SEROPREVALENCE AND MOLECULAR DETECTION OF WEST NILE VIRUS IN FEBRILE PATIENTS ATTENDING SOME HOSPITALS IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA
SEROPREVALENCE AND MOLECULAR DETECTION OF WEST NILE VIRUS IN FEBRILE PATIENTS ATTENDING SOME HOSPITALS IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2017-07
Authors
JOSEPHINE, ASHULEE MA'AJI,
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
West Nile Virus (WNV) infection has become a major public health problem throughout the world. It is a mosquito-borne virus that is frequently included in the routine diagnosis of febrile illness in some countries excluding Nigeria. This research was aimed at determining the seroprevalence of WNV in patients with febrile illness attending some hospitals in Kaduna state, Nigeria. Three hospitals were selected for this study, one from each senatorial district of Kaduna state. Serological screening for WNV antibodies was done using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) to screen for IgM antibodies against the virus, using West Nile IgM ELISA test kit (Diagnostic Automation/Cortez Diagnostics, Inc. USA) at the Virology Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, ABU Zaria. A total of one hundred and thirty five (135) samples were collected from febrile patients out of which 7(5.2%) were seropositive for IgM antibodies. From the three senatorial district of Kaduna state, Kaduna Central had the highest prevalence of 3.0%, Kaduna South had a prevalence of 2.2% and there was no positive sample recorded in Kaduna North. This study showed that the male population had a higher prevalence of 3.7% and the result also showed that patients in the age group 31-40years had a higher prevalence of 2.2% as compared to the other age groups. In this study, there was a statistically significant association (P=0.04) between WNV infection and occupation, thereby revealing that farming may pre dispose one to WNV infection. The result from this study shows that the use of mosquito nets is protective against WNV infection. Certain risk factors such as Blood transfusion, Organ transplant, chemotherapy, cancer, hypertension and diabetes were not statistically significant in this study. All the seven serum samples that were seropositive for WNV IgM were subjected to Reverse Transcriptase - Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) to detect the viral RNA. The RNA was first extracted, amplified then the products were resolved using gel electrophoresis. The nucleotide sequence of primers used for the reaction included WNENV-both reverse and forward, WN233 and 640, WN3‘NC-both reverse and forward, where RNA to WNV; WNENV (431bp) targeting the envelop gene and WN (408bp) targeting the C terminal portion of the C gene and the N terminal part of the PrM gene were detected in the study area. PCR detected the presence of WNV in Kaduna metropolis and so the prevaence of WNV in the area was established through the findings in this study. Infection by WNV should be a consideration in the diagnosis and treatment PUOs.
Description
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF A MASTER OF SCIENCE DEGREE IN MICROBIOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF MICROBIOLOGY, FACULTY OF LIFE SCIENCES, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA, KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA.
Keywords
SEROPREVALENCE,, MOLECULAR DETECTION,, WEST NILE VIRUS, FEBRILE PATIENTS, HOSPITALS, KADUNA STATE