Hepatitis, HIV and Ebola: light at the end of the tunnel.

Is African Health Sciences in danger of becoming a hepatitis journal? No, far from it! However, in this issue of African Health Sciences, we highlight the importance of hepatitis B and C from two perspectives: ancient and modern! 
 
We highlight the articles in the current issue of AHS and reflect on the fairly old papers that give us an insight into where we have come from since 2001. 
 
Our first choice is work from Ghana by Ephraim et al1. They report on the seroprevalence and factors associated with hepatitis B and C among pregnant women. They highlight blood transfusion, tattooing and sharing of needles as the major risk factors for Hepatitis C. 
 
Yilmaz et al studied hepatitis B, hepatic steatosis, insulin resistance, necroinflammation and fibrosis,2 while Ogwu et al3 report on hepatitis B, C and HIV, and how they influence CD4 counts in Abeokuta, Nigeria. In a similar paper, Ogbodo and colleagues report on hepatitis C and HIV in the Delta state in Nigeria.4 
 
The next four papers report on herpes simplex5,6, HPV7 and trypanosomiasis in Gabon8, while Yan discusses prevention of occupational skin diseases in China.9. We conclude the HIV story with HIV in Port Harcourt,10 and Candida species isolated from HIV +ve patients.11 
 
While the Ebola epidemic rages on, Sierra Leone workers report on the use of cell phone messaging for community Ebola syndromic surveillance.12 In Zambia, Mweene-Ndumba reports on the sero-prevalence of West Nile virus.13

Is African Health Sciences in danger of becoming a hepatitis journal? No, far from it! However, in this issue of African Health Sciences, we highlight the importance of hepatitis B and C from two perspectives: ancient and modern! We highlight the articles in the current issue of AHS and reflect on the fairly old papers that give us an insight into where we have come from since 2001.
Our first choice is work from Ghana by Ephraim et al 1 .
They report on the seroprevalence and factors associated with hepatitis B and C among pregnant women. They highlight blood transfusion, tattooing and sharing of needles as the major risk factors for Hepatitis C.
Yilmaz et al studied hepatitis B, hepatic steatosis, insulin resistance, necroinflammation and fibrosis, 2 while Ogwu et al 3 report on hepatitis B, C and HIV, and how they influence CD4 counts in Abeokuta, Nigeria. In a similar paper, Ogbodo and colleagues report on hepatitis C and HIV in the Delta state in Nigeria. 4 The next four papers report on herpes simplex 5,6 , HPV 7 and trypanosomiasis in Gabon 8 , while Yan discusses prevention of occupational skin diseases in China. 9 . We conclude the HIV story with HIV in Port Harcourt, 10 and Candida species isolated from HIV +ve patients. 11 While the Ebola epidemic rages on, Sierra Leone workers report on the use of cell phone messaging for community Ebola syndromic surveillance. 12 In Zambia, Mweene-Ndumba reports on the sero-prevalence of West Nile virus. 13

Malaria
The next papers deal with risk factors for placental malaria 14 , elimination of residual malaria transmission in Tanzania 15 , Artemisia annua Linn in Uganda 16 , and antimalarial herbs in Cameroon 17 and Nigeria. 18 Tuberculosis, 19 MRSA, 20 pneumococcal vaccine 21 , and tackling STIs in Ugandan communities in the UK 22 is the next challenge. We end this infectious disease trea-tise with the unbelievable story of anti-bacterial properties of cows' faeces! 23 Non communicable diseases the next challenge We are then propelled into the NCDs section with papers on diabetes mellitus 24,25,26 , stroke 27 , coronary artery 28 ,CVD lifestyles 29 and CKD-MBD in pre-dialysis patients in Nigeria 30 .
Then we have sickle splenomegaly 31 , upper GI disease 32 , sleep apnea 33 , indoor pollution 34 , breast cancer 35 , maternal and new-born nutrition 36 , macronutrients in Saudi Arabia 37 , and the use of human urine as a plant nutrient 38 . We have some interesting biochemistry of drug metabolising enzymes 39 , the boda boda menace 40 , paracetamol toxicity 41 , and need for anaesthesia in Sierra Leone 42 .
Then a series of case reports [43][44][45][46] bring us near to the end. We end with a reflection of the role of NGOs in providing curative health services in Darfur Sudan, not far off from South Sudan 47 where the spectre of war remains a big worry for those of us committed to universal access to health care.
Whether the conflict in South Sudan, like elsewhere on the continent, will be resolved peacefully remains to be seen. It seems likely that the ubiquitous AK47 will remain the fear of all: much more than that of Ebola, which is beyond our reasonable control.