Hypothermia in preterm infants admitted to low-resource neonatal units in northern Nigeria: an observational study of occurrence and risk factors.

BACKGROUND: Hypothermia is an important cause of morbidity and mortality among preterm and low-birth-weight neonates. In resource-constrained settings, limited referral infrastructure and technologies for temperature control potentiate preterm hypothermia. While there is some documentation on point-of-admission hypothermia from single center studies, there are limited multicenter studies on the occurrence of hypothermia among preterm infants in resource-limited-settings. Therefore, we conducted a multicenter study to determine the prevalence and risk factors for hypothermia at the time of admission and during the first 72 h after admission in northern Nigeria. METHOD: We carried out a prospective cohort study on preterm infants admitted to four referral hospitals in northern Nigerian between August 2020 and July 2021. We documented temperature measurements at admission and the lowest and highest temperatures in the first 72 h after admission. We also collected individual baby-level data on sociodemographic and perinatal history data. We used the World Health Organization classification of hypothermia to classify the babies' temperatures into mild, moderate, and severe hypothermia. Poisson regression analysis was used to identify risk factors for moderate-severe hypothermia. RESULTS: Of the 933 preterm infants enrolled, 682 (72.9%) had hypothermia at admission although the prevalence of hypothermia varied across the four hospitals. During the first 24 h after admission, 7 out of every 10 babies developed hypothermia. By 72 h after admission, between 10 and 40% of preterm infants across the 4 hospitals had at least one episode of moderate hypothermia. Gestational age (OR = 0.86; CI = 0.82-0.91), birth weight (OR = 8.11; CI = 2.87-22.91), presence of a skilled birth attendant at delivery (OR = 0.53; CI = 0.29-0.95), place of delivery (OR = 1.94 CI = 1.13-3.33) and resuscitation at birth (OR = 1.79; CI = 1.27-2.53) were significant risk factors associated with hypothermia. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of admission hypothermia in preterm infants is high and hypothermia is associated with low-birth-weight, place of delivery and presence of skilled birth attendant. The prevalence of hypothermia while in care is also high and this has important implications for patient safety and quality of patient care. Referral services for preterm infants need to be developed while hospitals need to be better equipped to maintain the temperatures of admitted small and sick newborns.

Profile of children with COVID-19 infection: a cross sectional study from North-East Nigeria.

INTRODUCTION: available evidence suggests that children infected with COVID-19 tend to have a less severe form of the disease. However, most of the studies that have established this largely emanate from outside sub-Saharan Africa. The pandemic nature of the infection makes it instructive to evaluate its pattern among children across different climes, including ours. This study was set out to describe the clinical characteristics of children with COVID-19 in Bauchi State, North-East Nigeria. METHODS: this was a cross sectional study that involved 53 children between the ages of 0 and 18 years, who had RT-PCR confirmed COVID-19 infection between March and June 2020 in Bauchi State, Nigeria. Data on epidemiological and clinical characteristics was analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics V 21.® Relationship between categorical variables was established using the chi square test. The level of statistical significance was set at < 0.05, at a confidence interval (CI) of 95%. RESULTS: the mean age was 12.63 ± 4.31 years with a slight preponderance of males (1.1: 1). Majority were asymptomatic (60.4%), while 32.1% and 7.5% had mild and moderate diseases respectively. The most common symptoms were cough (20.8%), fever (17%), and sneezing (15.1%). Five children (9.4%) complained of loss of taste while anosmia was documented in one child (1.9%). We observed a significant relationship between age category and the presence of symptoms. In fact, children younger than 10 years (pre-adolescents) were five times more likely to be symptomatic when compared to those above this age (p = 0.029, C I 1.08-21.56). CONCLUSION: our findings have shown a mild pattern of disease and good outcome among infected children. However, we must be mindful of the higher vulnerability among younger children, especially those below 10 years.

Profile of children with COVID-19 infection: a cross sectional study from North-East Nigeria

Introduction: available evidence suggests that children infected with COVID-19 tend to have a less severe form of the disease. However, most of the studies that have established this largely emanate from outside sub-Saharan Africa. The pandemic nature of the infection makes it instructive to evaluate its pattern among children across different climes, including ours. This study was set out to describe the clinical characteristics of children with COVID-19 in Bauchi State, North-East Nigeria.Methods: this was a cross sectional study that involved 53 children between the ages of 0 and 18 years, who had RT-PCR confirmed COVID-19 infection between March and June 2020 in Bauchi State, Nigeria. Data on epidemiological and clinical characteristics was analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics V 21.® Relationship between categorical variables was established using the chi square test. The level of statistical significance was set at < 0.05, at a confidence interval (CI) of 95%.Results: the mean age was 12.63 ± 4.31 years with a slight preponderance of males (1.1:1). Majority were asymptomatic (60.4%), while 32.1% and 7.5% had mild and moderate diseases respectively. The most common symptoms were cough (20.8%), fever (17%), and sneezing (15.1%). Five children (9.4%) complained of loss of taste while anosmia was documented in one child (1.9%). We observed a significant relationship between age category and the presence of symptoms. In fact, children younger than 10 years (pre-adolescents) were five times more likely to be symptomatic when compared to those above this age (p = 0.029, C I 1.08-21.56).Conclusion: our findings have shown a mild pattern of disease and good outcome among infected children. However, we must be mindful of the higher vulnerability among younger children, especially those below 10 years

Prevalence and correlates of stunting among the school-age population in North-Central Nigeria.

INTRODUCTION: Stunting remains a huge public health concern among developing Nations. However, the burden of this problem among the school-age population appears to have been eclipsed by most nutritional surveys that focus more on the under-fives. This study aimed to demonstrate the prevalence, and identify socio-demographic factors that are associated with stunting among the school-age children in North central Nigeria. METHODS: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study that involved 450 pupils, aged 6-12 years from 10 randomly selected primary schools in Jos, Plateau state. Anthropometric indices were measured using standard techniques and the Height-for-age z-scores were generated using the WHO Anthroplus software. Socio-demographic details were obtained using semi-structured questionnaires. Data were analysed using EPI infoTM statistical software 7.1.5.2. RESULTS: The mean age of the subjects was 9.3 ± 1.8 years and the male to female ratio was 1:1.1. The prevalence of stunting was 10.5%. The prevalence of stunting was significantly higher among pupils that attended public schools (p<0.0001), those whose mothers had less than secondary level of education (p=0.0427), those between the ages of 10-12 years (p<0.0001), those from the lower socio-economic class (p=0.0021), and those whose family sizes were larger than six family members (p=0.0063). CONCLUSION: The substantial burden of stunting among the school age population has significant correlation with certain socio-demographic factors. Addressing these factors by alleviating poverty, promoting maternal literacy and encouraging family planning may, perhaps, lessen the burden of stunting among the school-age group in Northern Nigeria.