By Ayodamola Owoseye
The Federal Ministry of Health says in spite of the health and economic benefits of exclusive breastfeeding to mother and child, only 24 per cent of infants are exclusively breastfed in Nigeria.
Chimay Thompson, the Assistant Director, Nutrition Division, Family Health Department in the ministry said exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life without water, infant formula, liquid or food has proven to save lives, improve women and children’s health and boots lifelong productivity.
However, Mr Thompson said millions of mothers and infants were now losing the benefits as only about 23.7 per cent of infants less than six months were exclusively being breastfed.
“The nationally accepted document which is the multiple indicator cluster survey states that we are presently at 23.7 per cent on exclusive breastfeeding in the country.”
WHO confirms strain of latest Ebola outbreak
The Ebola outbreak in Congo is confirmed to be the Zaire strain of the virus and vaccinations of health workers has started, a senior official of the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.
Peter Salama, WHO deputy director for emergency preparedness and response, gave the results of genetic sequencing in a tweet saying that analysis showed it was a new outbreak in North Kivu province.
The experimental vaccine, rVSV-ZEBOV, which is manufactured by Merck, proved successful during its first wide-scale usage against an outbreak of Zaire virus on the other side of Congo in the North-west that was declared over less than two weeks ago after killing 33.
Antibiotic resistance genes threat to human health – Research
The earth’s atmosphere is being contaminated by Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARGs), which pose a threat to human health, according to recent Chinese research.
Led by Peking University, the research collected samples of air from 19 cities in 13 countries and analysed the Particulate Matter (PM) using molecular technology.
The analysis revealed 30 different types of ARGs that make bacteria resistant to seven types of antibiotics. ARGs resistant to vancomycin, one of the most effective antibiotics, were found in the air of six cities.
Antibiotic resistance is caused by the incorrect use of antibiotics, and it has allowed many bacteria to be resistant to commonly used antibiotics, which means many antibiotics are no long effective to treat common infections.
Cholera kills 11 in Kano
Eleven deaths resulting from cholera outbreak in three villages has been recorded in Bebeji local government area of Kano state.
According to a witness, 47 persons affected by the ailments are also receiving treatment at a private facility located close to the affected villages.
According to Ubale Dauda, who supervised the community members who were mobilised to assess the outbreak, the villages which were worse hit are Kuki and Hayi and this was because they lack primary health facilities.
However, the spokesperson of Kano state Ministry of health, Ismail Gwammaja said the ministry has not received any information on cholera outbreak in any part of the state.
Lassa Fever: Enugu confirms one death
The Enugu State government has confirmed the death of one person from Lassa fever.
The permanent secretary of the state Ministry of Health, Ifeanyi Agujiobi said the health providers at the health facility located at the Enugu metropolis tried to manage the patient but lost him.
The permanent secretary said the ministry’s epidemiology officials had commenced massive contact tracing of those people that had contact with the patient.
Indian first woman to give birth with mother’s transplanted uterus
An Indian woman will soon become the first in Asia to give birth to a baby after undergoing a successful uterus transplant recently, said doctors with a private hospital in Pune, a city in southwestern state of Maharashtra.
The uterus translated into the pregnant woman is her mother’s.
The 27-year-old woman is now in her 20th week of pregnancy.
“The uterus transplanted into her has not delivered for the past 20 years,” said the doctors.
“Transplanting the uterus was a difficult task. It was a nine-hour surgery. It is not a very easy surgery; chances of infection were very high. The embryo was completely embedded in the lady so that she can conceive.”
Polio Eradication: FG approves $150 million loan from World Bank
The federal government has approved the World Bank credit of $150 million to support polio eradication in Nigeria.
The minister of finance, Kemi Adeosun who disclosed after the federal executive council meeting which was presided by the vice president Yemi Osinbajo said the proposed loan is to support polio eradication.
According to her, the this will assist the federal government as part of the global polio eradication effort achieve and sustain at least 80 percent coverage with Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV)immunisation in every state and also improve routine immunisation
NCDC holds Lassa fever conference
Fifty years after the first outbreak of Lassa fever in Nigeria, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control will be having an international conference on the disease in January 2019.
This year, Nigeria reported the largest outbreak of the disease and Lassa fever has become endemic in other West African countries such as Benin Republic, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali and Sierra Leone.
Against this background, NCDC and partners will host the first international conference on Lassa fever in Abuja.
This will provide an opportunity for the scientific community to reflect on what is known, describe gaps that exist and prioritise the research agenda for the future.