Prevalence and Covid-19 Testing (Published)
An outbreak of pneumonia of unknown etiology in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China was initially reported to the World Health Organization in December 2019. Global health authorities purportedly identified a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) which continues to effect most of the world. Diagnostic testing for SARS-CoV-2 continues to advance and interpreting test results is paramount. The most commonly used diagnostic test has been the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction amplification. Determining test precision not only depends on operating characteristics, sensitivity and specificity, but more importantly on prevalence of the infectious in the population tested. This paper develops a numerical optimizer (model) to explore the effect of prevalence on surveillance testing accuracy. Findings herein suggest that large scale COVID-19 surveillance testing should be curbed or eliminated. Results advocate a more flexible and narrowly targeted approach to testing strategies.
Keywords: COVID-19, Prevalence, SARS-CoV-2 testing
THE PREVALENCE OF SOIL TRANSMITTED HELMINTHES AMONG SCHOOL CHILDREN IN IFEDORE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ONDO STATE, NIGERIA (Published)
The current status of intestinal helminthes was assessed among schools children in Ifedore Local Government of Ondo State, Nigeria. A total of 180 faecal samples were collected randomly from each of the primary schools sampled. Detection and identification were by direct microscopy. Questionnaires were administered to identify the major activities and behaviour of pupils, their knowledge about the aetiology and control of intestinal helminthes.
Chi- square was used to determine if there was any relationship between age and sex on the occurrence of the helminthes. Of the 180 pupils examined, 88 (48.9%l) were infected. Three parasite species observed were Ascaris lumbricoides (22.2%), Strongyloides stercoralis (12.8%), Hookworm (10.6%) and for multiple infection (3.3%). Females had higher prevalence (25.6%) than males (23.3%). No significant association was observed among worm infectivity, age and sex in the population studied. The study revealed that poor hygienic practices and unsanitary condition were responsible for the high prevalence of these helminthes. Health Education through primary health care could be used as a control measure
Keywords: Helminthes, Hookworm, Infection, Prevalence, Soil