Neonatal and postneonatal tetanus at a referral hospital in Kamsar, Guinea: a retrospective audit of paediatric records (2014-2018).
Int Health
; 14(5): 468-474, 2022 09 07.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34048561
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Tetanus is a vaccine-preventable disease caused by the bacterium Clostridium tetani. In 2018, all of Guinea was considered to be at risk of the disease and the country is currently in the elimination phase.METHODS:
A 5-y audit (1 January 2014-31 December 2018) of all admissions to the neonatal and general paediatric units of Kamsar Hospital (Western Guinea) was undertaken to identify cases of neonatal tetanus (NNT) and postneonatal tetanus (PNNT).RESULTS:
There were 5670 admissions during the study period, of which 39 (0.7%) were due to tetanus (22 NNT and 17 PNNT). Among NNT patients, the bacterial entry site was the umbilical cord (n=20) or wound following circumcision (n=2). For PNNT, the entry site was surface wound (n=12), limb fracture (n=1) or could not be established (n=4). A majority of the patients (36/39, 92.3%) were born to unvaccinated mothers or those who received suboptimal vaccination during pregnancy. Overall, 21 (53.8%) children died within 7 d of admission with a higher mortality observed among neonates (16/22, 72.7%) compared with postneonates (5/17, 29.4%).CONCLUSIONS:
Tetanus was a rare cause of admission at Kamsar Hospital with a very high case fatality rate. The disease primarily occurred among children born to mothers who were unvaccinated/inadequately vaccinated during pregnancy.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Tetanus
Type of study:
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Newborn
/
Pregnancy
Country/Region as subject:
Africa
Language:
En
Journal:
Int Health
Year:
2022
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country: