Parasitic Infections, Anemia and Malnutrition Among Rural Settled and Mobile Pastoralist Mothers and Their Children in Chad

Abstract

Malnutrition, resulting from various etiologies, is common in rural Chadian women and children. This cross-sectional study assessed the spectrum of parasitic infection and level of anemia and their effect on nutritional status in settled and mobile pastoral mothers and children near Lake Chad. Intestinal parasites were evaluated using direct fecal smears and the Kato–Katz technique. Malaria status was determined using Paracheck-Pf® rapid diagnostic test, and anemia was assessed with the Hemocue photometer. Nutritional status was evaluated using anthropometric parameters. At the end of the 2008 wet season, the prevalence of malnutrition was 36% [confidence interval (CI) 30–42] among women and 15% (CI 11–18) among children. The prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection was 75% (CI 68–83) among women and 60% (CI 53–66) among children. The predominant helminth species was Ascaris lumbricoides while Entamoeba histolytica/dispar was the most common protozoan. The hookworm prevalence was 14% (CI 8–20) in women and 18% (CI 13–23) in children. Malaria prevalence was low among women (1%, CI 0.5–2) and children (3% CI 2–5). No significant difference was observed in the prevalence of parasitic infection between the mobile pastoralist and rural sedentary populations. Thirty-four percent (CI 27–40) of nonpregnant women, 53% (CI 34–72) of pregnant women, and 27% (CI 23–32) of children were anemic. In subjects infected with Plasmodium, all women and 54% (CI 22–85) of children were anemic. Malnutrition was significantly associated with anemia in mothers and with selected intestinal parasites, anemia and age in their children.

An Epidemiological Assessment of the Infectious forms of Intestinal Helminths in School Children from Chad

“…Nevertheless, both methods used have the advantage of being simple, rapid, and inexpensive, and are suited for low-income countries (OMS, 1983;Tchuem Tchuenté , 2012). The prevalence rate of 57.1% corroborates those already found: 57.7% in N"Djamena by Kostoingue et al (2002), 51% also in N"Djamena by Hamit et al (2008), 56 % in other tropical regions as in Gondar ( Ethiopia) by Worku et al (2009), 54.7% in the Delta state (Nigeria) by Egwunyenga et al (2005), 60% in the region of Lake Chad by Bechir et al (2011), and 60% in The rate of infection was higher in boys than in girls (Table 3). This observation has been reported by several authors such as: Kassi et al (1989) in Aboisso, Menan et al (1997) in Abidjan, Adou-Brin (2001) in Toumodi and Stephane et al (2004) in Agboville (Ivory Coast), Tchuem Tchuenté et al (2012) in the Center, East and West regions of Cameroon.…”

“…A similar finding had been published for the first two species by Brooker et al (2000) in Cameroon, Saathoff et al (2005) in South Africa, Goodman et al (2007) in Zanzibar, Hamit et al (2008) in Chad, and Zephania et al (2010) in Cameroon. Recently, Bechir et al (2011) demonstrated the prevalence of hookworm in Chad. The higher rate of ascaridiasis (33.7%) in the present study confirms that this parasitosis is one of the most common in the world among geohelminthiases (Tchuem Tchuente et al, 2001Montresor et al, 2002;Miguel & Kremer, 2002, Ajeagah et al, 2013.…”

“…According to Brooker et al (2002b), 32.7% of Chad's rural population is infected with hookworm; Kostoingue et al (2002) found that 57.7% of children harbor intestinal parasites in the city of N"Djamena. Recent studies showed that 60% of nomadic children in Chad are carriers of at least one intestinal parasite (Bechir et al, 2011) while Hamit et al (2008) reported that 51% of the inhabitants of N"Djamena city are bearers of at least one intestinal parasites.…”

A study of pattern of some common infections in children one month to five years of age

“…In present study we found that Children with Tuberculosis presented with fever (22, 95.7%); cough (15, 65.2%); H/o Koch's contacts (19,82.6%); pain abdomen (5, 21%); pallor (22, 95.7%); lymphadenopathy (22, 95.7%), and chest-crepts (10, 43.5%). Marais BJ et al found that children with Tuberculosis presented with persistent non remitting cough of > 2 weeks' duration, documented failure to thrive (in the preceding 3 months), and fatigue provided reasonable diagnostic accuracy in HIV uninfected children (sensitivity: 62.6%; specificity: 89.8%; positive predictive value: 83.6%); the performance was better in the low-risk group (> or = 3 years; sensitivity: 82.3%; specificity: 90.2%; positive predictive value: 82.3%) than in the high-risk group (< 3 years; sensitivity: 51.8%; specificity: 92.5%; positive predictive value: 90.1%).…”

“…The hookworm prevalence was 14% (CI [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] in women and 18% (CI 13-23) in children. 19 Mantoux done in Tuberculosis cases showed that 20 (87%) cases had mantoux > 10 mm, and 3 (13%) cases had mantoux 5-10 mm. 3 (13%) children with Tuberculosis were sputum for AFB positive.…”