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Background COVID-19, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has evolved into a pandemic. Oyo state, Nigeria with a population of 9,233,010, recorded the first case of COVID-19 on the 12th of March 2020 and it is among the highest contributing States to the nation’s burden of the disease with 3267 confirmed cases, including 40 deaths as of date, with an overall test positivity rate of 18.1%, far higher compared to the National average within a limited period from recorded index case. A ‘Hotspot strategy’ was designed by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and Oyo State was selected to implement the strategy through upscaling case detection, isolation and treatment, quarantine of contacts and strengthening public health and social measures. Methods We used a descriptive cross-sectional survey of 3 identified hotspot Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Oyo State using mobile phones under Surveillance, Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System (SORMAS) platform to collect data from October to December 2020. Interventions comprised of enhanced active case search, contact line listing, contact investigation, and contact follow-up as well as to facilitate data collection and entry, community sensitization and management of alert/rumors. Baseline information and that after the 3-month period was then analyzed with the descriptive statistics presented. Results The implementation of the hotspot strategy was shown to have had a major impact in Irepo LGA, where more than a 100% increase in samples tested, confirmed cases, contacts listed and contacts followed were recorded, while there were no significance changes noticed in Ibadan North and Lagelu LGAs. However, test positivity rates among contacts were found to be quite high in Ibadan North LGA (48%), compared to the other two, even though Lagelu LGA (5.7%) tested more contacts than Ibadan North. Conclusion The observed increase in number of samples tested, cases confirmed, contact listed and investigated as well as test positivity rate in the 3 LGAs after the intervention implies that the hotspot strategy can be said to have contributed positively to the sensitivity of COVID-19 surveillance in Oyo State, Nigeria. This implies that strengthening this ‘hotspot strategy’ may be a key area of focus to improve COVID-19 surveillance sensitivity and response and in turn may help in breaking the transmission and bringing the pandemic to a halt.

Background: Hypertension is one of the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Though generally believed to be a disease of the adults, It has been shown to start in early life and tracks through adolescence into adulthood.Aims and Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of hypertension and associated factors among adolescents in Ekiti State.Materials and Methods: The study was a cross sectional survey involving 416 secondary school adolescents aged 10 to 19 years. A ‘two-stage’ sampling technique was used to select the subjects. Facilitated self-administered questionnaire was used for the study. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Level of significance was set at P

The burden of cardiovascular diseases in developing countries is alarming and needs urgent attention. The study assessed the prevalence of Cardio Vascular Disease risk factor among women in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The study design was a descriptive cross sectional survey conducted in Ado - Ekiti, Nigeria. Participants recruited for the study through simple random sampling were 426 women who were in a religious outreach program. Interviewer administered semi – structured questionnaires were used to collect information on respondents socio-demographic characteristics, past medical history, nutritional status (using dietary recall), and behaviors related to lifestyle. A general physical examination was done and anthropometric measurements taken from each respondent. The examinations collected data on, blood pressure, weight and height. Blood specimen (5 ml whole blood) was collected from each respondent for laboratory tests such as random blood sugar (RBS) and serum cholesterol levels. Data from the clinical examinations and laboratory tests were then used to categorize respondents as hypertensive, diabetic, obese and hyperlipidemic. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20 and level of significance was set at p values < 0.5. A total of 426 respondents participated in the survey of which 64.8% were between 40 -59 years with a mean age of 51.7 ± 11.9 years. A high proportion (81.7%) of respondents had formal education. Most of the respondents (95%) claimed to be employed. About 51.4% of the respondents reported history of substance use. The most commonly consumed by respondents were “bitter kola” (31.7%) and “kolanut” (9.9%). About 5% of respondents either smoked or took substances containing nicotine e.g. “snuff “. Nearly a quarter, 23.2% of respondents claimed that they have ever used herbal (traditional) medicine (23.2%) to take care of health issues as the need arises. About 9.2% of respondents claimed that they occasionally consumed alcoholic drinks. About 49.5% of the respondents were found to have poor medical history. While majority (73.9%) of the respondents had normal blood pressure (BP), 12.0% and 14% were either pre-hypertensive or hypertensive. Majority of the respondents, 61.2%, were reported obese with a BMI exceeding 25. About 63.4% of respondents had high serum cholesterol while 2.1% reported smoking habit. There were significant cardiovascular risk factors found among women studied.