ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The goals of this study were to determine the prevalence of H. pylori antibodies in children, to establish the relationship between child and mother serostatus, and to identify potential risk factors for contamination. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted over a 3-month period. All children between 6 months and 5 years of age examined in the Pediatrics Department of the University Hospital Center in Yopougon, Côte d'Ivoire were included after obtaining informed consent from their mothers. Testing for H. pylori antibodies using Pylorix (Acon) was performed in both children and mothers. Based on test results, children were divided into two groups, i.e. case group with H. pylori antibodies and control group without H. pylori antibodies. Case and control groups were compared according to the H. pylori status of their mother and several potential lifestyle and environmental factors. RESULTS: A total of 101 children and 101 mothers were included. The prevalence of H. pylori antibodies was 40.6% in mothers and 24.8% in children. The mean age of children (53% male) was 22.8 +/- 15.6 months (median, 18 months). The mean age of the mothers was 29.6 +/- 5.5 years (range, 19 to 46 years; median, 29 years). Most mothers, i.e., 78.2%, lived in two-parent households but 19% lived in single-parent settings (community or shacks). The number of persons living in the same house ranged from 2 to 20 people (mean, 7.2 +/- 3.8; median, 6 people). Mean monthly household income was 226,188 +/- 161,425 FCFA (range: 30,000 - 750,000 FCFA). In the case group, 80% of children had mothers infected with H. pylori. In the control group, 73.7% of children had non-infected mothers (OR = 11.2, p < 0.001). Median income was less than 150 000 FCA in 76% of families with seropositive children in comparison to 46.1% of families with seronegative children (p = 0.009). CONCLUSION: This study confirms the early occurrence of H. pylori infection in children. Findings also showed that poor socio-economic condition was a risk factor for infection but the greatest risk factor was living with a mother infected with H. pylori.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Bacterial/blood , Helicobacter Infections/transmission , Helicobacter pylori/immunology , Adult , Case-Control Studies , Child, Preschool , Cote d'Ivoire/epidemiology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Helicobacter Infections/epidemiology , Humans , Infant , Male , Middle Aged , Risk Factors , Socioeconomic Factors , Young AdultABSTRACT
A case of tetanus with uncommon way of contamination was found in the paediatric department of the Yopougon teaching hospital in Côte d'Ivoire. A two-year-old child, without vaccination against tetanus and suffering from a chronic otitis presented a generalized tetanus, after the use of traditional local remedies in his ear. Through this observation, the authors want to make population aware of the detrimental effects of traditional local auricular remedies and want to advise all physicians to make a serotherapy and/or a vaccination against tetanus to all children with chronic otitis in our area.
Subject(s)
Ear Auricle/microbiology , Otitis Externa/microbiology , Tetanus/diagnosis , Cote d'Ivoire , Hospitals, Teaching , Humans , Infant , Male , Medicine, Traditional , Tetanus ToxoidSubject(s)
Anti-Inflammatory Agents/therapeutic use , Black People , Clinical Protocols/standards , Cyclophosphamide/therapeutic use , Immunosuppressive Agents/therapeutic use , Levamisole/therapeutic use , Methylprednisolone/therapeutic use , Nephrotic Syndrome/drug therapy , Child , Cote d'Ivoire , Drug Administration Schedule , Drug Therapy, Combination , Humans , Nephrotic Syndrome/diagnosis , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
Child poisoning represent a public health problem in Africa and their particularities are linked to the way of life the population. We have made in the course of March 1999 an inquiry on 55 mothers at Yopougon in Abidjan. This inquiry was focused on their knowledge, attitudes and practices in relation acute poisoning children. The results of this inquiry will serve to organize a sanitary education for parents on the behaviour to have in case of an accident.
Subject(s)
Accidents , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Poisoning/therapy , Acute Disease , Adult , Cote d'Ivoire , Emergency Treatment , Female , Humans , MothersABSTRACT
From 1st January 1995 to 31st December 1996, 92 children from 1 month to 15 years old admitted for poisoning were studied. The purpose of this work was to describe the characteristics of child intoxication in our area; 64% were under 5 five years. Petroleum was the main poison (25/92). Certain traditional measures carried out by parents were identified as dangerous because leading to a high mortality rate. Two deaths were due to petroleum poisoning. In 96% of the cases, it was due to an inappropriate conservation of the hydrocarbure. The intoxications by amino-4-quinolines were also mainly due to bad self-medication. For these reasons, parents must be educated.
