ROLE OF PARASITIC AGENTS IN CHILDHOOD DIARRHOEA IN IBADAN

Abstract

The study determined the prevalence of parasitic agents among
under-five children with diarrhoea in Ibadan; evaluated the risk posed by
different water sources, mode of household water treatment as well as
disposal of faecal waste and tested the effects of parasites associated
diarrhoea on the nutritional status of the children.
A cross-sectional study that employed purposive sampling of
Children with diarrhoea in three government hospitals in Ibadan. Three
hundred children participated in the study. The participant were
examined clinically and stool samples were collected for laboratory
analysis.A structured questionnaire was filled for each child. Children
with parasites in their stool were grouped as cases while those free from
parasites were the controls. The cases and controls were compared for
age, sex, nutritional status and the risk factors for parasites acquisition.
Out of 300 under-five children studied, 22(7.3%) had parasites.
There were 3(1.0%) protozoans and 19(6.3%) helminthes.The protozoans
identified were Entamoeba histolytica 1(0.3%), Entamoeba coli 1(0.3%) and
Trichomonas hominis 1(0.3%), while Ascaris lumbricoides 7(2.3%); Trichuris
trichiura 2(0.7%) and hookworm 5(1.7%) were the helminthes identified.
Differential rates of parasitic diarrhoea were observed in relation to the
sources of household water with highest rates among children from
household using river water (20.0%),followed by well(12.7%) and
borehole(9.0%) while piped water(3.0%) had the lowest rate of parasitic
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diarrhoea. Children whose water was not treated before consumption had
the rate of 12.8%, while those household that boil or filtered their water
had 11.9% and 3.9% respectively. Percentage parasitic diarrhoea rate in
relation to type of toilet facilities showed that the users of pit latrine had
the highest rate (13.8%), followed by the users of bush (12.5%), while the
use of open field and water closet had rates of 8.3% and 3.6% respectively.
Out of the 22 children with parasitic diarrhoea 15/22 (68.2%) were
undernourished, while 30/278(10.8%) of the parasite negative diarrhea
were undernourished.
This study has demonstrated that the prevalence of parasitic
diarrhoea among under-five children in Ibadan is 7.3%. Children from
households that sourced water from the river, failed to treat their water
before consumption and used pit latrine are most likely to have parasitic
diarrhoea. Malnutrition is a complication of parasites-associated diarrhoea
in Ibadan.