Traditional antifever phytotherapies in Sagamu and Remo North districts of Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

Febrile illnesses are common ailments in various parts of the world which has benefited from orthodox medicine and herbs. Since no documentation is available on herbal therapy of such ailments in south western Nigeria, we therefore conducted an ethnobotanical survey in both an urban settlement in Sagamu Local Government Area (LGA) and a rural settlement in the Remo North LGA of Ogun State in south western Nigeria, implicated in the treatment of various types of fever. Methodology involved administration of semi-structured questionnaire to traditional medical practitioners, her sellers, herbalists and villagers in the LGAs, as well as oral interviews using trained interviewers. Seventy respondents mostly aged 31–50 covered in this survey were drawn from among the herbalists (20), herb sellers (15), traditional medical and practitioners (35) that are mostly educated. Four types of fever including malaria, yellow fever, typhoid and cold were identified, with malaria and yellow fever being very common. Majority of the respondents were quite knowledgeable in the aetiology, symptoms, and seasonality of all fevers except cold. 116 antifever herbal recipes documented were administered as oral decoction or infusion for both curative and preventive purposes. Malaria and yellow fever were treated by almost equal number (35–39) of recipes. Treatment is usually devoid of known side effects. Cymbopogon citratus, Citrus aurantifolia, Enantia chlorantha, Carica papaya, Morinda lucida and Lawsonia inermis were frequently included in antifever herbal recipes for malaria, typhoid and yellow fevers. Survey has therefore lent credence to various herbs used for the prevention and treatment of febrile illnesses in south western Nigeria.