Mothers’ knowledge about birth asphyxia: The need to do more!

Background: Health education is an important tool required for reducing the burden of birth asphyxia in the developing world.Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge of mothers, who received health facility-based antenatal care during their last pregnancy, about birth asphyxia and relate their knowledge to their places of antenatal care.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey of mothers of infants attending the Immunization clinic in a Nigerian Teaching Hospital was done between July and October 2010 using a close-ended questionnaire. Consecutively consenting mothers were enrolled into the study.Results: Out of 354 mothers, 56.5% received counseling about birth asphyxia during antenatal clinic visits in their last pregnancy; 85.5% of attendees of teaching hospital; and 26.4% of attendees of private antenatal clinics received counseling about birth asphyxia. Overall, 38.9% of the respondents had satisfactory knowledge about birth asphyxia;47.5% of teaching hospital attendees; and 28.1% of private clinic attendees had satisfactory knowledge about birth asphyxia. Lower socioeconomic status, lack of counseling, and nonattendance of teaching hospital antenatal clinic were associated with poor knowledge about birth asphyxia.Conclusion: Most of the mothers surveyed had poor knowledge about the risk factors and sequelae of birth asphyxia. The health system needs to improve health education of expectant mothers about birth asphyxia.Key words: Antenatal care, asphyxia, health educatio

Pattern of nosocomial infections in the special care baby unit of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, Nigeria

Background: Sepsis contributes significantly to newborn deaths in Nigeria. A significant proportion of severe infections in the newborn may be health care-related.Objective: To determine the prevalence, types and risk factors for nosocomial infections in the Special Care Baby Unit of a Nigerian Tertiary Hospital.Method: A cross-sectional survey of consecutively admitted infants aged 0 to 28 days with signs of infections or who developed signs of infection following admission. Infants with or without nosocomial infections were compared for the clinical and laboratory details.Results: Out of 356 infants, 32 (8.9%) had between 1 and 3 nosocomial infections while 48 (13.5%) had community-acquired infections. Half of babies with nosocomial infections were preterm and weighed less than 2kg. A significantly higher proportion of babies with nosocomial infections were inborn (p < 0.000) and stayed longer than 7 days on admission (p = 0.034). Bacteraemia was significantly more frequent among babies with nosocomial infections (p = 0.014) while superficial skin and mucosal infections occurred to similar extents in both groups. Klebsiella and Proteus species were the leading isolates among babies with nosocomial infections. Nasogastric intubation was significantly more frequently performed among babies with nosocomial infections (p = 0.045).Conclusion: The present study revealed that hospital acquired infection is an important cause of morbidity in the newborn unit.Keywords: Bacteraemia; Hospital-acquired infections; invasive procedures;newborn

Les faux amis estoniens-français-russe: l’adjectif intelligent, intelligentne et интеллигентный

https://www.ester.ee/record=b5563413*es

Determinants of timely initiation of complementary feeding among children aged 6‑24 months in Sagamu, Nigeria

Background: Poor breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices may contribute to childhood malnutrition in the developing world.Objective: The objective was to examine the determinants of timely initiation of complementary feeding among Nigerian children.Materials and Methods: Using a cross‑sectional design, children aged 6‑24 months were surveyed in a Nigerian Teaching Hospital. Children with timely initiation of complementary feeding (6‑8 months) were compared with children with untimely initiation of complementary feeding early (<6 months and >8 months) for clinical and social characteristics using both bivariate and multivariate analysis.Results: Of 156 children, 41%, 53.8%, and 5.1% had timely, early and delayed initiation of complementary feeding. Complementary feeding was initiated with processed cereals (44.8%), locally prepared maize gruel (32.1%) and mashed family diet (23.1%). Bivariate analysis showed significant association between timely initiation of complementary and orthodox maternity care, no prelacteal feeding, exclusive breastfeeding, no siblings and first birth order. Parental education was not associated with timely initiation of complementary feeding. Multivariate analysis identified orthodox maternity care, exclusive breastfeeding and no siblings as independent predictors of timely initiation of complementary feeding.Conclusion: Complementary feeding is most frequently initiated earlier than 6 months in this population. Good breastfeeding practices may influence timely initiation of complementary feeding. Interventions should be targeted at the entire population irrespective of educational and socioeconomic status.Key words: Breastfeeding, malnutrition, supplementary feeding, weanin

Factors associated with mortality in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: A Case Report

Background: The management of children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) remains a major challenge in developing countries. Case presentation: We report an adolescent male who was diagnosed with T1DM at the age of 11 years when he presented at a private hospital with diabetic ketoacidosis. He received emergency treatment there and was subsequently referred to our tertiary hospital for expert care. All through the management, there was poor clinic attendance, poor glucose monitoring, poor compliance with insulin therapy, and ultimately, poorly controlled diabetes. Later, he developed diabetic autonomic neuropathy which manifested as unawareness of bladder fullness with secondary enuresis and fecal incontinence. He was also severely malnourished. At his last admission, seven years after the initial diagnosis, he presented with burnt hands and feet, which were injuries sustained from putting his extremities in naked flames when he lapsed into a coma during a religious activity. He received multidisciplinary management but died a few weeks later. Discussion and conclusion: This case is being reported to draw attention to the plight of children with T1DM from the low socioeconomic class in developing countries. In such children, poverty and ignorance may have profound negative effects on the management and outcome of T1DM

VARIETAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES, PROXIMATE AND MINERAL COMPOSITION OF IMPROVED SESAME (Sesamun indicum) SEEDS

The study was conducted to characterize the physical properties, proximate and mineral composition of improved sesame varieties. Fourteen improved varieties of sesame seeds were analyzed for their physical properties, proximate and mineral composition following standard analytical procedures. The arithmetic mean diameter (AMD), sphericity, geometric mean diameter (GMD), aspect ratio and surface area were in the range 1.51-1.91 mm, 0.57-0.64 mm, 1.32-1.70 mm, 61.50- 75.00%, and 84 - 8.94 mm2, respectively. Ca, Fe, Mg and K contents were also in the range 5.4-20.2 mg/kg, 0.5-3.0 mg/kg, 1.5-7.4 mg/kg, and 2.9-12.9 mg/kg, respectively. There was significant varietal differences (P<0.05) in the physical properties, proximate and mineral composition of the improved sesame seeds. The improved sesame varieties were characterized into three groups with distinct physical properties, proximate and mineral composition using hierarchical clustering procedure. Cluster 1 consists of varieties with relatively low proximate and mineral composition while cluster 2 comprises varieties with higher amounts of these nutrients. The variety in cluster 3 was characterized with exceptionally low content of minerals. The diversity obtained in the physical properties and proximate composition of the improved sesame seeds from this study underscores the huge potentials of the improved sesame seeds in food and non food use

Neonatal malaria in Nigeria -a 2 year review

BACKGROUND: In view of the fact that a significant proportion of neonates with malaria may be missed on our wards on the assumption that the disease condition is rare, this study aims at documenting the prevalence of malaria in neonates admitted into our neonatal ward. Specifically, we hope to describe its clinical features and outcome of this illness. Knowledge of these may ensure early diagnosis and institution of prompt management. METHODS: Methods Hospital records of all patients (two hundred and thirty) admitted into the Neonatal ward of Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu between 1st January 1998 and 31(st )December 1999 were reviewed. All neonates (fifty-seven) who had a positive blood smear for the malaria parasite were included in the study. Socio-demographic data as well as clinical correlates of each of the patients were reviewed. The Epi-Info 6 statistical software was used for data entry, validation and analysis. A frequency distribution was generated for categorical variables. To test for an association between categorical variables, the chi-square test was used. The level of significance was put at values less than 5%. RESULTS: Prevalence of neonatal malaria in this study was 24.8% and 17.4% for congenital malaria. While the mean duration of illness was 3.60 days, it varied from 5.14 days in those that died and and 3.55 in those that survived respectively. The duration of illness significantly affected the outcome (p value = 0.03). Fever alone was the clinical presentation in 44 (77.4%) of the patients. Maturity of the baby, sex and age did not significantly affect infestation. However, history of malaria/febrile illness within the 2 weeks preceding the delivery was present in 61.2% of the mothers. Maternal age, concurrent infection and duration of illness all significantly affected the outcome of illness. Forty-two (73.7%) of the babies were discharged home in satisfactory condition. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that taking a blood smear to check for the presence of the malaria parasite should be included as part of routine workup for all neonates with fever or those whose mothers have history of fever two weeks prior to delivery. In addition, health education of pregnant mothers in the antenatal clinic should include early care-seeking for newborns

Computational Model of Nano-Pharmacological Particles for the Clinical Management of Stenotic and Aneurysmatic Coronary Artery in the Human Body

This work presents a three-dimensional computational study of nanoparticles (metallic and non-metallic) suspended in blood flowing through a diseased artery with both stenosis and aneurysm. From the perspective of pharmacodynamics and heat transfer, the influence of nanoparticles on hemodynamic indicators was investigated in a diseased artery. The blood was flowing fluid, steady-state, incompressible, homogeneous, and Newtonian, while the artery was a rigid wall. The three-dimensional continuity, Navier-Stokes, and energy equations were solved numerically by using a RAN-based standard k-ω model, which was performed on the ANSYS commercial software package. The influence of different selected nanoparticles (Al2O3, CuO, SiO2, and ZnO), nanoparticle concentration (1.0%-4.0%), and nanoparticle diameters (25 nm - 100 nm) on hemodynamic parameters such as velocity, temperature, turbulence intensity, more particularly skin friction coefficient and Nusselt number of the blood flow on the diseased artery, was also investigated. The streamlines, contours, and plots were adopted to better visualize the blood flow behavior in an artery with stenosis and aneurysm. The numerical results revealed that at a 4.0% nanoparticle concentration, CuO nanoparticles greatly reduced the blood velocity by 1.96% compared to other nanoparticles. About 0.66%-2.05% reduction in the blood velocity could be achieved by increasing the nanoparticle concentration from 1.0% to 4.0%. The SiO2 blood nanofluid showed the best result in augmentation of the Nusselt number by 53.0%. However, the nanoparticle diameter and concentration showed an insignificant effect on the skin friction facto

Effect of variety and processing method on functional properties of traditional sweet potato flour (“elubo”) and sensory acceptability of cooked paste (“amala”)

“Amala” is a generic term in Nigeria, used to describe a thick paste prepared by stirring flour (“elubo”) from yam, cassava or unripe plantain, in hot water, to form a smooth consistency. In order to overcome its high perishability and increase the utilization of sweet potato roots, three varieties of sweet potato roots were processed into flour using two methods. The interactive effect of variety and the processing method had a significant effect (P < 0.05) on all the functional properties of the flour except yellowness, setback viscosity, and peak time. Acceptable sweet potato “amala” with average sensory acceptability score of 7.5 were obtained from yellow-fleshed varieties irrespective of the processing method. Flour that produced acceptable “amala” were characterized by lower values of protein (2.20–3.94%), fiber (1.30–1.65%), total sugar (12.41–38.83 lg/mg), water absorption capacity (168–215 g/100 g), water solubility (8.29–14.65%), swelling power (0.52–0.82 g/g), and higher peak time (6.9–8.7 min)