Background: The clinical features of hypoglycaemia and severe dehydration are similar, and these two can occur in a child presenting with acute diarrhoea. Hypoglycaemia occurring in a growing brain is deleterious and must be detected and treated. Objective: To determine the prevalence of hypoglycaemia among under-five children presenting with acute diarrhoea in UCTH, Calabar. Method: This was a prospective study of 150 children aged six weeks to five years presenting with acute diarrhoea in UCTH, Calabar from June 1st to October 31st 2008. Consecutive children who met the inclusion criteria were recruited into the study. Blood samples were collected for random blood sugar and serum electrotype estimation using One Touch Ultra Test Strips 2006 model and Flame photometry respectively. Results: The overall prevalence of hypoglycaemia in under-five children presenting with acute diarrhoea was 4%. There was no sex difference. It was commonest among children of the low socioeconomic class (83.3%). Risk factors to developing hypoglycaemia were longer duration of last feeds greater than five hours and severe dehydration, both reaching statistically significant differences (p=0.022 and 0.002; FET respectively). Forty percent of patients who died had hypoglycaemia constituting 33.3% of patients with hypoglycaemia. Conclusion: Children with diarrhoea complicated with severe dehydration are prone to developing hypoglycaemia. It causes high mortality and thus this parameter should be checked for and managed on time.
Background: The signs and symptoms of HIV/AIDS in children are not quite distinct because of similarities in clinical presentation between HIV infection and endemic tropical diseases. Diarrhoea, one of the cardinal symptoms of HIV/AIDS, is a common childhood disease. Objective: This study was conducted to find the prevalence of HIV infection among children admitted with acute watery diarrhoea in our diarrhoea treatment and training unit. Method: Consecutive children aged below 5 years admitted into the unit with diarrhoea were recruited. The children were examined. The parents were counseled before blood was taken for HIV screening. In addition, parents of children who were sero-positive for HIV were also screened. Results: One hundred and fifty-two who made the inclusion criteria were studied. Eight (5.3%) were sero-positive for HIV, five of them being males. None of these mothers had antenatal care and they were all delivered at either home or traditional attendants' homes. All were under weight and six of them presented with severe dehydration. These factors reached statistical significant differences between children who were sero-positive and those who were not. None of these eight patients died from acute watery diarrhoea but two of them eventually died from complications of persistent diarrhoea. Conclusion: Children with HIV may present with acute watery diarrhoea. Children with diarrhoea that are underweight with severe dehydration whose sero-status are not known should be screened for HIV.
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