverty ABSTRACT Background: Schistosoma haematobium infection occurs worldwide with the largest number of cases seen in sub-Saharan Africa. Most of the infections are acquired during childhood and are linked to urogenital diseases which contributes significantly to morbidity and mortality. A study on the use of urinary symptoms, signs and urinalysis in the diagnosis of S. haematobium infection might aid in providing early, prompt and rapid intervention that will limit associated complications. Methods: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional of 421 children aged 6-12 years in Ohaukwu LGA, Ebonyi State, recruited from four public primary schools using multistage sampling method. Urinary symptoms and signs were obtained using a questionnaire; urine samples were collected for urinalysis and urine microscopy. Simple proportions and odds ratio (CI) were used to analyze the data. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were calculated for various symptoms and signs. The data was analyzed with IBM-SPSS 20. Significance was set at p<0.05. Results: The prevalence of S. haematobium infection among school children in Ohaukwu LGA was 30.17%. Visible blood in urine 71.77% and dysuria 70.16% were the predominant symptoms while liver tenderness 8.87% was the most common sign. The sensitivity vs specificity of visible blood in urine and microscopic haematuria were 71.77% vs 94.43% and 100.00% vs 97.21% respectively. Conclusions: Microscopic haematuria alone was highly sensitive and specific and can be a reliable alternative to the gold standard in making diagnosis of S. haematobium infection in children living in this endemic region.
Journal of Advances in Medicine and Medical Research
The COVID-19 pandemic spread to Nigeria, resulting in a nationwide lockdown from 30th March 2020.... more The COVID-19 pandemic spread to Nigeria, resulting in a nationwide lockdown from 30th March 2020. Consequently, there was enormous impact on the health and socio-economic facets of life affecting individuals, families, and communities. A key component of primary health care that was affected was routine childhood immunisation which is one of the fundamental pillars of the Nigerian government’s child health care policy. The study aimed at evaluating the impact of the pandemic on routine immunization, as well as, make recommendations to strengthen routine immunization during a pandemic based on lessons learnt. Primary data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires administered to 150 parents or caregivers across the childcare and wellness clinics of four selected secondary health facilities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) from January to June 2020 (January to March representing the pre-lockdown period while April to June, the lockdown period). Secondary data were coll...
Journal of Advances in Medicine and Medical Research, 2020
Background: Diarrhoea is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children below five years of... more Background: Diarrhoea is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children below five years of age especially in developing countries. One of the consequences of diarrhoea in children is zinc deficiency, which may worsen the diarrhoea itself, and thus increase morbidity and mortality. Aim and Objectives: The study aimed to determine the serum zinc status of under five children with diarrhoea attending Federal Medical Centre Owerri. Also, to compare the serum zinc level between children with diarrhoea and their age and sex-matched controls, as well as determine the relationship, if any between types of diarrhoea, and frequency of diarrhoea episodes. Methodology: The study was a comparative cross-sectional study carried out at the Emergency Paediatric Unit, The Children’s Outpatient Clinic and The Children’s Ward of the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri. A total of 402 study participants were analyzed. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data including participants’ socio d...
Current Overview on Disease and Health Research Vol. 7, Feb 3, 2023
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND DIAGNOSTIC RESEARCH
Introduction: Diarrhoea significantly leads to morbidity and mortality in under-five children, pa... more Introduction: Diarrhoea significantly leads to morbidity and mortality in under-five children, particularly in developing countries. Reduced serum zinc levels in acute non infectious diarrhoea has an impact on the frequency, severity and duration. However, evidence is still evolving on the status of zinc level in bacterial diarrhoea. Aim: To assess serum zinc level in bacterial diarrhoea and compare the serum zinc level in children with the different bacterial pathogens. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Department of Paediatrics at Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria, from August 2015 to February 2016, including 201 children aged 6 to 59 months with diarrhoea. Stool specimens were isolated for bacteria, using conventional culture techniques, while serum zinc levels were determined using atomic absorption spectrometry. Serum zinc level <65 µg/dL was regarded as zinc deficiency. The data collected was analysed using the Statistical P...
Tropical Journal of Medical Research, 2016
Background: In most developing countries, the body temperature of children is routinely measured ... more Background: In most developing countries, the body temperature of children is routinely measured through the axilla because it is convenient. However, concerns have been raised concerning the reliability of axillary temperature in screening for fever especially in under five children. Objective: This study was carried out to determine the reliability of axillary temperature in screening for fever in under five children. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out at the Paediatric Department of Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, Imo State. Eligible children were consecutively recruited. Rectal and axillary temperatures were taken simultaneously in each eligible child with a mercury-in-glass thermometer. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 20. Results: A total of 156 children were recruited and the children were aged 1 day to 59 months. There were 81 males and 75 females. There was a positive correlation between rectal and axillary temperature. Using t...
Nigerian Journal of Paediatrics, Jul 1, 2016
Objective: To determine the level of awareness, knowledge and practice of human immunodeficiency ... more Objective: To determine the level of awareness, knowledge and practice of human immunodeficiency virus post exposure prophylaxis (HIV PEP) among paediatricians in Nigeria. Methodology: The study was a cross sectional questionnairebased survey conducted among paediatrcians that attended the Paediatric association of Nigeria annual scientific conference in 2015. Results: Most of the respondents (96%) were aware of the concept HIV PEP. The scores on knowledge of PEP for all the respondents ranged from 18% to 91 % with a mean score of 46.5 ± 14.1%. There was no significant difference between the performance of those who had received training on HIV PEP (48.0 ± 13.2%) and those who had not (45.1 ± 14.8%), p = 0.21, t =1.26. Ninety one (60.7%) of the respondents had been exposed to percutaneous injury during work. Thirty (33%) of the exposed paediatricians did not know the patient's HIV status and only 10 (11%) received PEP, with only 7 (7.7%) of them completing the PEP for 4 weeks Conclusion: Despite the high level of HIV PEP awareness, there was an unacceptable high rate of occupational exposures and poor knowledge of HIV PEP among Paediatricians. Additionally, there was a low uptake of HIV PEP services amongst exposed Paediatricians in Nigeria. There is need for urgent action to curb this trend.
Journal of Advances in Medicine and Medical Research
Background: Childhood hypertension is a public health concern because of associated cardio-metabo... more Background: Childhood hypertension is a public health concern because of associated cardio-metabolic morbidities in adulthood. Overweight and obesity are main drivers and predictors of childhood hypertension. There is paucity of studies on waist circumference (WC) and waist-hip ratio (WHR) – measures of central obesity - as predictors of hypertension in children. The study was done to determine if WC and WHR predicts hypertension in children. Study Design: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Primary schools in Owerri Municipal Local Government Area (LGA), Imo State, Nigeria between September 2017 to April 2018. Methodology: 809 school children aged 6-12 years were recruited from three public and six private primary schools using multi-staged sampling method. Their blood pressure (BP), weight, height, hip circumference and WC were measured using standard techniques. The BMI and WHR were then calculated. Central obesity was defined as WC ≥9...
Pediatric Emergency Care, 2014
Temporal artery (TA) thermometry has come as one of the new methods for temperature measurement, ... more Temporal artery (TA) thermometry has come as one of the new methods for temperature measurement, especially in children in whom accurate temperature monitoring can save lives. The device which is convenient and simple to use is yet to gain popularity in several parts of the world, as there are conflicting reports of its accuracy. This study compares the accuracy of the TA thermometry in children younger than 5 years using the rectal thermometry as the gold standard. Temperature was measured simultaneously in eligible children younger than 5 years from the forehead and rectum using the TA thermometer (TAT-2000C Exergen, USA) and standard mercury in glass rectal thermometer, respectively. The difference between the mean temperatures obtained by the 2 thermometry methods was tested using the paired t test. Pearson correlation coefficient, linear regression, and Bland-Altman plot were also used to test the relationship and agreement between the 2 instruments. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were also calculated. Overall, the mean TA temperature (37.80°C ± 1.07°C) was significantly lower than the mean rectal temperature (38.07°C ± 0.95°C), P &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; 0.001. In neonates, however, the mean difference was not significant, 0.02 ± 0.59 (P = 0.810). There was a significant positive correlation between the rectal and the temporal temperatures (r = 0.80, P &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; 0.01). The Bland-Altman plot showed wide variation in the limit of agreement between the rectal and the TA temperatures which ranged from -1.02°C to +1.56°C. The sensitivity of the TA thermometer was 64.6% and 83.5%, respectively, at a TA fever cutoff of 38.0°C and 37.7°C. Temporal artery thermometer is not accurate enough for the measurement of core body temperature in children younger than 5 years. However, it may be used as a tool for screening for fever in very busy clinics and emergency room at a fever cutoff of 37.7°C.
Nigerian Medical Journal, 2014
if their children have fever. 4 The objective use of the thermometer to detect the presence of fe... more if their children have fever. 4 The objective use of the thermometer to detect the presence of fever is often limited to health care settings in most resource-poor settings. An accurate determination of the absence of fever in a child assures parents and saves cost by preventing unnecessary investigations and medication. Ownership of thermometer seems poor, although no study in our environment was found to support that. In a study in New York, USA, of the 78% of caregivers that owned thermometers, nearly half (48%) still utilised tactile method to assess fever. 4 In another study, in India in contrast, only 15% owned thermometer with 23.8% of them not knowing how to use it. 5 This underscores the fact that the use of palpation as a means of assessing fever by mothers is common and universal. Majority of mothers and care givers in our environment still utilise tactile assessment to determine if their children have fever. Controversies over the reliability of tactile assessment of fever have been variously reported; while a study found it accurate enough, at least in younger infants, 4 others reported that it overestimates the presence of fever. 6,7 The reliability of the use of palpation to detect fever still remains uncertain.