II.3.2. Bacteria
African children bellow 3 years experience 3-10 episodes of
diarrhea caused by bacteria each year and spend 10-15% of their days with
diarrhea. About 1.5 million children below age 3 years die each year from
diarrhea.
Infectious diarrhea is a leading cause of morbidity and
mortality worldwide. In the United States, 100 million people are affected by
acute diarrhea every year. Most diarrheas are viral in origin, but bacteria
remain an important cause.
Common bacterial pathogens that cause diarrhea include
Bacillus cereus, Campylobacter species, Salmonella, Shigella,
and Escherichia coli (Marignani et al., 2004).
Tick-borne relapsing fever, called borreliosis, caused by
Borrelia crocidurae, is another bacterial pathogen rising in West
Africa, according to Raoult and his collaborators. In 27 of 206 samples from
people living in rural Senegal, 12% were positively identified.
Another bacterial agent emerging in Africa, Tropheryma
whipplei, causes Whipple disease, a rare infection that appears to be
passed via human- to-human contact and typically causes gastrointestinal
distress by interfering with digestion. However, if left untreated, it can
affect other organs and may be fatal (John, 2009).
II.3.3. Virus
Acute viral gastroenteritis (inflammation of the stomach or
intestine) is caused by four major categories of viruses: rotraviruses,
Norwalk-like viruses, norovirus, adenovirus, other caliciviruses and
astroviruses (Prescott et al., 2005). Viruses do not respond to antibiotics and
infected children usually make a full recovery after a few days (Haffejee,
1991).
Infection is seen in all part of the world especially in
infants less than 2 years of age and is frequent in cooler months of the year.
It impact is seen in part of Africa and Latin America where more than three
million infants die from viral infection each year and children may have a
total of 60 days of diarrhea in each year (Cedric, 2004).
Viral gastroenteris attacks the upper intestinal epithelial
cells of the villi, causing mal absorption, impairment of sodium transport and
diarrhea. The symptoms include nausea, vomiting, excessive sweating, fever,
muscle pain and weight loss, develop fever, headaches, runny nose, cough and
fatigue (Prescott et al., 2005).
II.3.4. Helminthes
Derived from the Greek word «helminthes» meaning
«worm,» is a broad categorical term referring to various types of
parasitic worms that reside in the body.
One of the major health problems faced by hundreds of millions
of children is infection by helminthes. Children are often the group that has
the highest infection rate as well as the highest worm burden, which
contributes greatly to the contamination of the environment.
Helminthes produce a wide range of symptoms including
intestinal manifestations (diarrhea and abdominal pain), general malaise and
weakness that may affect working and learning capacities and impair physical
growth. Hookworms cause chronic intestinal blood loss that result in anemia.
Intestinal helminthes is one of the major health problems like impairment of
physical and mental development (WHO, 1995). In Uganda, a retrospective study
have shown that helminthes infections of children consist of 82.1%
Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus, 18.9%
Ascaris lumbricoides, 7.0% Trichuris trichiura, 1.0%
Enterobius vermicularis, and 0.5% with Hymenolepis nana
(Ministry of Health, Uganda, 1997).
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