Abstract
Episodes of Cholera outbreaks are still common in most developing countries and children usually are at the greatest risk. This study assessed the importance of diarrhoea-related illnesses among children five years of age or less at the University Hospital, Legon and the importance of packaged water handling in the contamination of drinking water of pre-school children. Diarrhea-related diseases (DRD) accounted for 6.3% of cases involving children five years and below reporting at the University Hospital, Legon during the period of the study. Generally, greater number of cases (DRD) were reported among males (6.9%) than among females (5.6%). High counts above recommended levels of either Total Heterotrophic Bacteria, Pseudomonas or Total Coliforms were observed in 88% of the water samples tested. Inadequate cleaning of water bottles and in some instances the use of inappropriate water bottles (reusing PET mineral water containers) contributed to the poor quality of the drinking water of the preschool children. A greater part of the contamination of the drinking water occurred at home and not at the schools. Parents therefore need to be targeted with water, sanitation and hygiene related health education.
Highlights
Diarrhea-related diseases are still prevalent in Africa and children usually are at the greatest risk
Diarrhea-related diseases accounted for 6.3% of cases involving children five years and below reporting at the University Hospital during the period of the study
Reported cases from Achimota were the highest (7.6%) while Adenta showed the lowest (5.2%). This figures suggests that diarrhea-related diseases is still important in the West Ayawaso, Wuogon, Madina, Adenta and nearby municipalities
Summary
Diarrhea-related diseases are still prevalent in Africa and children usually are at the greatest risk. In 2013, 6.3 million children died within five years of living and 0.578 million of these deaths (9.2%) was attributed to diarrhea-related diseases. In 2015, of the 5.3 million children who died in their first five years of their lives, 1.2 million deaths were attributed to diarrhea-related diseases, despite the 50% global reduction in diarrhea-related cases (WHO, 2014; UNICEF, 2016). In Ghana, open drainage and lack of waste management systems are major drivers of malaria (the leading cause of death for children under age five) as well as diarrhea-related diseases (UNICEF, 2015), causing thousands of Ghanaian children to die each year from diarrhea-related diseases.
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