Brain damage after neonatal tetanus in a rural Kenyan hospital.
OBJECTIVE: Neonatal tetanus (NNT) is an important cause of mortality in resource poor countries, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. There are no reports of the long-term outcome of children who survive NNT in African hospitals. DESIGN: In a retrospective study of children discharged from Kilifi Distri...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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2001
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| _version_ | 1797063905594310656 |
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| author | Barlow, J Mung'Ala-Odera, V Gona, J Newton, C |
| author_facet | Barlow, J Mung'Ala-Odera, V Gona, J Newton, C |
| author_sort | Barlow, J |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | OBJECTIVE: Neonatal tetanus (NNT) is an important cause of mortality in resource poor countries, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. There are no reports of the long-term outcome of children who survive NNT in African hospitals. DESIGN: In a retrospective study of children discharged from Kilifi District Hospital (KDH), Kenya with NNT, each child was linked with a comparative child (CC) in the community matched for age, sex and locality. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 123 patients were admitted with NNT between 1992 and 1996, of whom 68% died. Twenty-three (59%) of the 39 survivors were traced in the community, 10 had moved away, six had died. OUTCOME MEASURES: NNT survivors underwent a neurological and developmental examination and a questionnaire was administered to the parents about the behaviour of the child. A verbal autopsy was used to determine the cause of death in children who had died after discharge. RESULTS: The head circumference of NNT survivors was significantly smaller than that of CC (P=0.037); eight children had microcephaly compared with one CC (P=0.011). NNT survivors had more problems with hand-eye co-ordination tasks (P=0.035), a lower summated developmental score (P=0.023) and more mild neurological abnormalities (P=0.008) than CC. Parents of NNT survivors reported more behavioural problems (P=0.02) than parents of CC. CONCLUSIONS: Children who survive NNT have evidence of brain damage that manifests as microcephaly, mild neurological abnormalities, developmental impairment - particularly fine motor difficulties - and behaviour problems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T21:06:39Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:3cb2f74f-d741-4e46-91dc-faec767a3fb3 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T21:06:39Z |
| publishDate | 2001 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:3cb2f74f-d741-4e46-91dc-faec767a3fb32022-03-26T14:15:07ZBrain damage after neonatal tetanus in a rural Kenyan hospital.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:3cb2f74f-d741-4e46-91dc-faec767a3fb3EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2001Barlow, JMung'Ala-Odera, VGona, JNewton, COBJECTIVE: Neonatal tetanus (NNT) is an important cause of mortality in resource poor countries, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. There are no reports of the long-term outcome of children who survive NNT in African hospitals. DESIGN: In a retrospective study of children discharged from Kilifi District Hospital (KDH), Kenya with NNT, each child was linked with a comparative child (CC) in the community matched for age, sex and locality. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 123 patients were admitted with NNT between 1992 and 1996, of whom 68% died. Twenty-three (59%) of the 39 survivors were traced in the community, 10 had moved away, six had died. OUTCOME MEASURES: NNT survivors underwent a neurological and developmental examination and a questionnaire was administered to the parents about the behaviour of the child. A verbal autopsy was used to determine the cause of death in children who had died after discharge. RESULTS: The head circumference of NNT survivors was significantly smaller than that of CC (P=0.037); eight children had microcephaly compared with one CC (P=0.011). NNT survivors had more problems with hand-eye co-ordination tasks (P=0.035), a lower summated developmental score (P=0.023) and more mild neurological abnormalities (P=0.008) than CC. Parents of NNT survivors reported more behavioural problems (P=0.02) than parents of CC. CONCLUSIONS: Children who survive NNT have evidence of brain damage that manifests as microcephaly, mild neurological abnormalities, developmental impairment - particularly fine motor difficulties - and behaviour problems. |
| spellingShingle | Barlow, J Mung'Ala-Odera, V Gona, J Newton, C Brain damage after neonatal tetanus in a rural Kenyan hospital. |
| title | Brain damage after neonatal tetanus in a rural Kenyan hospital. |
| title_full | Brain damage after neonatal tetanus in a rural Kenyan hospital. |
| title_fullStr | Brain damage after neonatal tetanus in a rural Kenyan hospital. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Brain damage after neonatal tetanus in a rural Kenyan hospital. |
| title_short | Brain damage after neonatal tetanus in a rural Kenyan hospital. |
| title_sort | brain damage after neonatal tetanus in a rural kenyan hospital |
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