Detection of Helicobacter pylori infection in children using rapid urease and histologic methods of diagnosis.

Objective: The study aimed to detect the presence of Helicobacter pylori infection in children using two investigative methods: the rapid urease test and histological methods. It also examined the relationship between socioeconomic status and Helicobacter pylori infection. Design: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the paediatric theatre at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana. Participants: Children who were scheduled for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy were recruited into the study. Main outcome measures: The presence of Helicobacter pylori in gastric biopsies was measured using a rapid urease test and histology. Results: Seventy-three children aged 2 years to 16 years were seen during the period. Both tests were positive at the same time in 36 (49.3%) out of the 73 children (p<0.0001). The positivity rates for the rapid urease test and histology were 57.5% and 53.4 %, respectively. Significant predictors of the histology presence of H. pylori were a large household size of at least 6 members (AOR: 4.03; p<0.013) and the presence of pets at home (AOR: 3.23; p<0.044). Conclusions: Substantial agreement was found between the rapid urease test and histology examination of gastric biopsies for the presence of H. pylori. Children from large households and those with pets at home appear to have increased odds of having H. pylori infection of the gastric mucosa. Funding: None declared.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of caregivers on childhood immunization in Okaikoi sub-metro of Accra, Ghana.

Background: Immunization remains one of the most cost-effective health interventions. However, there are still issues of vaccine hesitancy especially in caregivers who are required to protect their children from vaccine-preventable diseases. This thwarts the overall vaccine coverage in disease-endemic areas such as sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, to determine the factors that promote vaccine hesitancy in caregivers, this study sought to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices of caregivers on childhood immunization in Okaikoi, a sub-metro of Accra in Ghana. Methods: A cross-sectional study on childhood immunization was conducted to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of caregivers. A total of 120 caregivers with infants aged 12 months to 23 months were interviewed with a structured questionnaire containing open-ended and closed-ended queries. Results: From the community, infants whose caregivers had adhered completely to immunization constituted 53.3% while the rest were partially immunized. The two main deterrents to complete immunization were time constraints (25.8%) and forgetfulness (17.5%). It was observed that vaccination uptake and maternal level of education, as well as vaccination adverse reaction, did not impact the completion of the EPI program by these caregivers. Unfortunately, it was noted that caregivers with higher education levels were unable to complete their vaccination schedules due to their busy work schedules. Nonetheless, the main deterrent to adhering to complete childhood immunization was poor maternal knowledge (58%). Conclusion: The study revealed that, the caregivers in the community had poor knowledge on vaccination and its benefits, and therefore, with no strict adherence to vaccination schedules. This promoted the incomplete immunization of children in the community by their caregivers. Also, since the main source of information with regard to immunization in the sub-metro was through the antenatal and postnatal child welfare clinics and the media, we recommend that the health workers collaborate with media personnel to ensure that standardized information is disseminated.