Abstract:

The term “Teratogens” was first described in Paris, France in early 1932. “Teratogens” comes from the Greek word τέρας teras, which means “monster” or “marvel”. For centuries, the meaning of the term “teratogens’ changed and nowadays it refers to many factors, agents or substances that can compromise the normal development of the fetus.

Many factors/agents such as physical, chemical and environmental were found to be harmful when exposure to them occurs during the pregnancy. Exposure to high doses of ionizing radiation, usage of medications, viral and bacterial diseases during the pregnancy can only result in fetus death, congenital malformations and miscarriages.

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Abstract:

Ebola virus (EBOV) and Marburg virus (MARV). Members of the Filoviridae virus family, are known as emerging and re-emerging zoonotic pathogens causing acute hemorrhagic fever with high case-fatality rate in human (up to 90%) (1).

Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) was first reported in 1976 during the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formally Zaire), and the virus is named after the Ebola River where it was discovered. Since then, 21 additional Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreaks among human have occurred in the tropical regions of sub-Sharan Africa. The largest one to date took place in the Gulu District of Uganda in 2000-2001 caused by Sudan virus (SUDV). This outbreak resulted in 425 cases, of which 216 were laboratory confirmed, and the overall case fatality rate was 53% (20. The Ebola strain that is now circulating in West Africa bears shows the homology of 97% with Zaire Ebola virus samples found in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon(2). Historically, this strin has caused the highest mortality (90%), while the current estimate of case fatality rate is less than 60% (3).

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Abstract:

The relationship between multimorbidity and lifestyle has been well documented in literature. Most of what we know about this issue was based on quantitative studies. We believed this qualitative study might allow the exploration of the understanding, beliefs and experiences of the multimorbid persons on this relationship.

In a period of three months in 2016, three focus group discussions were conducted in the family practice clinics of a hospital in western Nigeria.The discussions lasted 60 – 75 minutes and involved 22 adults participants aged between 25 and 73 years.We made use of a discussion guide of open ended questions with relevant probes.Constant comparison method was used for data analysis.

This study showed that multimorbid persons perceived their illness as part of normal aging process, sometimes running in families and associated with lifelong treatment and premature death. These perceptions informed adaptive behavior in relation to lifestyle modification, optimism and self-care tendencies focused on creating a harmony between their identity and the illness experience.

We therefore recommend the adoption of the patient centered approach in the management of multimorbidity to improve quality of care. We advocate further studies on these issues to contribute to the development of evidence based management framework tailored to the realities of people with multimorbidity.

Keywords: Multimorbidity, lifestyle, Qualitative study, Focus group discussion, Constant comparison method.

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