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Body mass index (BMI) has traditionally been used as an indicator of body size measure and composition. Although, other measures of adiposity of the abdomen such as waist circumference (WC), waist-hip ratio (WHR), neck circumference (NC) have been suggested as being superior to BMI in predicting disease outcome. This study was designed to compare different anthropometric variables in term of their ability to predict type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This was a case-control study in 240 participants involving 120 verified T2DM cases and 120 non-diabetics as control. Age, gender and anthropometric data were collected from each participant. Logistic regression models were used with areas under the receiver operating characteristic (AROC) curve to compare the variables predictive statistics. The AROC of WHR to identify T2DM patients was 0.678 (P0.05) in the mean HC and NC values between the diabetic and non-diabetic subjects. The non-diabetic subjects have significantly (P>0.05) higher mean height value than the diabetic subjects. Measures of generalized and central obesity were significantly associated with increased risk of developing T2DM. This study revealed that WHR can predict type 2 diabetes mellitus risk more accurately than other anthropometric measures and can thus be helpful in predicting patients with future occurrence of diabetes and providing necessary interventions

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic is ongoing, and to know how far the virus has spread in Niger State, Nigeria, a pilot study was carried out to determine the COVID-19 seroprevalence, patterns, dynamics, and risk factors in the state. A cross sectional study design and clustered-stratified-Random sampling strategy were used. COVID-19 IgG and IgM Rapid Test Kits (Colloidal gold immunochromatography lateral flow system) were used to determine the presence or absence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in the blood of sampled participants across Niger State as from 26th June 2020 to 30th June 2020. The test kits were validated using the blood samples of some of the NCDC confirmed positive and negative COVID-19 cases in the State. COVID-19 IgG and IgM Test results were entered into the EPIINFO questionnaire administered simultaneously with each test. EPIINFO was then used for both the descriptive and inferential statistical analyses of the data generated. The seroprevalence of COVID-19 in Niger State was found to be 25.41% and 2.16% for the positive IgG and IgM respectively. Seroprevalence among age groups, gender and by occupation varied widely. A seroprevalence of 37.21% was recorded among health care workers in Niger State. Among age groups, COVID-19 seroprevalence was found to be in order of 30-41 years (33.33%) > 42-53 years (32.42%) > 54-65 years (30%) > 66 years and above (25%) > 6-17 years (19.20%) > 18-29 years (17.65%) > 5 years and below (6.66%). A seroprevalence of 27.18% was recorded for males and 23.17% for females in the state. COVID-19 asymptomatic rate in the state was found to be 46.81%. The risk analyses showed that the chances of infection are almost the same for both urban and rural dwellers in the state. However, health care workers and those that have had contact with person (s) that travelled out of Nigeria in the last six (6) months are twice (2 times) at risk of being infected with the virus. More than half (54.59%) of the participants in this study did not practice social distancing at any time since the pandemic started. Discussions about knowledge, practice and attitude of the participants are included. The observed Niger State COVID-19 seroprevalence means that the herd immunity for COVID-19 is yet to be achieved and the population is still susceptible for more infection and transmission of the virus. If the prevalence stays as reported here, the population will definitely need COVID-19 vaccines when they become available. Niger State should fully enforce the use of face/nose masks and observation of social/physical distancing in gatherings including religious gatherings in order to stop or slow the spread of the virus.

After the successful roll out of MenAfriVac, Nigeria has experienced sequential meningitis outbreaks attributed to meningococcus serogroup C (NmC). Zamfara State in North-western Nigeria recently was at the epicentre of the largest NmC outbreak in the 21st Century with 7,140 suspected meningitis cases and 553 deaths reported between December 2016 and May 2017. The overall attack rate was 155 per 100,000 population and children 5–14 years accounted for 47% (3,369/7,140) of suspected cases. The case fatality rate (CFR) among children 5–9 years was 10%, double that reported among adults ≥ 30 years (5%). NmC and pneumococcus accounted for 94% (172/184) and 5% (9/184) of the laboratory-confirmed cases, respectively. The sequenced NmC belonged to the ST-10217 clonal complex (CC). All serotyped pneumococci were PCV10 serotypes. The emergence of NmC ST-10217 CC outbreaks threatens the public health gains made by MenAfriVac, which calls for an urgent strategic action against meningitis outbreaks.