Mothers’ misconception and traditional practises towards infant teething’ symptomsin Khartoum

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Background: Teething is a natural process which creates little discomfort. Mothers in Sudan, regardless of their educational levels have strong and deeply rooted believes that infant teething, causes many medical problems to infants; despite no evidence to support these belief and misconceptions. Some traditional practices for relieving teething's symptoms have caused serious harm and even death.

Mothers’ teething beliefs and treatment practices in Mansoura, Egypt

“…These misconceptions are not only prevalent in Egypt but also in other parts of the world. Similar results were reported by other studies in Sudan (Awadkamil, 2012), Nigeria (Ige and Olubukola, 2013), India (Bhavneet, 2012, Fernandes et al, 2013), Australia (Wake et al, 2001, Plutzer et al, 2012) and Brazil (Paiano et al, 2013). Although mild fever is associated with teething (Macknin et al, 2000), high fever should be investigated (Wake et al, 2001, McIntyre and McIntyre, 2002, Wilson and Mason, 2002).…”

“…Only 1.8% of mothers reported no symptoms at the time of teething. In a nearby country, Sudan, less than 5% of mothers thought that babies experience no medical problems as a result of teething (Awadkamil, 2012). Previous studies in Nigeria reported that 4.8% and about 10% of mothers stated that teething is not associated with symptoms (Uti et al, 2005, Adimorah et al, 2011).…”

“…Analgesics/antipyretics, pacifiers and antibiotics were the most frequently given treatments (71.3%, 31.3% and 24.3%; respectively). In Sudan 16% of mother took baby to doctor, 9% gave oral rehydration solution, 23% just wait and 11% apply topical herbs (Awadkamil, 2012). In India 61% of parents agreed that a child must be given systemic treatment for teething symptoms whereby syrups of analgesics, antibiotics, home remedies, topical gels were the commonly used medicaments (Bhavneet, 2012, Fernandes et al, 2013).…”

An Ethnomedical Perspective of Arabic Traditional Cauterization; Al-Kaiy

“…The common causes for using cauterization for treatment of children are abdominal distension and jaundice [17]. Another study reported that 4% of mothers in Khartoum, Sudan, used cauterization for the treatment of teething symptoms [18]. Cauterization is also used to treat chronic illnesses, headache and jaundice [19].…”

A study of misconceptions about childhood diarrhoea among adults in urban Pondicherry, India

“…Merga et al documented that only 5% participants mentioned that breast milk should be provided during management of diarrhoea. 1,7,8 In present study, it was found that about one third of the subjects believe that there is no need to treat a patient with diarrhea, as it resolves automatically. About 30% believe that ORS is not useful for treating the diarrhea and about 20% believe that antibiotics are must for management of diarrhea.…”