Abstract

Diarrhea is a significant health issue affecting children worldwide, particularly in developing countries. It is a condition characterized by increased frequency, volume, and fluidity of stools. In young children, diarrhea can lead to severe dehydration, malnutrition, and even death if not promptly addressed.

The causes of diarrhea in children are multifactorial and can be classified into infectious and non-infectious etiologies. Infectious diarrhea is primarily caused by viral, bacterial, or parasitic pathogens, with rotavirus being a leading viral cause.

Non-infectious causes include food allergies, medication side effects, and underlying medical conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease. The clinical presentation of diarrhea in children varies but commonly includes loose stools, abdominal pain, vomiting, and fever. Dehydration is a critical concern and can manifest as decreased urine output, dry mouth, lethargy, and sunken eyes. Early recognition and appropriate management are crucial to prevent complications.

Diagnosis of diarrhea in children involves a thorough history, physical examination, and, in some cases, laboratory investigations. Stool studies may be conducted to identify the causative organism, assess for blood or mucus, and determine the need for specific antimicrobial therapy. In selected cases, additional tests like imaging or endoscopy may be required.

The treatment of diarrhea in children focuses on preventing and managing dehydration, addressing the underlying cause when possible, and providing supportive care. Oral rehydration therapy (ORT) is the cornerstone of management and involves administering a balanced solution of water, salts, and sugars to replace lost fluids and electrolytes. Zinc supplementation has also been shown to reduce the duration and severity of diarrhea in children. Prevention strategies play a crucial role in reducing the burden of diarrhea in children. These include promoting breastfeeding, ensuring safe water and sanitation practices, practicing good hand hygiene, and implementing vaccination programs against common pathogens like rotavirus.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

Diarrhea is the passage of three or more watery stool or loosed stools per day when the mother considers  as increased stool frequency or liquidity Mohamed,s ert al(2013).Diarrhea is a leading killer of children, accounting for approximately 9 per cent of all dead of children under age 5 worldwide in 2021.This translates to over1,200 young children dying each day, or about 444,000 children a year, despite the availability of simple solution.(UNCEF 2021).

The acute diarrhea causes high loss of water and salts from the body which results in either severe dehydration  and death within a short period of time or predisposes children  to malnutrition and makes them more susceptible to other infection Ahs,JW est al(2014).Deaths caused by diarrhea are higher in South Asia and sub Saharan Africa. Angotu (2020)

Human society has suffered from infectious diarrhea since preliterate times, although historians themselves generally did not devote much attention to it until fairly recently. This maybe because of the ubiquity of sickness and death caused by diarrhea, regardless of culture or climate, ancient commentators may have assume that a phenomenon so generally known would not excite the readers interest It is only within the last century that inhabitants of  advanced societies  could safely assume that life threatening diarrhea would spare their households. History and current experiments demonstrate irrefutably that relatively minor disruptions in the normal functioning of society can lead to the swift return of epidemic diarrhea.

Diarrhea is the world’s second reason of disease and death in children. Every year, children under five years’ experience 2.5 billion events and 1.5 million death. This continues to account for (21%) of all deaths in developing countries. More children die from diarrhea than from coupled acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), malaria, and measles.

Furthermore, it results in secondary infection (Khatun et al., 2021). Diarrhea still kills roughly 3 million people every year in impoverished countries. Diarrhea is the fifth biggest cause of death worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and it continues to have an effect on the health of children. Mothers in many impoverished nations care for their children under the age of five and treat most diarrhea outbreaks at home. They are in charge of the child’s nutrition as well as the disease’s overall treatment strategy.

As a result, people must be aware of this widespread ailment and tooling, and in young children, it can quickly progress to dehydration tongue, sunken eye restlessness, lethargy, dry mouth, irritability, thirst, dry skin, and fewer trips to the bathroom to urinate are all signs of dehydration. Others include a lack of desire to play and severe tiredness, as well as rapid respiration and increase heartbeat (Desmennu et al., 2017).

A research on childhood Diarrhea in children carried out in Ethiopia by Peter and Junes (2016) reveals that the estimate  among children under-five, 64.8% of diarrheal episodes were mild, 34.7% are moderate, and 0.5% are severe. On average, mild episodes last 4.3 days, and severe episodes last 8.4 days and cause dehydration in 84.6% of cases. They estimated that among older children and adults, 95% of episodes were mild; 4.95% are moderate; and 0.05% were severe. Among individuals ≥ 16 yrs, severe episodes typically last 2.6 days and cause dehydration in 92.8% of cases. Another research done by Ebot T  in the south west region of Cameroon precisely Tiko came out with the result that, the proportion of moderate/severe episodes among children under-five, which was estimated using the proportion of episodes for which care was sought, was likely underestimated since appropriate care was sought in less than 30-50% of cases in the resource poor settings Ebot T,(2017).

Given that facility care is under-utilized, moderate/severe episodes among children under-five were also assessed in the community; thus, the duration and severity outcomes derived from community-based studies was not accurately describe mild episodes that did not require facility level care. ). A similar study in Nigeria has also reported a prevalence of 99.4% (Arikpo and Eja 2017) and Cameroon 61% (Agbor M 2019).

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Globally, diarrhea disease is the second leading cause of death in children under five years old though it is both preventable and treatable Ngabo,F., et al(2016). Each year diarrhea kills around 525000 children under five; there are nearly 1.7billion cases of childhood diarrhea disease every year which is a leading cause of malnutrition in children under five years old. And so Diarrhea has become a public health problem due to its prevalence which ranges from 32.5% to 81.5% (Sanghani2018 ).

The situation of Diarrhea in the low and middle income countries like Kenya and Cameroon is a major problem since majority of the inhabitants especially uneducated mothers have little or no knowledge on the predisposing factors and management of diarrhea as they do not seek health professionals at health facilities to consult a child when they have diarrhea but prefer to buy drugs and herbal medicine from chemical shops and herbalist for self-treatment and his account for the repeated episodes of diarrhea, which is the major cause of child mortality and morbidity worldwide. For this reason the researcher decided to assess mother’s knowledge on the predisposing factors and the management of diarrhea in children 0 to 5 years in the Muea Community.

1.3 Objectives

1.3.1 General Objective 

To assess Mothers’ knowledge on the predisposing factors and management of diarrhea in children 0-5 years in the Muea Community.

1.3.2 Specific Objectives

1. To determine the knowledge mothers have regarding diarrhea in young children 0 to 5yrs
2. To find out the disposing factors associated with diarrhea among children age 0-5 years
3. To investigate the remedies to better manage diarrhea in children 0-5 years in the Muea Community.

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