Essential interventions for child health

Lassi, Zohra S; Mallick, Dania; Das, Jai K; Mal, Lekho; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A

doi:10.1186/1742-4755-11-s1-s4

Cited by 40 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 76 publications

(94 reference statements)

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“…Over 45% of child deaths in Cameroon are linked to malnutrition, mostly from severity of disease [2]. Breastfeeding has for decades been identified as the single most beneficial and cost-effective intervention against infant mortality [3,4]. The WHO recommends that babies be breastfed from birth, that infants be breastfed exclusively for the first six months of life, and that complementary foods be introduced from six months of age, with continued breastfeeding up to two years [5,6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infant Feeding Perceptions and Barriers to Exclusive Breastfeeding in Urban and Rural Cameroon

Ngongalah¹,

Rawlings²,

Emerson³

et al. 2018

Int. J. Child Health Nutr.

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Background: Child malnutrition is highest in Sub-Saharan Africa. Over 45% of children in Cameroon die each year from malnutrition-related causes, most of which are preventable. Exclusive breastfeeding is a well-acknowledged and cost-effective intervention against malnutrition-related illnesses in children. However, the practice remains low in Cameroon. This study explored perceptions of mothers, care givers and key informants on infant feeding in Cameroon, and barriers to exclusive breastfeeding.Methods: A qualitative methodology was used, comprising key informant interviews and focus group discussions with nursing mothers, grandmothers and health workers; in one urban and one rural area in Cameroon. Participants were selected using convenience, purposive and snowball sampling methods. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.Results: Cameroonian mothers were supportive of breastfeeding. However, knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding and its benefits was poor. Mothers expressed doubts about its feasibility and showed concerns about satisfying their babies' feeding and health needs. Barriers included factors which either affected women's abilities to breastfeed or their babies' satisfaction, family influences, other responsibilities, cultural and societal factors, and lack of support from the healthcare system.Conclusions: This study highlighted a sizeable gap between mothers' lived experiences and infant feeding recommendations. Living in rural areas was an added disadvantage. Developing effective strategies to increase exclusive breastfeeding rates requires that mothers' needs be understood and that influencing factors be addressed. Supportive environments are also required to promote and protect the rights and abilities of mothers to breastfeed exclusively.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infant Feeding Perceptions and Barriers to Exclusive Breastfeeding in Urban and Rural Cameroon

Ngongalah¹,

Rawlings²,

Emerson³

et al. 2018

Int. J. Child Health Nutr.

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“…As such, like other chronic conditions, they may precipitate the development of severe infectious diseases, even if some of their features are specific. Supplementation with micronutrients and vitamins does improve child health in developing countries (40). Nevertheless, in any group of malnourished or vitamin-deficient children, only a small proportion of those infected with a particular microbe develop disease.…”

Section: Acquired Immunodeficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Human genetic basis of interindividual variability in the course of infection

Casanova

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

161

111

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The key problem in human infectious diseases was posed at the turn of the 20th century: their pathogenesis. For almost any given virus, bacterium, fungus, or parasite, life-threatening clinical disease develops in only a small minority of infected individuals. Solving this infection enigma is important clinically, for diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, and treatment. Some microbes will inevitably remain refractory to, or escape vaccination, or chemotherapy, or both. The solution also is important biologically, because the emergence and evolution of eukaryotes alongside more rapidly evolving prokaryotes, archaea, and viruses posed immunological challenges of an ecological and evolutionary nature. We need to study these challenges in natural, as opposed to experimental, conditions, and also at the molecular and cellular levels. According to the human genetic theory of infectious diseases, inborn variants underlie life-threatening infectious diseases. Here I review the history of the field of human genetics of infectious diseases from the turn of the 19th century to the second half of the 20th century. This paper thus sets the scene, providing the background information required to understand and appreciate the more recently described monogenic forms of resistance or predisposition to specific infections discussed in a second paper in this issue.

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“…Evidence shows that available interventions can reduce the three most common causes of neonatal mortality-preterm, intrapartum, and infection-related deaths-by 58%, 79%, and 84%, respectively [11]. However, in low-and-middle-income countries, access to these evidence-based high impact interventions is often low [12,3,13].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Magnitude and determinants of newborn mortality in neonatal intensive care unit hospitals in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Tiruneh¹,

Birhanu²,

Seid³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: In Ethiopia, the neonatal mortality rate has not shown significant changes over time and is among the highest in the world. Exploring the magnitude and the causes of neonatal mortality in the hospital where neonatal intensive care unit is functioning could be supremely important to step towards improving the quality of neonatal care services. Therefore, this review aimed to explore the pooled magnitude and determinates of neonatal mortality in the neonatal intensive care unit hospitals in Ethiopia. Methods : The research team retrieved global peer-reviewed journal articles available as electronic databases including PubMed, Popline, and Scopus databases. Google Scholar, institutional repositories, and Google were used to retrieve grey literature. Random-effects meta-analysis model was used to pool the estimates of the magnitude of mortality among studies. The results were presented as the pooled estimates (odds ratio and proportion) with 95% confidence intervals, at less than 0.05 significant levels. Results: In this review, 10 studies were included with a total of 8,729neonates. Of these, 1,779 (20.4%) neonates died in the neonatal intensive care unit. The pooled neonatal mortality rate was 19.0% (95% CI: 14.0-25.0). The neonatal mortality is three times higher among early age (OR: 2.80; 95% CI: 1.45-5.40) and preterm newborns (OR: 3.27; 95% CI: 2.12-5.07) than their counterparts. Early age of the newborn, prematurity, low birth weight, perinatal asphyxia, mode of delivery, hypothermia, late initiation of breastfeeding, and having antenatal care visits were the main determinants for neonatal mortality. Likewise, perinatal asphyxia, hyaline membrane disease, respiratory distress syndrome, and prematurity were identified as the most determinant and statistically associated with the death of premature neonates admitted to intensive care units.Conclusion: Neonatal mortality in the intensive care unit is high. It is unacceptably high amongst early and preterm neonates. Special care for preterm and early age newborns, timely initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding, and appropriate mode of delivery, essential obstetric and newborn care, and promoting antenatal visits are recommended to reduce neonatal mortality.Protocol registration: The protocol was registered at the International prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO) with registration number CRD42019123195.

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Essential interventions for child health

Cited by 40 publications

References 76 publications

Infant Feeding Perceptions and Barriers to Exclusive Breastfeeding in Urban and Rural Cameroon

Infant Feeding Perceptions and Barriers to Exclusive Breastfeeding in Urban and Rural Cameroon

Human genetic basis of interindividual variability in the course of infection

Magnitude and determinants of newborn mortality in neonatal intensive care unit hospitals in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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