Abstract

Dirisu John O.*, Agbakoba Nneka R., Okwelogu Somadina I., Eki-Udoko Fidelis E., Elo-Ilo Jacinta C. & Oladipo Olukayode

ABSTRACT

Diarrhoeal disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally in children under five years of age, especially in developing countries like Nigeria. Although a lot of studies have been done on unraveling the causative agents of bacterial and parasitic diarrhoea in under-fives across the world including Nigeria, only a limited number of these studies have attempted to consider the synergistic effect of bacterial and fungal pathogens on diarrhoea in children who are under five years of age in our locality. It is against this background that this study was done. This was a cross-sectional study carried out at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) and Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH) in Benin City and Nnewi respectively. Three hundred and thirty participants were recruited for the study using stratified random sampling, aged between 1 and 5 years. Stool samples were obtained and cultured using standard techniques, while the bacterial and fungal pathogens were isolated after relevant biochemical tests had been carried out. Data from the study were analyzed using chi-square and level of significance expressed using p-value (p<0.05). Three bacterial isolates namely, Klebsiella pneumonia, Esherichia coli, and Proteus mirabilis were isolated from the stool samples assayed for this study with the most being Escherichia coli (52.9%; 45/85). Candida albicans (62.2%; 23/37), Candida tropicalis (24.3%; 9/37) and Candida glabrata (13.5%; 5/37) were the predominant fungi. However, age and sex had no statistically significant effect on bacterial and fungal diarrhoea in the under-fives respectively (p > 0.05; χ2 = 21.06).