Infections Among Children Presenting with Diarrhoea at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital

Purpose: Diarrhoea in children is a common problem in low resourced countries including Malawi. It is caused by many intestinal parasites including Cryptosporidium parvum and Isospora belli. Both infections are prevalent in severely immunocompromised individuals and may cause severe life-threatening diarrhoea. The main aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of Cryptosporidium parvum and Isospora belli infections among children presenting with diarrhoea admitted to QECH- paediatrics wards and methods used for diagnosis. Some specific objectives were to determine the prevalence of Cryptosporidium parvum and Isospora belli infections among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seropositive and HIV seronegative children with diarrhoea, to evaluate diagnostic methods used at QECH to identify intestinal parasites and to determine diagnostic methods that can be recommended for implementation. Methods: Faecal samples were collected from all children presenting with diarrhoea upon admission or already hospitalised were recruited excluding all children without or with acute diarrhoea (less than three days). Four smears were prepared from each sample: 2 for Ziehl Neelsen staining and the other 2 for Auramine-phenol staining. The data was entered into Microsoft Excel and analysed using Epi-Info. Results: A total of 25 children with diarrhoea under the age of five years; 10 were human immunodeficiency virus-seropositive, 7 were HIV-seronegative and 8 of them their status was unknown. Cryptosporidium parvum was detected in 4 children (16%) at 4.5 % and 36.1 % confidence intervals and none ha