Breastfeeding pattern and nutritional status of children under two years in Oshogbo Local Government Area Osun State Nigeria

Background: This study aims to assess breastfeeding pattern among mothers and nutritional status of children under two years.Methodology: The cross sectional study was carried out in Oshogbo Local Government Area, Osun State. A total of 350 nursing mothers and their children undertwo years were randomly selected systematically. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on the bio-data and socioeconomic characteristics of the mothers. Breast feeding knowledge and pattern was assessed and anthropometric measurements taken. Data was subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS version 20.Results: One-third(32.6%) of the mothers were between 26-30years of age and 40% of the children were between 7-12 months old. Only 2.6% of the mothers earned >$400 per month. Most mothers (85.7%) had adequate knowledge about optimal breastfeeding, 72% initiated breastfeeding more than 1hr after birth and about 72% gave prelacteal meal. About 16.4% breastfed exclusively. Only 16.6% express breast-milk and the median duration for continued breastfeeding in this study was 18months. Complementary foods given to the children are mostly home prepared cereals, solids and semi-solid foods. About 30.4% of the children were stunted, 25.4% were underweight and 15.3% were wasted. However 4.3% mothers were underweight, 29.1% were overweight and 2.6% were obese. Maternal age, family structure, parity and monthly income were significantly related to their knowledge of and the pattern of breastfeeding.Conclusion: The practice of exclusive breastfeeding and use of expressed breast milk is poor among the mothers. Stunting was also high among the children.Key words: Breastfeeding, Undertwo children, Nutritional Status, Prelacteal foods, Mother

The first six month growth and illness of exclusively and non-exclusively breast-fed infants in Nigeria

Objective: To compare the growth and illness pattern of infants who were exclusively breast fed for six months with those of infants commenced on complementary feeding before the age of six months and ascertain reasons for the early introduction of complementary feeding. Design: A comparative prospective study. Setting: Urban Comprehensive Health Centre (UCHC), Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, lle-lfe. Subjects: Three hundred and fifty-two mothers and their normal birth weight babies, weighing 2.500kg or more, and aged less than 14 days were serially recruited into the study. Main outcome measures: Mean/median monthly weights in the first six months of life, history/outpatient presentation for illnesses. Results: Of the 352 mother-infant pairs recruited into the study, 345 (98%) were successfully followed up for the first six months of life. At six months, 264 (76.5%) were exclusively breast-fed, 45 (13.1%) were started on complementary feeding, between the ages of four and six months while 36 (10.4%) commenced complementary feeding before the age of four months. Infants who were exclusively breast-fed for six months had median weights above the 50th percentiles of the WHO/NCHS reference that is currently used in the national "road to health" (growth monitoring) cards. Furthermore, the mean weight of these babies at age six months was above those of babies who started complementary foods before six months. They also reported fewer symptoms and had fewer illness episodes (0.l episodes per child) compared to those who started complementary feeding before six months. Infants who commenced complementary feeding before four months reported more symptoms and had more illness episodes (1.4 episodes per child) compared to those that commenced complementary feeding between four and six months (1.2 episodes per child). Common symptoms/illnesses seen or reported during the study among the groups were fever, diarrhoea and cough. Reasons given for early introduction of complementary foods include insufficient breast milk, thirst and convenience. Conclusion: It is concluded that exclusive breast-feeding supported adequate growth during the first six months of life for most of the infants studied. Early introduction of complementary foods did not provide any advantages in terms of weight gain in our environment, it was frequently associated with illness episodes and growth faltering. Many mothers however require support, encouragement and access to health care providers to breastfeed exclusively for the first six months of life. East African Medical Journal Vol. 81 No. 3 March 2004: 146-15

Mammary tuberculosis – importance of recognition and differentiation from that of a breast malignancy: report of three cases and review of the literature

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>While tuberculosis of the breast is an extremely uncommon entity seen in western populations, it accounts for up to 3% of all treatable breast lesions in developing countries.</p> <p>Case presentations</p> <p>We reviewed three female cases of mammary tuberculosis that were diagnosed and treated in Turkey during the same calendar year. All three patients presented with a painful breast mass. In all cases, fine needle aspiration was nondiagnostic for mammary tuberculosis. However, the diagnosis of mammary tuberculosis was confirmed by histopathologic evaluation at the time of open surgical biopsy. All three patients were treated with antituberculous therapy for six months. At the end of the treatment period, each patient appeared to be clinically and radiologically without evidence of residual disease.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The diagnosis of mammary tuberculosis rests on the appropriate clinical suspicion and the histopathologic findings of the breast lesion. Its recognition and differentiation from that of a breast malignancy is absolutely necessary. Antituberculous chemotherapy, initiated immediately upon diagnosis, forms the mainstay of treatment for mammary tuberculosis.</p

Azithromycin plus chloroquine: combination therapy for protection against malaria and sexually transmitted infections in pregnancy

INTRODUCTION: The first-line therapy for the intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp) is sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP). There is an urgent need to identify safe, well-tolerated and efficacious alternatives to SP due to widespread Plasmodium falciparum resistance. Combination therapy using azithromycin and chloroquine is one possibility that has demonstrated adequate parasitological response > 95% in clinical trials of non-pregnant adults in sub-Saharan Africa and where IPTp is a government policy in 33 countries. AREAS COVERED: Key safety, tolerability and efficacy data are presented for azithromycin and chloroquine, alone and/or in combination, when used to prevent and/or treat P. falciparum, P. vivax, and several curable sexually transmitted and reproductive tract infections (STI/RTI). Pharmacokinetic evidence from pregnant women is also summarized for both compounds. EXPERT OPINION: The azithromycin-chloroquine regimen that has demonstrated consistent efficacy in non-pregnant adults has been a 3-day course containing daily doses of 1 g of azithromycin and 600 mg base of chloroquine. The pharmacokinetic evidence of these compounds individually suggests that dose adjustments may not be necessary when used in combination for treatment efficacy against P. falciparum, P. vivax, as well as several curable STI/RTI among pregnant women, although clinical confirmation will be necessary. Mass trachoma-treatment campaigns have shown that azithromycin selects for macrolide resistance in the pneumococcus, which reverses following the completion of therapy. Most importantly, no evidence to date suggests that azithromycin induces pneumococcal resistance to penicillin