Uchejeso M. Obeta

By Obeta M. Uchejeso, Ikeagwulonu R. Chinaza, Ohanube A.K. Goodluck and Jwanse I. Rinpan

Coronavirus (COVID-19) has shaken the world not minding the strength of the global health system leading to over 824, 000 deaths amidst the search of a cure and total prevention. The Igbo states in Nigeria has the average prevalence of 711 cases of COVID-19 with the highest 1096 (Enugu) and least 207 (Anambra) as at 26th August, 2020. This chapter studied some Igbo indigenous plants in use since the outbreak and presents Bitter kola, Garlic, Giloy, Ginger, Lime, and Turmeric which are having anti-COVID-19 properties. The authors suggest that these plants have the properties that alter the PH on the interface between the virus spike proteins and the human respiratory surfaces causing a brake on the interaction with human ACE-2 and where interaction has taken place, the replication and translation stages are disrupted. The plants thus are potential modifiers of this milieu and inhibitor of the main protease and endoribonuclease via epigenetics and homeostasis. These plants consumption should be encouraged as prophylactic or curative measures pending the discovery of a definitive cure. The chapter recommends that the search for COVID-19 cure should not be limited to conventional medicines, rather should be extended to some indigenous plants in Igbo land.

Part of the book: Alternative Medicine

By Obeta M. Uchejeso, Nkereuwem S. Etukudoh, Mantu E. Chongs and Dan M. Ime

Inter-professional teamwork in government owned hospitals and various healthcare institutions involving various Professionals such as Doctors, Pharmacists, Medical Laboratory Scientists, Medical Laboratory Technicians, Medical Laboratory Assistants, Nurses, Physiotherapists, Radiographers, Health Information Officers, Human Resources Managers, etc. is becoming a challenge leading to various strikes and labour protests in Nigeria. The patients and family relatives and host communities of such health institutions are becoming uncomfortable with quality of care due to inter-professional discord. This needs a critical discussion towards solving/looking into the challenges such as Personality differences, Health Leadership and Hierarchy, Disruptive behaviors, Culture and ethnicity, Generational differences, Gender, Historical inter-professional and intra-professional education, Fears of diluted professional identification, Differences in accountability, payment and rewards, Concerns regarding clinical roles and responsibilities, Complexity of care, Emphasis of rapid decision making, Service timing, with Associations and Unions. The exploration would provide solutions for better teamwork practice and improved patients care.

Part of the book: Interpersonal Relationships

By Obeta M. Uchejeso, Jwanse I. Rinpan, Mantu E. Chongs and Maureen O. Ekpere-Ezeugwu

The coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) virus has infected many people across the globe. The health system particularly medical laboratory has been overwhelmed by the pandemic, and many health professionals including medical laboratory professionals have lost their lives during the fight against the virus. Medical laboratory science is the bedrock of medical practice and the role of medical laboratory science in containing the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be overemphasized as they are also behind the testing of clinical specimens from infected and any recovered patients. As disease detectives, Medical laboratory scientists and other medical laboratory professionals’ role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic include; diagnosis, monitoring, development of vaccines, testing protocols, testing kits, offering advice to the guide government policy on containment of the virus.: Various methods and techniques such as virological cell culture, genomic sequencing, amplification, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) /gene Xpert systems, immunological testing, biosensors and rapid diagnostic techniques (RDTs) have been employed towards discovery, testing and epidemiology since the onset of COVID-19. The medical laboratory workers and other health workers are so visible at the COVID-19 frontline and are being recognized and applauded for the role played in the recovery of patients affected with the virus. The medical laboratory component is very germane in the COVID-19 vaccine research and vaccination so as to provide pre- and post-vaccination laboratory data.

Part of the book: Fighting the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Nkereuwem S. Etukudoh and Uchejeso M. Obeta

Patients’ (clients/customer) services and satisfaction in Medical Laboratory Services and general healthcare is one of the twelve (12) quality essentials of Total Quality Management System (TQMS) emphasized by quality standards as seen in ISO 17025, ISO 15189 and ISO 9001. The patients otherwise referred to as customers or clients to Medical Laboratory and healthcare in general, is the heart-beat and kings to the healthcare system. This chapter looks into the quality aspect of medical laboratory services from the patients’ angle towards thorough satisfaction or dissatisfaction index and otherwise creates room for improvement in the services and healthcare in general. The chapter therefore, identified medical laboratory clients to include patients and patients’ relations, physicians and other healthcare workers, public health and government, communities and interested parties, and medical laboratory profession. There is a need to administer services satisfaction survey developed by Director of Medical Laboratory Services or human resources/quality officers in line with the ISO 15189, ISO 17075 and ISO 9001 to customers/clients from time to time so the outcome can be used to correct services errors and cause quality improvement. It is believed that patients’ satisfaction causes improvement in healthcare, quick recovery of patients and willingness of the patient to return to the healthcare facility in future. Patients’ and customers’ in medical laboratory feedback contributes to quality management and improvement to Medical Laboratory services and healthcare as an ingredient of TQMS.

Part of the book: Healthcare Access

By Ohanube A.K. Goodluck, Obeta M. Uchejeso and Ikeagwulonu R. Chinaza

An accurate diagnosis gives leeway to cost-effective treatments. However, many diseases continue to evolve; hence, their etiology is sometimes missed due to the procedures used during diagnosis. Protein-related diseases include proteopathies (proteinopathies) such as neurodegenerative diseases and metabolic disorders like protein-energy malnutrition and some hormonopathies. Hormonopathies are associated with the change in the production of hormones. Diabetes mellitus, a type of hormonopathy, is reviewed in this work alongside neurodegenerative diseases and protein-energy malnutrition. This chapter aims to elucidate more on the diagnosis of these diseases considering the structure and function of their proteins viz-a-viz their deficiencies and hyper-production in man. Their pathogenesis and the principles underlying their diagnosis are further discussed to optimize the management of these diseases among patients.

Part of the book: Protein Detection

By Goodluck A.K. Ohanube and Uchejeso M. Obeta

The pandemic of the Coronavirus disease 2019 has been quite devastating. Assessing the success of the public health measures put in place by different nations has become a herculean task, especially as there is no effective index to determine that. The existing public health indices such as the Case fatality ratio and Mortality rate have not proven efficient in ascertaining the progress made in the early implementation of some public health measures. Hence, the index Deaths Per Million, an estimated mortality rate, is considered an alternative tool to ascertain the progress made at the onset and peak of the pandemic. In this case study, we have compared these three indices to know which best fits the pandemic. We also elucidated when and how deaths per million can be efficiently utilized during a pandemic to know the most appropriate time to impose lockdowns and other public health measures. This is considering the tendency for lockdowns to affect the psycho-social skills of humans and adversely impact economic activities both locally and globally. This work further provided evidence why the index Deaths Per Million is preferred during a pandemic over case fatality ratio and mortality. This was done using statistics from various countries for one year. These countries were selected based on their population and their peculiar nature.

Part of the book: Psychosocial, Educational, and Economic Impacts of COVID-19