Epidemiology of Cryptosporidium and Rotavirus Diarrhoea in Children under the Age of Five in Asokoro District Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria | Chapter 9 | Innovations in Microbiology and Biotechnology Vol. 7

 In Abuja, Nigeria, a hospital setting over a year, this study aims to assess some of the clinical indicators, causes, and mortality linked to severe diarrhea in children under the age of five. In Nigeria, where there is a high frequency of Rotavirus and Cryptosporidium and little understanding of the specific etiology, diarrhea is the second leading cause of death in children. The Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, Abuja, hosted the one-year cross-sectional survey. According to the 2006 population census, Nigeria has a total population of 150 million people, of which 5 million people lived in Abuja between June 2018 and May 2019.

With commercially available kits, ELISA tests for Rotavirus and Cryptosporidium were conducted.

Stool samples were taken from 1450 participants, of whom 156 (10.7%) were controls without diarrhea, 109 (7.5%) were hospitalized, and 1185 (81.7%) were ambulatory participants. With August and September being the peak months for infection, 274 (21.1%) children with diarrhea and 23 (1.7%) children without diarrhea tested positive for cryptosporidium-ELISA. 231 (17.8%) children with diarrhea and 29 (2.2%) controls tested positive for rotavirus using ELISA, with the peak months being November, December, and January. The most vulnerable age group for both Rotavirus (39.8%) and Cryptosporidium (37.2%) infections was 12 to 17-month-old children. Pediatric illnesses like Rotavirus and Cryptosporidium are serious, especially in the unvaccinated children of Abuja. It will be important to build local and national infrastructure for diarrhoeal illness monitoring and give access to virological and parasite stool testing in order to track the proposed vaccine program, particularly for Rotavirus. The results of this study will help with the planning of the rotavirus vaccine's potential inclusion in the National Immunization Program and set a baseline for evaluating the vaccine's impact on prevalence if it is incorporated in Nigeria's immunization program.

Author(s) Details:

B. Balarabe-Musa,
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Abuja, Nigeria.

N. T. Dabo,
Department of Biological Sciences, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria.

Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/IMB-V7/article/view/8058