The Programme Manager, National Onchocerciasis Elimination Programme, Federal Ministry of Health, Mr Michael Igbe, has said that about 50 million Nigerians are at risk of being infected with Onchocerciasis, a disease popularly known as River Blindness.

Igbe said this in Ibadan during a media dialogue organised by the Child Rights Information Bureau (CRIB) of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, in collaboration with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF).

The manager, who spoke on “Overview on Onchocerciasis Elimination in Nigeria”, said “treatment with ivermectin started in 1989, and in 1997, the Community Directed Treatment with Ivermectin (CDTI) strategy was adopted as the main strategy of programme implementation.

“At inception, Nigeria had interventions covering 32 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Now, 27 states and the FCT, with about 50 million persons in Nigeria are at risk of onchocerciasis.”

Igbe explained that the disease was caused by the nematode Onchocerca volvulus, which is the second leading cause of preventable blindness.

According to him, onchocerciasis is transmitted by the bite of an infected black fly: Simulium damnosum and other species, breeding in fast-flowing streams and rivers.

He noted that “people become blind early in life as from 20-30 years.”

He added that the major challenge faced in addressing the disease was insecurity in some local government areas.

Others, he said, were poor funding by government and inadequate logistics for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) programme.

He noted that NTDs are viral, parasitic and bacterial diseases that mainly affect the world’s poorest people. 

Malaria Dangerous in Pregnancy – Parasitologist

Similarly a Medical Parasitologist, Dr Adeniyi Adelodun, warned that malaria can be a death factor for pregnant women if not properly treated.

Adelodun, who spoke at the Estate Youth Parliament (EYP) Health Talk in Lagos said: “Malaria infection during pregnancy can have adverse effects on both mother and the fetus.

“Malaria is a life-threatening disease and typically transmitted through the bite of an infected Anopheles mosquitoes.

“Infected mosquitoes carry the plasmodium parasite and when this mosquito bites one, the parasite is released into the bloodstream.

“Once the parasites are inside the body, they travel to the liver, where they mature. After several days, the mature parasites enter the bloodstream and begin to infect red blood cells.

“Within 48 to 72 hours, the parasites inside the red blood cells multiply, causing the infected cells to burst open.

“The parasites continue to infect red blood cells, resulting in symptoms that occur in cycles that last for two to three days at a time,” he said.

On some of the effects of malaria during pregnancy, he said they include maternal anaemia, fetal loss, premature delivery, intrauterine growth re-effects of malaria on tardation, and delivery of low birth-weight infants (<2500 g or <5.5 pounds).

“Malaria can occur if a mosquito infected with the plasmodium parasite bites one. There are four kinds of malaria parasites that can infect humans: Plasmodium vivax, P. ovale, P. malariae, and P. falciparum.

“P. falciparum causes a more severe form of the disease and those who contract this form of malaria have a higher risk of death.

“An infected mother can  also pass the disease to her baby at birth, which is known as congenital malaria.’’

On the management of malaria during pregnancy, he said: “For pregnant women, it includes the use of chloroquine, quinine, atovaquone-proguanil, clindamycin, mefloquine (avoid in first trimester), sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (avoid in first trimester) and the artemisinins.

“Even the World Health Organisation (WHO) now recommends that all women in the second or third trimester of pregnancy who have uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria should be treated with artemisinin-based combination therapy.’’

According to Adelodun, the symptoms of malaria typically develop within 10 days to four weeks following the infection.

“While in some cases, symptoms might not develop for several months and some malarial parasites could enter the body but will be dormant for long periods of time.

“Common symptoms of malaria include shaking chills that can range from moderate to severe high fever, profuse sweating, headache, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, anaemia, muscle pain, convulsions, coma and bloody stools,’’ he said.