Background: Although much concern has been expressed about the occupational risk posed to surgeons by the HIV pandemic infection, the paediatric age group is often seen as less likely to harbor the disease. Aim: To de...Background: Although much concern has been expressed about the occupational risk posed to surgeons by the HIV pandemic infection, the paediatric age group is often seen as less likely to harbor the disease. Aim: To determine the HIV infection rate among children presenting for surgical operations at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos. Materials, patients and method: Blood was taken from 1000 consecutive children referred to LUTH for surgical conditions and tested for HIV sero-positivity using the Western blot method. Consenting parents of sero-positive patients were also tested. Result: Five children tested positive for HIV, giving an overall infection rate of 0.5%. Four mothers and three consenting fathers were also positive. In one child, none of the parents was positive and he was suspected to have developed the disease from a previous blood transfusion prior to presentation in LUTH. This possibly resulted from transfusion of infected blood during its window period. Conclusion: Although the HIV infection rate of 0.5% in paediatric surgical group in Lagos is low, surgeons should vigilantly apply universal precautions to prevent needle-stick injuries while the rate of HIV infection should be periodically monitored to determine the trend.展开更多
Background: Esophageal Atresia and Tracheo-Esophageal Fistula (EA/TEF) occurs sporadically and its eti-ology is poorly understood. We observed six cases of EA/TEF within three weeks of October 2007 at the Lagos Univer...Background: Esophageal Atresia and Tracheo-Esophageal Fistula (EA/TEF) occurs sporadically and its eti-ology is poorly understood. We observed six cases of EA/TEF within three weeks of October 2007 at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Nigeria. Aims: To analyze the monthly trends of presentation of EA/TEF at the LUTH from 2002-7, test the hypothesis that the October figures were not due to chance and correlate data with known local disease patterns. Setting: Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. Patients, Materials, Method: A retrospective analysis of all EA/TEFs managed at the LUTH within stated period. Results: 25 babies with EA/TEF presented over the period. 10 (40%) were seen in the month of Oc-tober, 5 (20%) occurred in May while the rest were spread over the rest of the months. Chi-square analysis confirmed that the EA/TEF cases occurred significantly more frequently in October (P < 0.001) and this ob-servation was unlikely due to chance. Conclusions: There seems to be a seasonal variation in the occurrence of EA/TEF in Lagos, with a significantly higher frequency in the month of October. 96% of mothers of ba-bies with EA/TEF lived in low socioeconomic parts of Lagos. This study highlights the possibility of local viral etiology of EA/TEF.展开更多
文摘Background: Although much concern has been expressed about the occupational risk posed to surgeons by the HIV pandemic infection, the paediatric age group is often seen as less likely to harbor the disease. Aim: To determine the HIV infection rate among children presenting for surgical operations at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos. Materials, patients and method: Blood was taken from 1000 consecutive children referred to LUTH for surgical conditions and tested for HIV sero-positivity using the Western blot method. Consenting parents of sero-positive patients were also tested. Result: Five children tested positive for HIV, giving an overall infection rate of 0.5%. Four mothers and three consenting fathers were also positive. In one child, none of the parents was positive and he was suspected to have developed the disease from a previous blood transfusion prior to presentation in LUTH. This possibly resulted from transfusion of infected blood during its window period. Conclusion: Although the HIV infection rate of 0.5% in paediatric surgical group in Lagos is low, surgeons should vigilantly apply universal precautions to prevent needle-stick injuries while the rate of HIV infection should be periodically monitored to determine the trend.
文摘Background: Esophageal Atresia and Tracheo-Esophageal Fistula (EA/TEF) occurs sporadically and its eti-ology is poorly understood. We observed six cases of EA/TEF within three weeks of October 2007 at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Nigeria. Aims: To analyze the monthly trends of presentation of EA/TEF at the LUTH from 2002-7, test the hypothesis that the October figures were not due to chance and correlate data with known local disease patterns. Setting: Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. Patients, Materials, Method: A retrospective analysis of all EA/TEFs managed at the LUTH within stated period. Results: 25 babies with EA/TEF presented over the period. 10 (40%) were seen in the month of Oc-tober, 5 (20%) occurred in May while the rest were spread over the rest of the months. Chi-square analysis confirmed that the EA/TEF cases occurred significantly more frequently in October (P < 0.001) and this ob-servation was unlikely due to chance. Conclusions: There seems to be a seasonal variation in the occurrence of EA/TEF in Lagos, with a significantly higher frequency in the month of October. 96% of mothers of ba-bies with EA/TEF lived in low socioeconomic parts of Lagos. This study highlights the possibility of local viral etiology of EA/TEF.
