Original Research Article
Year: 2014 | Month: January | Volume: 4 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 93-101
Opportunistic Coccidian Intestinal Parasitic Infections in Asymptomatic HIV Patients with Special Reference to Its Correlation to Immune Status and HAART
Roshni Agarwal1*, Prashant K. Parandeka2
1Post Graduate Student 2Professor and Head of Department,
Department of Microbiology, Shri B.M. Patil Medical College, Bijapur, Karnataka.
*Corresponding Author: Roshni Agarwal
ABSTRACT
Background: Adequate knowledge and effective practice of child survival strategies play significant role in combating the twin malady of child morbidity and mortality, especially among the under five years old children.
Objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and practice of child survival strategies among mothers seen at the postnatal clinic of primary health centre, Itu, South-South Nigeria.
Methodology: It was a cross-sectional descriptive study involving 296 mothers who attended the postnatal Clinic of Primary Health Centre, West Itam, Itu, a suburban area of South-South Nigeria between March and July, 2019. Semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain data from the respondents on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of child survival strategies (CSS), source of knowledge and practice of CSS. The data was analyzed with SPSS version 22.0.
Results: The age of the respondents ranged from 15-49 years with mean and standard deviation of 28.18 7.07 years. Results showed that most of the respondents (87.5%) were of lower reproductive age ( 35years), 88.5% had low monthly income ( 50,000) while 88.51 were of lower parity (para 4). Most of the mothers had adequate knowledge of CSS including 69.57% (growth monitoring), 67.90% (oral rehydration therapy) and 79.39% (exclusive breastfeeding). Also most of the respondents obtained information on CSS from health workers (85.13%). However, the actual practice of most of the components of CSS was poor as only 26.69%, 37.5% and 42.24% practiced growth monitoring, oral rehydration therapy and exclusive breastfeeding respectively. Although most of the mothers who practiced CSS were of higher educational status (secondary and tertiary education), there was no statistical significant association between educational status and the practice of any of the components of CSS.
Conclusion: Most of the mothers in the study had knowledge of CSS while the percentage that practiced CSS was few. We recommend a more intensive public awareness and enlightenment campaign among mothers of under five children to stimulate them on the importance of practice of CSS as a panacea to averting child morbidity and mortality.
Key words: Coccidian parasites, CD4+ T cell count, HIV, HAART