Knowledge level of haemolytic uraemic syndrome and the prevalence of its risk factors in families with children below10 years of age in a hospital in a suburban area in Buenos Aires province, Argentina

Huizing, M.C. (2015) Knowledge level of haemolytic uraemic syndrome and the prevalence of its risk factors in families with children below10 years of age in a hospital in a suburban area in Buenos Aires province, Argentina. thesis, Medicine.

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Abstract

Introduction In Argentina, incidence of haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) caused by Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is notably high. It is a frequent cause of Acute Kidney Injury and Chronic Kidney Disease in children and an important reason for renal transplants in children and adolescents. As there are no curative options to treat HUS, the only way to minimize its consequences for now is through prevention. One way of primary prevention is through programmes that focus on raising awareness and minimizing the exposure of individuals to risk factors, especially in the group with the highest incidence of the illness, in this case children under ten years of age. When designing such prevention programmes, information about caregiver´s current level of knowledge about HUS and the prevalence of its risk factors is important. Currently, however, this information is not available in the literature. The objective of this study was to provide this information for a hospital in a suburban area in Buenos Aires province, Argentina. Materials and methods An observational, cross-sectional study with the use of a questionnaire was conducted in the paediatric outpatient clinic of spontaneous demand of the public Hospital Nacional “Profesor Alejandro Posadas” in El Palomar, Buenos Aires province, Argentina. Included were parents or primary caregivers of children below ten years of age, who had come to the paediatric outpatient clinic of spontaneous demand in the Hospital Posadas. The primary caregiver´s knowledge of the disease and how to prevent it and where this knowledge came from were assessed. Moreover, the presence of known risk factors for STEC-associated HUS was assessed and differences in the prevalence of these risk factors between different age groups were analyzed. Results 453 primary caregivers were included. Only 55.8% had heard of HUS and 23.6% could mention one or more (partial) characteristic of the illness. 77.4% of those who had at least heard of HUS thought of it as a serious illness and 64.6% of them could mention at least one (partial) preventive measure, most frequently cooking of beef. Knowledge came mainly from television and/or radio. Only 3.2% of children were reported to eat undercooked beef. 32.8% reported risk of cross-contamination in the kitchen, while only one third of caregivers who had heard of HUS mentioned a cross-contamination-related preventive measure. Adequate hand washing (always, with soap) was not present in 32.9% of children before eating, 15.8% of caregivers before cooking and 14.2% of caregivers after using the bathroom. 43.1% reported not having a sewage system and 19.3% reported not having safe drinking water facilities in the home. Conclusion More effort should be made to create awareness of HUS and its prevention in this population, with an emphasis on prevention of cross-contamination. Moreover, good hand washing habits should be promoted, a larger part of the population should be provided with sewage system and safe drinking water facilities and leaflets and posters and medical staff could be used more extensively in prevention programmes. Although part of our study population of primary caregivers of children younger than ten years old had heard of HUS or knew something about its characteristics and prevention, a large part lacked important knowledge on this topic, which is of great importance when it comes to prevention of HUS on an individual level.

Item Type:	Thesis (Thesis)
Supervisor name:	Faculty supervisor: and Gracchi, V. M.D
Supervisor name:	Local supervisor: and Kiman, R.J. M.D. and Location: Department of Paediatrics of the Hospital Nacional and El Palomar, Buenos Aires
Faculty:	Medical Sciences
Date Deposited:	25 Jun 2020 11:02
Last Modified:	25 Jun 2020 11:02
URI:	https://umcg.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/2196

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