Background Pneumonia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children under five. Antibiotic treatment must be started immediately in children with pneumonia. The irrational use of antibiotics may increase morbidity and mortality in children with pneumonia. Pneumonia accounted for approximately 16% of the 5.6 million under-five deaths word wide in 2016. In Uganda, it kills approximately 2,400 children per year. Early diagnosis and appropriate case management with rational use of antibiotics remain the most effective intervention to reduce pneumonia-related mortality. This study aimed at determining antibiotic prescription rationality and associated in-patient treatment outcomes in children aged 2–59 months with severe community-acquired pneumonia at Bwizibwera Health Centre IV from 1st May 2018 to 30th April 2019. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study design; data were collected from in-patient records of all children aged 2–59 months with severe community-acquired pneumonia who met the eligibility criteria for a period of one year. Data abstraction template was used for data collection. Health care records of children aged 2–59 months who had other co-morbidities and were on medication that could influence or impact on in-patient treatment outcomes from 1st May 2018 to 30th April 2019 were excluded. Data was entered and analyzed using Epi-info v 7.2 and STATA v 13.0 respectively, Descriptive statistics were reported and Chi-square test was used to compare the proportions. Results Of the total records of children retrieved and screened (N = 847), 229 prescription records of children fulfilled inclusion criteria, 57 (24.9%) had rational prescriptions with good outcomes and 172 (75.1%) had irrational prescriptions with 10 (4.4%) having unfavorable outcomes. The majority (73.7%) of those who received rational prescription were on treatment with a combination of benzyl penicillin plus gentamycin while (26.3%) were on ampicillin plus gentamycin. The majority (32.4%) of patients with good treatment outcomes were aged 6 – 11 months. This age category also doubled as the group that experienced the highest percentage (40.0%) of unfavorable outcomes. There were no statistically significant associations between patient characteristics and treatment outcomes. Conclusion In conclusion, the majority of children had irrational antibiotic prescriptions and 40 percent of children aged 6–11 Months had unfavorable treatment outcomes with 20 percent death. This study also found out that majority of antibiotic prescription among children under five was irrational and it’s against Uganda clinical guideline for treatment of severe pneumonia among children under five.

Background: The use of insecticide treated bed nets has been proven to be effective in reducing malaria transmission in highly endemic areas. Use of Long-Lasting Insecticide-treated Nets (LLINs) has been embraced by many malaria endemic countries. The LLINs are up to 95% effective in inhibiting blood feeding when used consistently even after seven years. The challenge however is enhancing their consistent use, especially by the most vulnerable groups (children under five years and pregnant women). The study established factors associated with consistent use of bed nets for malaria control among children under five years in Soroti district.Methods: The study employed a cross-sectional design, with multi-stage sampling of households. A total of 400 Households (HH) were sampled and the HH head in each household interviewed. Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) were conducted with 7 key informants who were knowledgeable on the subject matter. Data analysis was done using SPSS 17.0 at Univariate, Bivariate and Multivariable levels; after entry and cleaning. Key informants’ data were summarized manually; verbatim quotes and text used to reinforce quantitative data in line with objectives.Results: Only 56.8% of the 690 children under five years used bed nets consistently. The factors affecting consistent bed net use were age of the child, their use of bed nets the previous night, occupation of caretaker, respondents’ perceived susceptibilty, perceived risk of getting malaria, size and shape of the bed nets. Rectangular nets were difficult to hang daily in huts according to most key informants. Conclusion: Consistent bed net use among under fives is still below the RBM target of 85% by 2015 and can be enhanced by providing conical bed nets and setting aside a health education program to emphasize the effectiveness of even one mosquito in spreading malaria at night to the entire household and ability of bed nets to stop transmission better than other methods.

Background: Pneumonia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children under five. Antibiotic treatment must be started immediately in children with pneumonia. The irrational use of antibiotics may increase morbidity and mortality in children with pneumonia. Pneumonia accounted for approximately 16 % of the 5.6 million under-five deaths word wide in 2016. In Uganda, it kills approximately 2,400 children per year. Early diagnosis and appropriate case management with rational use of antibiotics remain the most effective intervention to reduce pneumonia-related mortality. This study aimed at determining antibiotic prescription rationality and associated in-patient treatment outcomes in children aged 2-59 months with severe community-acquired pneumonia at Bwizibwera Health Centre IV from 1st May 2018 to 30th April 2019. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort design; data were collected from in-patient records of all children aged 2-59 months with severe community-acquired pneumonia who met the eligibility criteria for a period of one year. Data abstraction template was used for data collection. Health care records of children aged 2-59 months who had other co-morbidities and were on medication that could influence or impact on in-patient treatment outcomes from 1st May 2018 to 30th April 2019 were excluded. Data was entered and analyzed using Epi-info v 7.2 and STATA v 13.0 respectively, Descriptive statistics were reported and Chi-square test was used to compare the proportions.Results: Of the total records of children retrieved and screened (N = 847), 229 prescription records of children fulfilled inclusion criteria, 57 (24.9 %) had rational prescriptions with good outcomes and 172 (75.1 %) had irrational prescriptions with 10 (4.4 %) having unfavorable outcomes. The majority (73.7 %) of those who received rational prescription were on treatment with a combination of benzyl penicillin plus gentamycin while (26.3 %) were on ampicillin plus gentamycin. The majority (32.4 %) of patients with good treatment outcomes were aged 6 – 11 months. This age category also doubled as the group that experienced the highest percentage (40.0 %) of unfavorable outcomes.Conclusion: The majority of children 172 (75.1%) had received irrational antibiotic prescriptions. There were no statistically significant associations between patient characteristics and treatment outcomes.

Background The use of insecticide-treated bed nets has been proven to be effective in reducing malaria transmission in highly endemic areas. Use of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) has been embraced by many malaria endemic countries. LLINs are up to 95% effective in inhibiting blood feeding, when used consistently even after 7 years. The challenge, however, is enhancing their consistent use, especially by the most vulnerable groups (children under 5 years and pregnant women). The study established factors associated with consistent use of bed nets for malaria control among children under 5 years in Soroti district. Methods The study employed a cross-sectional design, with multi-stage sampling of households. A total of 400 households (HH) were sampled and the HH head in each household interviewed. Key informant interviews (KIIs) were conducted with 7 key informants who were knowledgeable on the subject matter. Data analysis was done using SPSS 17.0 at Univariate, Bivariate and Multivariable levels; after entry and cleaning. Key informants’ data were summarized manually; verbatim quotes and text used to reinforce quantitative data in line with objectives. Results Only 56.8% of the 690 children under 5 years used bed nets consistently. The factors affecting consistent bed net use were age of the child, their use of bed nets the previous night, occupation of caretaker, respondents’ perceived susceptibility, perceived risk of getting malaria, size and shape of the bed nets. Rectangular nets were difficult to hang daily in huts according to most key informants. Conclusion Consistent bed net use among under fives is still below the RBM target of 85% by 2015 and can be enhanced by providing conical bed nets and setting aside a health education programme to emphasize the effectiveness of even one mosquito in spreading malaria at night to the entire household and ability of bed nets to stop transmission better than other methods.

Objective: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the prevalence, infection intensity and associated risk factors of intestinal schistosomiasis among primary school children in Lira district, Uganda. The study was conducted among 532 primary school pupils aged 6-16 years from eight randomly selected primary schools (March-May 2017). Stool samples were collected and examined for schistosomiasis using Odongo-Aginya method. Data on socio-demographic characteristics and risk factors were obtained using questionnaires. Results: The overall prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni was 35.7% indicating a moderate infection. Both males and females were equally affected with S. mansoni . Ogur sub county had highest prevalence (42.1%) than others. Akangi and Akano primary schools both had highest (21.1%) prevalence compared to the others. Individuals aged 14-16 and 10-14 years had heavy infections (mean epg) of 600 and 565 eggs, respectively than those aged 6-9 years. With regard to risk factors, source of drinking water, sub-county location and primary school were associated with infection. Participants who fetch water from spring (85,44.7%) had higher infection than those who fetch from other sources. The study recommends provision of safe water, periodic treatment of school-aged children with praziquantel and public health education to reduce prevalence of S. mansoni .