PREVALENCE OF GIARDIA LAMBLIA IN ASSOCIATION WITH BODY MASS INDICES OF CHILDREN 0-5 YEARS PRESENTING WITH GASTROENTERITIS IN KADUNA METROPOLIS, NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
1.0Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â INTRODUCTIONÂ
1.1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Background to the Study
Acute gastroenteritis presenting as infant diarrhoea remains a common illness among infants and children throughout the world. Among children in the United States, acute diarrhoea accounts for more than 1.5 million outpatients, 200,000 hospitalized inpatients and about 300 deaths per year (Zimmerman et al., 2001; CDC, 2014). It has been established that in the very poor countries of Africa, Asia and South America a child suffers up to 15 to 19 episodes of diarrhoea with 4.6 million to 6 million deaths annually (Grote et al., 2011). In Nigeria, available report indicates that more than 315,000 deaths of preschool age children occur annually as a result of infantile diarrhoea disease with 80% of the population affected (Aminu et al., 2008; Ayolabi et al., 2012).
Gastroenteritis or gastro is an illness caused by infection and/or inflammation of the digestive tract. It is characterized by nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and/or stomach cramps. Other symptoms may include fever, headache, blood or pus in the faeces, loss of appetite, bloating, lethargy and body aches (CDC, 2014). Infectious gastroenteritis is caused by a variety of viral, bacterial and parasitic pathogens. Intestinal parasites have a worldwide distribution and have been associated with gastroenteritis in children. One of the most common intestinal protozoa parasite is Giardia lamblia (Jelinek and Neifer, 2013).
Among the intestinal flagellates, Giardia lamblia and Dientamoeba fragilis are pathogenic to man (Monali et al., 2012). The highest rates of infection are therefore encountered in developing countries (10-30% in young children). While in developed countries, infections occur mostly in persons living in closed communities, homosexual men, immigrants and of increasing importance travelers returning from highly endemic countries (Carmena et al., 2012; Jelinek and Neifer, 2013).
About 3.5 billion people are infected worldwide and about 450 million people are ill due to these infections which are mainly in children of about 2-14 years. The infections cause iron deficiency anemia, growth retardation and other physical and mental problems in children (Nyamngee et al., 2006).
Giardia is an enteric protozoan that infects a wide range of vertebrate hosts, being the causative agent of gastrointestinal disease of humans in both developing and developed countries (Jombo et al., 2011). Giardial infection also has significant impact on livestock health, causing diarrhoea and loss of weight (Carmena et al., 2012).
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PREVALENCE OF GIARDIA LAMBLIA IN ASSOCIATION WITH BODY MASS INDICES OF CHILDREN 0-5 YEARS PRESENTING WITH GASTROENTERITIS IN KADUNA METROPOLIS, NIGERIA
