ABSTRACT
Hepatitis B virus infection is contracted through contact with body fluid of infected persons. Patientswith sickle cell anaemia (SCA); a common haematological disorder inNigeria; have tendencies to visit traditional healerswho administer scarifications and ritualmarks thatmay expose themtoHBVinfection. To determine the demographic and socio-cultural characteristics of children with SCA infected withHBVat theUniversity ofNigeriaTeachingHospital Enugu. Two hundred and twenty one children aged 6months to 17years with SCA were recruited consecutively from October 2004 to April 2005. They were screened for HBsAg using ELISA method. There was no statistically difference in hepatitis B surface antigenaemia among different age group (P=0.907). Social class did not significantly influence the prevalence of HBsAg among subjects (p=0.887). socio-cultural practices like circumcision and scarification did not influence the prevalence of HBsAg; (p=0.636) (p=0.771) respectively. Significantly highernumber of people fromlowest socioeconomic class practice scarification (p=0.0001). Demographic and sociocultural factors do not appear to influence the prevalence of HBsAg among childrenwith SCAinEnugu;Nigeria. Sickle cell anaemia; Hepatitis B surface antigenaemia; Demographic; Sociocultural characteristic
Subject(s)
Anemia , Child , CultureABSTRACT
Background: Paediatric HIV/AIDS has become a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in our environment Objectives: The aim is to determine the clinical features on presentation; routes of transmission and outcome of hospital admissions in children with Paediatric HIV/AIDS at Amaku General Hospital Awka Anambra State Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study of children with Paediatric HIV/AIDS admitted into the hospital between March 1; 2007 and February 28; 2009 was done. Diagnosis for HIV infection was based on double ELISA and clinical criteria as recommended by WHO. Results: Thirty-nine HIV positive children aged 10weeks to 12years were admitted into the ward; accounting for about 10of total admissions. There were 22 males and 17 females. Majority of the patients (38.5) were ? 3 years old. Major clinical features were fever (76.9); diarrhoea (53.8); weight loss (51.3) and cough (46.1). Vertical transmission was the major route accounting for 66.7and was statistically significant (p 0.05). Twenty-nine patients (74.3) were discharged; while mortality rate was 15.4Conclusion: The finding indicates that Paediatric HIV/AIDS occurs predominantly by vertical route in Amaku General Hospital Awka. We recommend intensification of efforts to implement the existing prevention of mother to child transmission programme
Subject(s)
Child , HIV Infections/diagnosis , HospitalsABSTRACT
Objective:The primary objective of the study was to determine the effect of social class and area of domicile on the prevalence of helminthiasis in nursery and primary school children in Enugu.Subjects and method: This was a cross-sectional study in which stool samples were obtained from 460 nursery and primary school children from different social classes and different areas of domicile and analysed for intestinal helminthiasis using the Kato Katz method.Results: One hundred and sixty-six (36.1) of the 460 children studied lived in the urban area; 215 (46.7) lived in the semi-urban area and 79 (17.2) lived in the urban slum area. The prevalence of intestinal helminthic infection was lowest in children living in urban areas (10.2) and highest in those in urban slums (48.4). There was a significant relationship between residential abode or area of domicile and prevalence of helminthic infection (?2 = 59.54; df = 2; p = 0.001).The prevalence of intestinal helminthic infection was highest in the lower class (50.9); lowest in the upper class (9.7) and intermediate in the middle class (21.7). This trend was statistically significant (?2 = 65.06; df = 2; p = 0.001). Conclusion: It is concluded that the prevalence of intestinal helminthiasis is affected by both areas of domicile and social class of children. Hence; intervention by the government to create better areas of domicile and to improve the social class of its populace will reduce the prevalence of intestinal helminthiasis