Studies on diarrhea prevalence in selected communities in greater Monrovia, Liberia

  • Authors

    • James McClain University of Liberia, West Africa
    • J. Boima Kiazolu University of Liberia, West Africa
    • Peter Saah Humphrey University of Liberia, West Africa
    • Plenseh Diana Paye University of Liberia, West Africa
    2022-02-02
    https://doi.org/10.14419/ijbas.v9i2.30570
  • Diarrhea, Greater-Monrovia, Developing-Countries, Knowledge, Behavior Score.

  • Abstract

    Diarrhea is an epidemic that threatens the livelihood of children less than five years in developing countries. Control and mitigation pose a severe challenge in these countries. The subjective of the study is to assess the prevalence of and factors associated with diarrhea among families in Greater Monrovia. The study recruited 257 families from three communities and geographically and randomly assigned to the two groups (A & B). Socio-demographic survey and knowledge and behavior questionnaires on diarrhea prevalence were used to collect data. Reports from the study indicate that family in Group A (93%) and Group B (83.6%) have significant knowledge associating contaminated drinking water and contaminated food with diarrhea; X2 =11.2, p = 0.001. The family behavior shows that Group A (33%) and Group B (51%) do not treat their drinking water before consumption. The findings from this study recommend an education and awareness intervention on diarrheal and related illnesses to increase family knowledge and improvement of the behavior community public health improvement process.

     

  • References

    1. [1] World Health Organization, on WHO Web Site. 2015.

      [2] Florez, I.D., et al. (2018), Comparative effectiveness and safety of interventions for acute diarrhea and gastroenteritis in children: A systematic review and network meta-analysis. PLoS One, 13(12): p. e0207701. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0207701.

      [3] Carvajal-Vélez, L., et al. (2016), Diarrhea management in children under five in sub-Saharan Africa: does the source of care matter? A Countdown analysis. BioMed Central Public Health, 16: p. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3475-1.

      [4] Arnold, B.F. and J.M. Colford, Jr. (2007), Treating water with chlorine at point-of-use to improve water quality and reduce child diarrhea in developing countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Trop Med Hyg, 76(2): p. 354-64. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.2007.76.354.

      [5] Folarin, T.B.O., E.O. and A.I. Ayede (2013), Water Quality and Risk of Diarrhoeal Infections among Children under Five in Ibadan, Nigeria. African Journal of Biomedical Research, 16: p. 67-77.

      [6] Brown, J.M., S. Proum, and M.D. Sobsey (2008), Escherichia coli in household drinking water and diarrheal disease risk; evidence from Cambodia. Water Science & Technology, : p. 757-763. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2008.439.

      [7] Peletz, R., et al. (2011), Drinking water quality, feeding practices, and diarrhea among children under 2 years of HIV-positive mothers in peri-urban Zambia. Am J Trop Med Hyg, 85(2): p. 318-26. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.2011.11-0140.

      [8] Jimmy, D.H., et al. (2013), Water quality associated public health risk in Bo, Sierra Leone. Environ Monit Assess, 185(1): p. 241-51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2548-6.

      [9] Mattioli, M.C., et al. (2014), Enteric pathogens in stored drinking water and on caregiver's hands in Tanzanian households with and without reported cases of child diarrhea. PLoS One, 9(1): p. e84939. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0084939.

      [10] Acharya, D., et al. (2018), Association of water handling and child feeding practice with chilhood diarrhea in rural community of Southern Nepal. Journal of Infection and Public Health, : p. 69 - 74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiph.2017.04.007.

      [11] LISGIS, Population of County, District, Clan, and Household. 2008, Liberia Institute of Statistics Geo-Information Services: Monrovia.

      [12] Pirsaheb, M., et al. (2017), Prevalence of the waterborne diseases in West of Iran during 5 years (2006-2010). Annals of Tropical Medicine and Public Health. 10(6): p. 1524-1528. https://doi.org/10.4103/ATMPH.ATMPH_493_17.

      [13] Ding, Z., et al. (2017), Infectious diarrheal disease caused by contaminated well water in Chinese schools: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Epidemiology. 27(6): p. 274-281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.je.2016.07.006.

      [14] Agustina, R., et al. (2013), Association of food-hygiene practices and diarrhea prevalence among Indonesian young children from low socioeconomic urban areas. BMC Public Health, 13: p. 977. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-977.

      [15] Agustina, R., et al. (2013), Association of food-hygiene practices and diarrhea prevalence among Indonesian young children from low socioeconomic urban areas. BMC Public Health, 13(977): p. 01-12. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-977.

      [16] Herbert, M., R. Basha, and S. Thangaraj (2012), Community perception regarding rabies prevention and stray dog control in urban slums in India. Journal of Infection and Public Health, 5(6): p. 374-380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiph.2012.05.002.

      [17] Kardjadj, M. and M.H. Ben-Mahdi (2019), Epidemiology of dog-mediated zoonotic diseases in Algeria: One Health control approach. New Microbes and New Infections, 28: p. 17-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nmni.2019.01.001.

      [18] Acharya, D., et al. (2018), Association of water handling and child feeding with childhood diarrhea in rural community of Southern Nepal. Journal of Infection and Public Health, 11(1): p. 69-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiph.2017.04.007.

      [19] Einstein, G.P., et al. (2017), Meta-analysis of staphylococcal diarrhea in some developing African countries. Benin-Suef University. Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 6(2): p. 145-148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjbas.2017.02.004.

      [20] Black, R.E. (2019), Progress in the use of ORS and zinc for the treatment of childhood diarrhea. Journal of Global Health, 9(1): p. 010101. https://doi.org/10.7189/jogh.09.010101.

      [21] Barrett, K.E. (2019), A new target to treat diarrhea in cholera? Journal of Infectious Dis,. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiz014.

      [22] NPHIL (2018), Liberia IDSR Epidemiology Bulletin. World Health Organization: Monrovia.

      [23] Adam, M.A., et al. (2018), Molecular Survey of Viral and Bacterial Causes of Childhood Diarrhea in Khartoum State, Sudan. Front Microbiol, 9: p. 112. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.00112.

      [24] Quick, R.E., et al. (2000), Diarrhoea prevention in Bolivia through point-of-use water treatment and safe storage: a promising new strategy. Epidemiology Infectious Disease Journal, : p. 83-90. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0950268898001782.

      [25] Moe, C. and E.J. Gangarosa (2009), Improving water and sanitation access in developing countries: Progress and Challenges. Washington D.C.: National Academy of Science.

      [26] Prevention, C., Diarrhea: Common Illness, Global Killer. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

      [27] Jensen, P.K., et al. (2002), Domestic transmission routes of pathogens: the problem of in-house contamination of drinking water during storage in developing countries. Trop Med Int Health, 7(7): p. 604-9. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3156.2002.00901.x.

      [28] Levy, K., et al. (2008), Following the water: a controlled study of drinking water storage in northern coastal Ecuador. Environ Health Perspect, 116(11): p. 1533-40. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.11296.

      [29] Musa, H.A., et al. (2001), Water quality and public health in northern Sudan: a study of rural and peri-urban communities. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 2001: p. 676-682. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2672.1999.00907.x.

      [30] IHME, Global Burden of Disease (2017), Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME): University of Washington.

      [31] LISGIS, Liberia Demographic & Health Survey. 2008, Liberia Institute of Statistic & Geo-Information Services/Ministry of Health: Monrovia.

  • Downloads

  • How to Cite

    McClain, J., Boima Kiazolu, J., Saah Humphrey, P., & Diana Paye, P. (2022). Studies on diarrhea prevalence in selected communities in greater Monrovia, Liberia. International Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 9(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijbas.v9i2.30570

    Received date: 2020-03-29

    Accepted date: 2020-05-11

    Published date: 2022-02-02