Biomedical subjects

H Adesina

Publications and source records attributed to H Adesina.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Urban malaria treatment behaviour in the context of low levels of malaria transmission in Lagos, Nigeria.

Urban malaria in West Africa is not well documented. While rapid urbanisation may create environmental conditions that favour mosquito breeding, urban pollution may inhibit the growth of Anopheles species. In 1996, the Basic Support for Institutionalizing Child Survival (BASICS) Project of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) started building urban community health coalitions in Lagos, Nigeria, to empower communities to provide prompt treatment and appropriate prevention for major causes of childhood morbidity and mortality, including malaria, diarrhoeal disease, acute respiratory infections and vaccine preventable diseases. Intervention against malaria was predicated on national policies that assumed Nigeria was holo-endemic for malaria and that prompt treatment of febrile illness with anti-malarial drugs was an appropriate action. At the suggestion and with the assistance of another USAID programme, the Environmental Health Project (EHP), BASICS embarked on a rapid assessment of the epidemiological, entomological and sociological situation of malaria transmission and case management in three Lagos communities. During April and May 1998, blood film investigation of 916 children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years yielded a parasite prevalence rate of 0.9%. Night knockdown collections of mosquitoes in rooms yielded only C. quinquefasciatus and A. aegypti. The same results were obtained for night landing collections on human bait. Very low densities of A. gambiae larvae were found in breeding sites in Lagos Island (0.7) and Ajegunle (0.3). In contrast, community members, during focus group discussion identified malaria, in it various culturally defined forms, as a major health problem. Among the children examined clinically, 186 (20.3%) reported an illness, which they called "malaria" in the previous two weeks, and 180 had sought treatment for this illness. Data obtained from 303 shops in the area documented that a minimum of US dollars 4,000 was spent on purchases of anti-malarial drugs in the previous week. The implications of these findings for both professional and community education are discussed.

Animals↗

PubMed1976

Complement components in children with protein-calorie malnutrition.

Complement components of C1-C9 were estimated in children with protein-calorie malnutrition. The diagnosis of kwashiorkor and marasmus were based on clinical examination, anthropometric measurements and on biochemical estimations. The children were examined clinically and bacteriologically for any evidence of infection. All the complement components except C4 and C5 were significantly lower in children with protein-calorie malnutrition: of all the complement components C3 and C9 were the most severely depressed. C5 was the only complement component that was significantly higher in malnourished children than in normal children. Malnourished children with C-reactive protein in their serum had significantly lower values of C3 and C9 and higher values of C5 than malnourished children without C-reactive protein in their serum. During refeeding C3 was the first complement to show a significant rise. This was followed by C9. There was a fall in C5 concentration while there was no change in C4 concentration. The roles of infection, malnutrition and C-reactive protein on complement depletion are discussed.

Child, Preschool↗

PubMed1975

Specific protein assays in protein-calorie malnutrition.

Assessment of serum protein concentrations in protein-calorie malnutrition was carried out by two specific immunochemical methods, the Single Radial Immunodiffusion technique and the Automated Immunonephelometric procedure. The correlation coefficient (r) between the two methods was above 0.85 for all the serum proteins assayed. The automated nephelometric assay procedure has the advantages that it is rapid and that a large number of samples can be readily processed. The system in its present form could not be readily used to quantitate proteins such as prealbumin whose serum concentration was less than 50 mg/100 ml. The single radial immunodiffusiton technique gave more consitent results for IgA estimation than the automated technique. With the exception of C4 and the immunoglobulins, all the serum proteins assayed were lower in children with protein-calorie malnutrition than in control children. During refeeding in children with protein-calorie malnutrition the first serum protein to show a significant rise was C3. This was followed by transferin, then prealbumin and lastly albumin. C4 did not show any significant change. In experimental protein-calorie malnutrition in rats, the first serum protein to show a significant reduction was C3. This was followed by transferrin and then albumin. On refeeding the rats these serum proteins returned to normal values in the same order.

Animals↗