Background: Infants with latent tuberculosis are often subject to high morbidity, nutritional deficiency and mortality. Early treatment can prevent the onset of TB by reducing morbidity and improving nutritional status. This paper assessed whether preventive chemotherapy for TB can improve health and nutritional status of infants diagnosed with latent TB in Kisangani City. Method: Children diagnosed TB+ by tuberculin skin test and other clinical examinations were treated with Rifampicin, Isoniazid, Pyrazinamide and Ethambutol. Clinical symptoms and nutritional status were determined before to start treatment and at the 5 th month of treatment. Results: Out of 161 infants treated, 73 (45.3%) were <1 year old, 49 (30.4%) were 1-2 years old and 39 (24.2%) were 3-5 years old. Both boys and girls were almost equally represented (50.3/49.7%). The proportion of infants with fever (T > 37˚C) was 62.7% before treatment and 17.4% at the 5 th month of treatment; the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.001). Similarly, the proportion of children with weights below the ideal weight adjusted for each age decreased from 21.7% before treatment to 8.1% after treatment. Infants younger than one year were more likely to have fever than older children, while girls were more likely to be malnourished than boys (p < 0.05) before treatment, but the recovery rates were not different. Conclusion: Treatment of infants diagnosed of latent TB prevents TB disease and improves nutritional status, but not in all cases. Control of fever and weight gain can be an indicator of good How to cite this paper:

Aims: There paucity of studies on asphyxia, one of the three main reasons for newborn deaths in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In this country, newborn mortality is among the highest in Africa. This study was conducted to identify the clinical features and outcome of perinatal asphyxia. Risk factors associated with asphyxia were also determined. Study Design: A cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: It was conducted in the pediatric department of Hôpital du Cinquantenaire of Kisangani (HCK), from March 2013 to March 2017. Methodology: Clinical and biologic parameters (prenatal, perinatal and postnatal) of term newborns, hospitalised for perinatal asphyxia in the HCK were retrospectively collected and analysed. Data of dead newborns were compared to those who survived to determine risk factors associated with asphyxia mortality. One case matched three controls of the same sex. Results: During the period above, 612 newborns were received in the HCK, and 146 died. One hundred and nineteen out of 612 had perinatal asphyxia (19.4%), and 26 out of 119 died (17.8% of all newborn deaths and 21.8% of all asphyxia cases). The most frequent perinatal antecedents were premature rupture of the membranes, meconium-stained amniotic liquid, pre-eclampsia and eclampsia. In bivariate analysis, factors associated with asphyxia lethality were low birthweight (P=.02), reference from another hospital (P =.01), age more than 24 hours (P =.02), associated sepsis (P =.003), asphyxia severity (P<.001) and the Stage 3 of Sarnat (P<.001). Conclusion: The frequency of the asphyxia is high in the HCK and its mortality associated with avoidable factors. Networking newborn referral, improving skills of nurses about obstetrical and neonatal emergency cares, and making available equipment for newborn resuscitation can reduce that mortality.  

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Aims: To determine patterns of childhood mortality and its trends over a 4 years’ period in a private pediatric hospital.  Study Design: A cross-sectional descriptive study. Place and Duration of Study: Study conducted in the Nouveau Village de Pédiatrie (NVDP), in Kisangani town, Democratic Republic of Congo, between June 2014 and June 2018. Methodology: Socio-demographic, clinical and biological data of children of 0-16 years were retrospectively recorded. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse patterns of childhood mortality and its trends during the four years’ period. Results: From June 2014 to June 2018, 3789 children of 0 to 16 years were hospitalised in the Nouveau Village de Pédiatrie. The global mortality was 16.1% in 2014 and 2.4% in 2018. Mortality within 24 hours of admission was 58%. Neonatal mortality decreased from 22.4% in 2014 to 7.4% in 2018. The leading diagnosis was neonatal causes: sepsis, prematurity, neonatal asphyxia, severe, congenital abnormalities. Most of older children died from severe pneumonia, meningitis, severe anaemia and severe malaria. Severe pneumonia was the most frequent and common cause of children death in all ages. Conclusion: Microbiological data, point of care exams, high quality antimicrobials and antibiotic stewardship in antimicrobial prescribing had a great impact in the significant reduction of childhood mortality in the Nouveau Village de Pédiatrie. Efforts must be focused on the reduction of neonatal mortality.