Journal Article
Antibacterial Activity of Vitex doniana (Black Plum) Fractions Against Diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli Strains
Abstract
The standard of food that is easily accessible and properly prepared for consumption has a direct bearing on the general health and well-being of the student body as a whole. As one of humanity's most fundamental and indispensable requirements, food is essential to our well-being and the continuation of our lives. This study contributed to the surveillance of food-borne diseases amongst the chosen tertiary institutions in Niger State. It also evaluated the institutions' levels of safety concerning food poisoning and the severity of symptoms by using questionnaires and oral interviews. A total of 1500 students responded from five institutions (300 respondents from each institution) and were subjected to ANOVA, Duncan multiple tests, and post hoc statistical analysis. The results showed demographical factors (gender, age, institution, hygiene, location, onset time, and suspected food sources) significantly (P<0.05) varied the severity (asymptomatic, mild, and severe) but not the symptoms that manifest predominantly between 12 and 24 h. The onset of eleven common symptoms has a peculiar severity rating, such that asymptomatic cases were predominated by dizziness (42.93%) and nausea (41.87%), mild cases (rashes: 50.87%, bloody stool: 47.27%, running nose: 47.13% and breathlessness: 46.93%), while severe symptoms include abdominal pain (58.53%), fever (53.13%), diarrhoea (53.07%), fatigue (48.07%) and vomiting (44.20%). Generally, there was no significant difference (p>0.05) among the 11 symptoms and overall symptom severity was significantly (p<0.05) dominated by mild cases (77%), followed by severe cases (22%) and asymptomatic cases were just 1%. Conclusively, the health tips and public health education and consciousness are very low among the students, which reflects high cases ofsevere symptomatic cases. Thus, the authorsrecommend bettersurveillance structuresfollowed by robust health education to avoid possible future food-borne outbreaks
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