Browsing by Author "Opara, F. N."
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Item Open Access Attitudes and local beliefs towards mosquito insurgence in Imo State, Nigeria(U. P., 2010) Mgbemena, I. C.; Opara, F. N.; Okechukwu, R. I.Different attitudes and beliefs towards the presence of mosquitoes in the environment in the three urban centers of Imo State were investigated. Structured questionnaire were randomly distributed and the responses recorded accordingly, among the 461 respondents that participated in the study. The attitudes of killing it / controlling it topped the lists of the responses. Other attitudes are irritating, bad/ very bitter, negative/ concern, hatred / inimical and sleeplessness/ restlessness which could reflect strong attitudes that can induce change in behavior. The various attitudes towards disease treatment rated as very effective (VE), fairly effective (FE), not effective (NE) and aggravate the sickness (AS) may reflect their perception of the seriousness of mosquito – borne diseases. The number that felt that mosquito – borne diseases was mild and not serious will definitely display attitudinal responses saddled with levity particularly towards treatment. Possibly they may not feel inclined to carefully adhere to drug dosage prescription. Differential misconceptions of mosquito and associated diseases reported by the respondents included: malaria is caused by drinking unclean water; hot sun predisposes people to malaria, prolonged malaria brings about yellow fever and mosquitoes carry AIDS virus etc. More enlightenment efforts should focus on the nature and severity of mosquito – borne diseases.Item Open Access Preliminary phytochemical screening and antibacterial activities of leaf extracts of terminalia catappa(Scholarlink Research Institute Journals, 2012) Opara, F. N.; Anuforo, H. U.; Okechukwu, R. I.; Mgbemena, I. C.; Akujobi, C. O.; Adjero, A.Various parts of Terminalia catappa, the Indian almond, are claimed useful in trado-medicine for the treatment of bacterial infections and some other ailments. The development of resistance to the antibiotics in current clinical use is a big concern. In view of this, the phytochemical screening and antibacterial activities of the leaf extracts of Terminalia catappa were evaluated using ethanol and hot water as solvents to determine the active components, antibacterial potency of the leaf extracts and the minimum effective concentration so as to reduce harm. Cold maceration method was adopted in extracting the active principle, having pulverized the leaves. Phytochemical analysis of the crude extracts indicated the presence of carbohydrates, saponins, tannins, steroids and terpenes. Antibacterial screening with 24hours cultures of clinical isolates of Salmonella typhi, and type cultures of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, using agar-cup diffusion method indicated that P. aeruginosa was the most sensitive while S. typhi the least; ethanolic extract was relatively more active than water extract. Minimum bactericidal concentration test showed that ethanolic extract exerted bactericidal effect at 62.5mg/ml on S.aureus, but was static on the rest test microorganisms at the said concentration. Water extract exhibited bactericidal activity at 125mg/ml on S. aureus and P. aeruginosa, but was static on E. coli and inactive on S. typhi. From the activity obtained, S.aureus and P.aeruginosa were more sensitive to ethanolic extract than water extract. The concentration should be higher than applied in this study to probably achieve marked activity. The results obtained suggest that T. catappa can be used in the treatment of ailments caused by the test microorganisms, and thus lends credence to the application of the plant in traditional medicine as remedy for various infections.Item Open Access Preliminary phytochemical screening and antibacterial activities of leaf extracts of terminalia catappa(Scholarlink Research Institute Journals, 2012) Opara, F. N.; Anuforo, H. U.; Okechukwu, R. I.; Mgbemena, I. C.; Akujobi, C. O.; Adjero, A.Various parts of Terminalia catappa, the Indian almond, are claimed useful in trado-medicine for the treatment of bacterial infections and some other ailments. The development of resistance to the antibiotics in current clinical use is a big concern. In view of this, the phytochemical screening and antibacterial activities of the leaf extracts of Terminalia catappa were evaluated using ethanol and hot water as solvents to determine the active components, antibacterial potency of the leaf extracts and the minimum effective concentration so as to reduce harm. Cold maceration method was adopted in extracting the active principle, having pulverized the leaves. Phytochemical analysis of the crude extracts indicated the presence of carbohydrates, saponins, tannins, steroids and terpenes. Antibacterial screening with 24hours cultures of clinical isolates of Salmonella typhi, and type cultures of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, using agar-cup diffusion method indicated that P. aeruginosa was the most sensitive while S. typhi the least; ethanolic extract was relatively more active than water extract. Minimum bactericidal concentration test showed that ethanolic extract exerted bactericidal effect at 62.5mg/ml on S.aureus, but was static on the rest test microorganisms at the said concentration. Water extract exhibited bactericidal activity at 125mg/ml on S. aureus and P. aeruginosa, but was static on E. coli and inactive on S. typhi. From the activity obtained, S.aureus and P.aeruginosa were more sensitive to ethanolic extract than water extract. The concentration should be higher than applied in this study to probably achieve marked activity. The results obtained suggest that T. catappa can be used in the treatment of ailments caused by the test microorganisms, and thus lends credence to the application of the plant in traditional medicine as remedy for various infections.Item Open Access Seasonal variation and relative abundance of drainage breeding mosquito species in Imo State, Nigeria(INNSPUB, 2012) Mgbemena, I. C.; Adjeroh, L. A.; Opara, F. N.; Ezeagwuna, D.; Ebe, T.An ecological study of drainage - breeding mosquito vectors was conducted in the three urban centers (Owerri, Orlu and Okigwe) of Imo State, Nigeria. Twelve drainage sites located around markets, residence, streams and hotels were selected in each urban centre. Dipping method of sampling was employed and a total of 8,820 mosquitoes comprising eight species namely; Aedes aegypti, Aedes vittatus, Culex quinquefasciatus, Culex tigripes, Culex horridus, Culex cinereus, Culex annuliorus and Anopheles gambiae were encountered; in Owerri and Orlu with Cx. cinereus being completely absent in Okigwe. Cx. quinquefasciatus was predominantly present in all drainage sites with the highest occurrence of (372.83) followed by Aedes aegypti (151.17), An .gambiae (78.75), Cx. tigripes (40.25) Ae. vittatus (35.00), Cx. horridus( 22.00), Cx.cinereus( 21.75), Cx. annuliorus (13.25). Of all sites sampled, market drainages had the highest abundance of mosquitoes which was significantly higher than (ANOVA, P 0.05) the residential, stream and hotel drainages. Residential drainages recorded second highest density followed by stream and hotel drainages had the least. The abundance of mosquitoes in Owerri (130.06) the State Capital was significantly higher (ANOVA, P 0.05) than in Orlu (93.44) and Okigwe (52.13). Result of the Pearson correlation (2 - tailed) analysis showed significant correlation between mosquito abundance and rainfall in the three urban centers of Imo State with highest abundance in June. This work has actually provided information on 8 species associated with drains in the State together with the seasonality of these arsenals. During dry months, Culex species were found to be dominant while in rains Aedes and Anopheles. Possibly, effective larviciding against these various species could be targeted in these months.