Four-country surveillance of intestinal intussusception and diarrhoea in children

Authors

Shally Awasthi, King George Medical University
Girdhar Agarwal, Lucknow University
Vikas Mishra, King George Medical University
Vijay Laxmi Nag, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute
Hesham Fathey El Sayed, Suez Canal University
Antonio Da Cunha, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Alvaro Madeiro, International Clinical Epidemiology Network
Dipty Jain, Government Medical College
William Macharia, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
James Ndung'u, University of Nairobi
Saumya Awasthi, King George Medical University
Ashish Wakhlu, King George Medical University

Document Type

Article

Department

Paediatrics and Child Health (East Africa)

Abstract

Aim: Establishment of baseline epidemiology of intussusception in developing countries has become a necessity with the possibility of reintroduction of rotavirus vaccine. The current study assessed the seasonal trend in cases admitted with intussusceptions and dehydrating acute watery diarrhoea in children aged 2 months to 10 years.

Methods: In a prospective surveillance study, teaching and research hospital sites in India (Lucknow and Nagpur), Brazil (Fortazela), Egypt (Ismailia) and Kenya (Nairobi) established a surveillance where a network of hospitals with surgical facilities catered to a reference population of about 1-2 million for reporting of intussusception. One large hospital per site also recruited admitted cases of acute watery diarrhoea.

Results: From April 2004 to March 2006, 173 and 2346 cases of intussusception and diarrhoea, respectively, were recruited. Cases of intussusception had no apparent seasonality. Most cases of intussusception (61.3%) (107/173) were in the ≤1 year age group, with males comprising 68.8% (119/173) of all cases. Hospital mortality of intussusception was 4.2% (4/96). Cases of diarrhoea peaked in March, with 56.6% (1328/2346) of admitted cases being males. Majority (83.1%) of cases of diarrhoea had received antibiotics, and the hospital mortality was 0.8% (18/2280).

Conclusion: Intussusception in the four participating countries exhibited no seasonal trend. We found that it is feasible to establish a surveillance network for intussusception in developing countries. Future efforts must define population base before the introduction of rotavirus vaccine and continue for some years thereafter. © 2009 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians).

Comments

This work was published before the author joined Aga Khan University.

Publication (Name of Journal)

Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health

Recommended Citation

Awasthi, S., Agarwal, G., Mishra, V., Nag, V. L., El Sayed, H. F., Da Cunha, A., Madeiro, A., Jain, D., Macharia, W., Ndung'u, J., Awasthi, S., Wakhlu, A. (2009). Four-country surveillance of intestinal intussusception and diarrhoea in children. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 45(3), 82-86.
Available at: https://ecommons.aku.edu/eastafrica_fhs_mc_paediatr_child_health/14