scholarly journals Unmet Needs to Treat Schistosomiasis in Children Under Five Years Old in uMkhanyakude District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 127
Author(s):  
Mhlengi V. Ncube ◽  
Innocent T. Mutero ◽  
Moses J. Chimbari

Preventive treatment for schistosomiasis control is a priority objective for the Department of Health (DoH) in South Africa. The uMkhanyakude district of KwaZulu-Natal is one of the districts in which schistosomiasis in a major public health concern. We mapped the unmet resource requirements for a schistosomiasis control mass drug administration (MDA) program targeting children aged five years old and below in the uMkhanyakude District. We interviewed 10 decision makers among the uMkhanyakude Health District staff in order to understand the resources that the district has and the resources that the district needs to implement a schistosomiasis control MDA program targeting children aged five years old and below in the uMkhanyakude district. We analyzed and reported on the resources based on the following categories: financing; coverage; program integration; monitoring and evaluation; infrastructure; materials; human resources and training. We identified the resources that the district has and the resources that the district needs to acquire to implement a schistosomiasis MDA program targeting children aged five years old and below. The resources that the district needs to acquire to implement a schistosomiasis control MDA program for children under five include but are not limited to financing, human resources and digital scales. The uMkhanyakude district has insufficient resources to implement a schistosomiasis control MDA program targeting children aged five years old and below. The cost of the resources that need to be acquired for the program could be reduced by integrating the schistosomiasis control MDA program with existing child health intervention programs for children aged five years old and below. Economic evaluations are necessary to determine the child health program to which the schistosomiasis control MDA program could be most cost-effectively integrated to.

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 2920
Author(s):  
Laurencia Govender ◽  
Kirthee Pillay ◽  
Muthulisi Siwela ◽  
Albert Thembinkosi Modi ◽  
Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi

Under- and over-nutrition co-exist as the double burden of malnutrition that poses a public health concern in countries of the developing regions, including South Africa (SA). Vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and children under five years are the most affected by malnutrition, especially in rural areas. Major contributing factors of malnutrition include food and nutrition insecurity, poverty, and unhealthy lifestyles. The current study aimed to assess the nutritional status, using selected anthropometric indices and dietary intake methods (repeated 24 h recall and food frequency), of four rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal (SA). Purposive sampling generated a sample of 50 households each in three rural areas: Swayimane, Tugela Ferry, and Umbumbulu and 21 households at Fountain Hill Estate. The Estimated Average Requirement cut-point method was used to assess the prevalence of inadequate nutrient intake. Stunting (30.8%; n = 12) and overweight (15.4%; n = 6) were prevalent in children under five years, whilst obesity was highly prevalent among adult females (39.1%; n = 81), especially those aged 16–35 years. There was a high intake of carbohydrates and a low intake of fibre and micronutrients, including vitamin A, thus, confirming the need for a food-based approach to address malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, particularly vitamin A deficiency.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 185
Author(s):  
Siti Fatimah ◽  
Asnawi Abdullah ◽  
Amin Harris

Background: Public participation generally seen as a form of health behavior is the participation of mothers of children under five in the of Maternal & Child Health Centre it program. Its is a form of integrated services organized for and by the community with work programs from related agencies to then obtain basic health services, decrease maternal and child mortality rates and for the achievement of Small Prosperous Happy Families (KKBS).Purpose: The study aims to analyze the coverage of weighing children under five to Maternal & Child Health Centre (D/S) in the area of the Banda Aceh City Health Center.Method: This research is a qualitative study with a descriptive approach conducted with a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) of 3 main informants, 4 implementing informants and 7 policy makers in the lowest D / S region (Lampaseh Puskesmas area) and 3 main informants, 4 implementing informants and 8 informants policy makers in the highest D/S region (Kopelma Darussalam Puskesmas area).Results: The results of this study found that the availability of facilities is still limited, the role of cadres is still low (not yet able to carry out development programs), the role of the gampong government is still lacking in supporting the implementation and improvement of posyandu visits, policy makers do not fully understand that the conditions in posyandu are a big responsibility from the village, and in practice in the field there has not been an effort to monitor and evaluate the extent of the implementation of the posyandu by the health department.Conclusion: The cadres' low knowledge of development programs in an effort to increase community motivation for posyandu visits. Suggestions for implementing of Maternal & Child Health Centre activities to provide an understanding of how to implement a Maternal & Child Health Centre, improve competence, provide suggestions for development programs and for policymakers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Nidatul Khofiyah ◽  
Enny Fitriahadi Fitriahadi

The success of development is closely related to the quality of good human resources. Establishment of optimal quality of human resources, both physically and psychologically is very dependent on the process of growing and developing at an early age. Monitoring the growth and development of children that is carried out appropriately and directed guarantees more optimal growth and development of children that makes children of high quality, intelligent, responsible and efficient for the nation and the nation. Based on the results of observations, the Posyandu of Beji Sidoarum has been limited to growth checks only in the implementation of posyandu related to growth, namely weighing and measuring height. Development checks have never been carried out because of the limitations of cadres and not every month the puskesmas midwives conduct health checks at the posyandu. There has never been a Posyandu health cadre who participated in the early growth growth stimulation and intervention training. Therefore, increasing education for cadres related to growth and development is needed to improve the quantity and quality of services at this posyandu. Outputs produced are 1) Compilation of booklets/modules as information media, 2) results of examination of fallen children under five, 3) Ability of cadres and mothers of children under five in stimulation and early detection of development using KPSP, 4) publication. The results obtained by cadres and mothers of children under five in carrying out stimulation and early detection using KPSP independently. Based on this, it is expected that the implementation of activities for monitoring the growth of children under five can run routinely at the posyandu.Keywords: early detection, training, stimulation, growth and development


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Desire Banga ◽  
Melvis Baren ◽  
Namale Vivian Ssonko ◽  
Franck Katembo Sikakulya ◽  
Yves Tibamwenda ◽  
...  

Background. Mortality among children with severe acute malnutrition remains an immense health concern in the hospitals in developing countries, but its attributes are not completely assessed in various hospital settings. The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of mortality, the comorbidities, and factors associated with in-hospital mortality among children under five years of age admitted with severe acute malnutrition at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital, Eastern Uganda. Methods. This was a hospital-based analytical and descriptive prospective cohort study conducted in the nutritional unit of Jinja Regional Referral Hospital. A total of 338 children and their caretakers who met the criteria were consecutively enrolled into the study. Descriptive statistics were used to each of the independent factors, and comorbidities were subjected to chi-squared test followed by logistic regression analysis to assess its association incidence of mortality among children. All independent variables with p values ≤ 0.05 were entered into a multivariate model for factors and comorbidities independently. Factors and comorbidities with p values ≤ 0.05 were considered as associates of mortality among children. Results. Of the 338 children under 5 years of age enrolled, 49 (14.5%) died, although the majority of children were diagnosed with dehydration, 128 (37.9%); pneumonia, 127(37.6%); and malaria, 87(25.7%). Anemia ( aRR = 2.9 , 95% CI: 1.23-6.62, p = 0.01 ), bacteremia ( aRR = 10.0 , 95% CI: 3.62-29.01, p = 0.01 ), HIV ( aRR = 4.8 , 95% CI: 1.42-16.30, p < 0.01 ), TB ( aRR = 4.3 , 95% CI: 1.28-14.49, p < 0.02 ), and shock ( aRR = 60.9 , 95% CI: 9.05-410.28, p < 0.01 ) were the comorbidities significantly associated with a likelihood of mortality. Conclusions. The mortality among children under 5 years of age admitted with severe acute malnutrition is still high (14.5% versus 5%). The comorbidities are significantly associated with mortality. The clinicians are recommended to follow-up closely patients with severe acute malnutrition and to focus on the critical comorbidities identified.


Author(s):  
Perpetua Modjadji ◽  
Josephine Mashishi

Despite years of interventions intended to reduce child malnutrition in South Africa, its negative effects, stunting in particular, persist mainly among children under five years old living in under-resourced regions. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of malnutrition and associated factors among 404 children under age five attending childcare services with their mothers in selected healthcare facilities of Limpopo Province, South Africa. Anthropometry, socio-demographics and obstetric history were collected. Height-for-age, weight-for-age and body mass index-for-age Z-scores were used to determine stunting, underweight and thinness among children, respectively. Logistic regression analyses were performed to generate the factors associated with malnutrition. Stunting (45.3%) was the prevalent form of malnutrition among children under age five, affecting boys (51.7%) more than girls (38.8%) and children aged 12–23 months (62.4%) more than those <11 months old (40.1%), in addition to the overall prevalence of underweight (29.0%) and thinness (12.6%). Boys had increased odds of stunting (adjusted odds ratio, AOR = 2.07, 95% CI: 1.26–3.41, p = 0.004) and underweight (AOR = 2.17, 95% CI: 1.32–3.57, p = 0.002) than girls. Children aged 12–23 months were more likely to be stunted (AOR = 4.79, 95% CI: 2.36–9.75, p ≤ 0.0001) than children aged ≤11 months. Delayed introduction of solid foods increased the odds of stunting (AOR = 5.77, 95% CI: 2.63–12.64, p ≤ 0.0001) and underweight (AOR = 2.05, 95% CI: 1.08–3.89, p = 0.028). Children with normal birth weight were less likely to be thin (AOR = 0.42, 95% CI: 0.19–0.92, p = 0.029) and underweight (AOR = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.17–0.68, p = 0.003) than children who had low birth weight. Children whose mothers had obtained secondary school education (AOR = 0.39, 95% CI: 0.16–0.97, p = 0.044), and Grade 12 or post-Grade 12 education (AOR = 0.32, 95% CI: 0.12–0.83, p = 0.020) were less likely to be stunted than were children of mothers who had only primary school education. Suboptimal complementary feeding predisposed children to stunting and underweight. National nutrition programs should be context-specific to improve the introduction of complementary foods among children, especially in the remote and poor areas.


Author(s):  
Daniel Omoding ◽  
Joel Bazira

Background. H. influenzaeremains an organism of a major public health challenge worldwide despite the availability of the Hib vaccine, particularly among children under 5 years. Information on the current carriage status and antibiotic susceptibility is key on proper health-care provision. Therefore, we conducted a study to determineH. influenzaecarriage rate and antibiotic susceptibility testing of the isolates among the children.Methods. This was a cross-sectional study conducted between January and May 2018, among clinically healthy children under five years attending Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Clinic in Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital (MRRH). We carried out standard microbiology methods to culture, isolate, and identifyH. influenzae, and then, we tested for their susceptibility to commonly used antibiotics following the CLSI standards.Results. Of the 248 participants included in the study, 116 (46.77%) were females and 132 (53.23%) males and 78 (31.45%) were below the age of 3 months. Fifty one of the study participants hadH. influenzaein their nasopharynx, which represents 20.56% carriage (95% CI 15.49 to 25.63). There was a general high susceptibility of the isolates to the antimicrobial agents commonly used. There was 100% susceptibility to ciprofloxacin and imipenem antibiotic agents, though 6 (11.76%) and 4 (7.84%) of the isolates showed resistance to chloramphenicol and ampicillin, respectively.Conclusion. The high burden presented byH. influenzaeand the resultant impact on child health require much attention to prevention of infections associated with the organism. A well-funded molecular study focusing on typing the isolates would determine the impact of the vaccine, given the carriage rates are still high.


2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pam Groenewald ◽  
Debbie Bradshaw ◽  
Ian Neethling ◽  
Lorna J. Martin ◽  
Johan Dempers ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Ahmed Mohmed Gad Allah

  Objectives: To study the incidence and causes of injury mortality among children under the age of five years in El-Giza. Setting: The study was conducted in El-Giza, Egypt, the second largest city with a population of ~ 8.7 million for 2017. It comprises urban and semiurban settlements. Methods: A descriptive epidemiological study, which obtained information about all deaths using a questionnaire from 197 Health Centres for one year, 2017. Subjects were residents who died from unintentional and intentional injuries. Results: The overall under fives crude mortality rate was 3.1 per1000. The number of children deaths from injuries was 309(8.7% of all deaths), more among males than females (31.5 υ 23.1 per 100 000). Those under 1 had the highest rate, 32.7 per 100 000. The top three causes of deaths were traffic accidents (31.7%), falls (18.8%), and drowning (11%). Conclusions: Injury is the common cause of deaths among children under five years of age in El-Giza. Because all age groups and both sexes are victims of injuries, and most unintentional injuries are preventable, they must be considered as a priority health problem in El-Giza. More studies are needed in rural areas of Egypt. Recommendations: It is important that child health community in Egypt and in other developing countries enhances its focus on injury as a child health issue and integrate injury prevention efforts in child health policies and programmers.   ، ،


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
LADISLAS NSHIMIYIMANA ◽  
Peris Monchari Onyambu ◽  
Erigene Rutayisire

Abstract Background: The Diarrhoeal diseases remain to be a public health concern despite the existence of preventive measures and developing are the most affected. It affects more children less than five years compared to the rest of the population. The burden of childhood diarrhoea varies with geographical area and time bound. A part from this variation, the link between climate change and diarrhoea among under-five children has not been well understood. This study aims to determine the trends, spatial temporal and seasonal characteristics of diarrhoea diseases among Rwandan under-five children using routine Health Management Information System (HMIS) data from 2014 to 2018. Methods: Data on cases of diarrhoeal diseases in children under-five years were extracted from HMIS for a period of 5 years. The Rwanda Meteorology Agency provided climatology data including daily minimum and maximum temperature, and daily rainfall. Incidence rate were calculated to examine the trend, and excess hazard was assessed to determine the risk and likelihood for the occurrence of cases. Linear regression was used to assess relationship between climatology variables and the occurrence of diarrhoea. Results: 1,012,827 new diarrhoeal diseases episodes were reported. Excess risk was noticed in 40% of country’s districts. We found a statistically significant positive and negative relationship between diarrhoeal disease, and maximum temperature and mean monthly rainfall respectively (p<0.001). Increase in one millimeter of rainfall was associated with decrease of 14 cases of diarrhoea while increase of one degree Celsius of maximum temperature was associated with an increase of 15 diarrhoea cases. Conclusion: More districts with risk of diarrhoea were remarked which require targeted control intervention. Furthermore, significant association between diarrhoea case and climate dynamics was observed. This call for the public attention to climate changes which affect health especially children aged less than five years. Key words: Diarrhoeal, children under five, spatiotemporal, temperature, rainfall


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