Prevalence of Some Enteropathogens among Diarrhoeic and Apparently Healthy Children in two Contiguous Petroleum Resources - Rich Areas of Niger Delta, Nigeria

Aims: The study characterised some intestinal bacterial and parasitic infections involved in diarrhoea causation in contiguous communities between October 2013 and April 2014.

Study Design: A total of 150 freshly-voided diarrhoeic samples of children attending PHC, Eket and General Hospital, Ibeno, and 50 non–diarrhoeic samples (Controls) were collected. The controls were recruited from subjects outside the health facilities.

Methodology: Standard bacteriological procedures were used in the identification while antibiotic susceptibility test was done. Questionnaires were also administered.

Results: The mean prevalence rate recorded for enteropathogens among children was 73%. A high prevalence of enteropathogens was observed in the parameters examined. The bacterial pathogens considered were Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis, Shigella dysenteriae and Enterobacter species. Escherichia coli were the most prevalent with the rates of 43.5% and 45% in Eket and Ibeno, respectively. Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) O26 and O111 were identified with an overall prevalence of 46.7%. Antibiotic susceptibility result shows that the organisms were most susceptible to Ciprofloxacin and resistant to Cotrimoxazole. The analyses of the questionnaires revealed that in the study area, children, whose parents have no formal education were more commonly infected with enteropathogens.

Conclusion: A systematic education of caregivers and children on personal hygiene is the best approach to reduce the intestinal pathogens.