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Background: Despite concerted global efforts to reduce the burden of maternal anemia, it remains a major public health issue. Over 40% of pregnant women worldwide are anemic; low- and middle-income countries (especially those in sub-Saharan Africa) make a disproportionately higher contribution to the global burden. The condition can lead to undesirable outcomes for the mother and child. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of anemia in pregnancy among women attending antenatal clinics in Chikun LGA, Kaduna. Methods: This study was conducted among 145 women attending antenatal clinics in Chikun LGA. Data were collected using a pretested, semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. Hemoglobin (Hb) level was determined and anemia was defined using the World Health Organization-recommended cutoff of <11 g/dl. The results were presented in frequency tables. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 26. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: Fifty-five (37.9%) of the respondents were between the ages of 25 and 29 years. The mean age of the respondents was 28.61 ± 5.5 years. The majority, 107 (73.8%), had a household size of 2–4. Only 16 (11.0%) respondents were aware of anemia. Pregnant women were identified by half (50.0%) of the respondents as being more at risk of anemia. Only a quarter (25.0%) of respondents had good knowledge of anemia. Over two-fifth (42.8%) of the respondents were anemic. There was a statistically significant relationship between household size and anemia in respondents. Conclusion: A large proportion of the respondents were anemic; this underscores the need to strengthen the nutritional counseling and routine hematinics given during the antenatal period. Social drivers should also be addressed in terms of favorable public policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Postnatal care remains the most neglected component of maternal and child health. It is determined by postnatal practices, which may be beneficial, innocuous or harmful as prevalent in low and middle income countries including Nigeria. Aim: To compare postnatal care practices among mothers in urban and rural communities. Settings and Design: A comparative cross-sectional design was used to assess postnatal care practices among 130 mothers each in urban and rural communities of Kano using multistage systematic sampling. Materials and Methods: Data were collected from mothers who delivered a live baby within the preceding year using an interviewer administered semi-structured questionnaire. Statistical analysis used: Data collected was analysed using the SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 21.0. Results: Findings show poor postnatal care practices like delay in initiation of breastfeeding (77.2% and 88.4%, respectively), poor cord care (97.6% and 100%, respectively) and ingestion of potash gruel (35.4% and 65.9%, respectively) were abundant. Postnatal care practice was significantly associated with respondents' education and husband's education in the urban area (and age of respondents in the rural community (P < 0.05). Marital setting was the only predictor of postnatal practice (odds ratio = 0.25, 95% confidence interval [0.09–0.69]), where mothers in a monogamous setting had a 75% likelihood of good practice as compared to their polygamous counterparts. Conclusion: The preponderance of bad postnatal practices found among mothers in both urban and rural settings indicates the level of danger that mothers and their newborns are exposed to in the studied communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: HIV/AIDS is a rapidly growing epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. HIV is a retrovirus that primarily infects components of the human immune system such as CD4+ T-cells, macrophages and dendritic cells. This study is therefore designed to evaluate the CD4+ T-cell count and liver enzymes of adult HIV seropositive subjects receiving Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) and those yet to be started on HAART as well as HIV seronegative control subjects. Methods: Serum levels of CD4+ counts of subjects were determined using flow cytometry while their serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were determined using enzymatic spectrophotometric method. Results: Serum ALT was found to be significantly increased in the HAART group as compared with those of the two other groups. In addition, serum ALP was significantly increased in the HAART group as compared with the control subjects, while serum AST was higher in the HAART group as compared with the HAART naive group. Conclusion: HAART is associated with hepatotoxicity, thus, it is recommended that liver enzymes should be measured before and periodically after antiretroviral therapy is initiated and/or when HAART regimen is switched, as this will serve a good index for disease monitoring and/or progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]