Abstract
Background: Globally, acute watery diarrhea (AWD) is a major cause of childhood morbidity and mortality. It is the fourth leading cause of death in children contributing as high as 11% of all childhood deaths. In Nigeria, AWD causes 240,106 under five deaths per year despite the interventions aimed at preventing diarrhoea disease. Objective: This work was to determine the prevalence and patterns of acute watery diarrhoeal admissions among children presenting to Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, Anambra state, Nigeria. Methods and Materials: This was an observational study. Children aged 6-36 months, admitted for acute watery diarrhea, who met inclusion criteria and whose caregivers gave informed consent. The caregivers of these children were interviewed using interviewer-administered questionnaire. Information obtained included socio-demography (age, gender, social class among others), symptoms of diarrhoea, duration of illness and medications given to these children at home. Data were analyzed using SPSS 21. Results: Of the159 study participants admitted for AWD, 103(65.0%) were males. Those of lower socio-economic class comprised 66.6%(106) while 49(30.6%) and 4(2.8%) belonged to the middle and upper socio-economic classes respectively. A total of 921 inpatients were admitted for the period of the study (January 2017 to October 2017), giving an AWD prevalence of 17.3%(159). The highest number of admissions occurred from January to March 2017, with highest prevalence in March. There is poor utilization of oral rehydration solution (40.3%; 64) with abuse of antibiotics in the home management of diarrhea. Conclusion and recommendations: The result of this study showed that the prevalence of AWD is still unacceptably high. Interventions aimed at prevention (such as promotion of exclusive breastfeeding, health education on hand and environmental hygiene, and inclusion of rota virus and cholera vaccine in our national program on immunisation etc) should be encouraged and strengthened by the policy makers and monitored for proper uptake by the populace. Key words: Prevalence, Acute watery diarrhoea, children, Admissions
Highlights
IntroductionDiarrhoeal diseases are among the most common illnesses afflicting children in both developing and developed countries. 1,2 Approximately 1.7 billion cases of diarrhoeal diseases occur annually worldwide. 3 Diarrhoeal diseases account for 11% of all under five deaths worldwide and claims the lives of 1.8 million children per year. 3 Acute watery diarrhoea is among the top leading causes of underfives death globally 4 and the third leading cause of infant and childhood mortality in developing countries. 4-6 Acute watery diarrhoea is responsible for 240,106 deaths annually in Nigeria. 4,6,7 Progress has been made in the reduction of this high infant and childhood mortality due to diarrhoea from 4.6 million to 1.8 million over the last three decades. 812 Despite this progress, the prevalence of acute watery diarrhea and the number of diarrhoeal deaths remain unacceptably high.Diarrhoea as defined by World Health Organization is the passage of three or more loose stool in a twenty-four-hour period, a loose stool being one that would take the shape of a container. 13 The infectious agents that cause diarrhoea are usually spread by faeco-oral route. 14,15 This includes ingestion of contaminated water or food, person-to-person transmission and direct contact with infected faeces.Most diarrhoeal episodes occur during the first two years of life
The result of this study showed that the prevalence of acute watery diarrhea (AWD) is still unacceptably high
The prevalence rate of 17.3% for acute watery diarrhoea reported by this study demonstrates the burden of acute watery diarrhoea in our sub-region
Summary
Diarrhoeal diseases are among the most common illnesses afflicting children in both developing and developed countries. 1,2 Approximately 1.7 billion cases of diarrhoeal diseases occur annually worldwide. 3 Diarrhoeal diseases account for 11% of all under five deaths worldwide and claims the lives of 1.8 million children per year. 3 Acute watery diarrhoea is among the top leading causes of underfives death globally 4 and the third leading cause of infant and childhood mortality in developing countries. 4-6 Acute watery diarrhoea is responsible for 240,106 deaths annually in Nigeria. 4,6,7 Progress has been made in the reduction of this high infant and childhood mortality due to diarrhoea from 4.6 million to 1.8 million over the last three decades. 812 Despite this progress, the prevalence of acute watery diarrhea and the number of diarrhoeal deaths remain unacceptably high.Diarrhoea as defined by World Health Organization is the passage of three or more loose stool in a twenty-four-hour period, a loose stool being one that would take the shape of a container. 13 The infectious agents that cause diarrhoea are usually spread by faeco-oral route. 14,15 This includes ingestion of contaminated water or food, person-to-person transmission and direct contact with infected faeces.Most diarrhoeal episodes occur during the first two years of life. 812 Despite this progress, the prevalence of acute watery diarrhea and the number of diarrhoeal deaths remain unacceptably high. Acute watery diarrhea (AWD) is a major cause of childhood morbidity and mortality. It is the fourth leading cause of death in children contributing as high as 11% of all childhood deaths. In Nigeria, AWD causes 240,106 under five deaths per year despite the interventions aimed at preventing diarrhoea disease. Objective: This work was to determine the prevalence and patterns of acute watery diarrhoeal admissions among children presenting to Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, Anambra state, Nigeria. Children aged 6-36 months, admitted for acute watery diarrhea, who met inclusion criteria and whose caregivers gave informed consent.
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