Epidemiology of Cryptosporidium and Rotavirus Diarrhoea in Children under the Age of Five in Asokoro District Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria

This study aim to evaluate some of the clinical signs, causes, and mortality associated with acute diarrhea in children under the age of five in a hospital environment in Abuja, Nigeria, for a year. The second greatest cause of death in children is diarrhea, and Nigeria has the highest mortality rate on the continent with limited knowledge of the particular cause and a high prevalence of Rotavirus and Cryptosporidium. The One-year cross-sectional study was carried out in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria. Nigeria has a total population of 150 million people according to the 2006 population census, of which about 5 million people live in Abuja from June 2018 to May 2019.
Cryptosporidium and Rotavirus ELISA were done with commercially available kits.
Stool samples were collected from 1450 participants, of whom 1185 (81.7%) were ambulatory, 109 (7.5%) were hospitalised, and 156 (10.7%) were controls without diarrhoea. Cryptosporidium-ELISA was positive among 274 (21.1%) children with diarrhoea and 23 (1.7%) of children without diarrhoea, with August and September as peak months for infection. Rotavirus-ELISA was positive among 231 (17.8%) children with diarrhoea and 29 (2.2%) controls, with November, December, and January as peak months. Children of 12 to 17 months were most affected for both and Rotavirus (39.8%) and Cryptosporidium (37.2%).
Rotavirus and Cryptosporidium are important pediatric diseases, particularly in Abuja's unvaccinated youngsters for Rotavirus. To track the planned vaccine program, notably for Rotavirus, it will be necessary to develop local and national infrastructure for diarrhoeal illness monitoring and provide access to virological and parasite stool testing. The findings of this study will aid in the planning of the rotavirus vaccine's possible inclusion in the National Immunization Program and establish a baseline for assessing the vaccine's influence on prevalence if it is implemented in Nigeria's immunization program.