Prevalence of Trachoma and Factors that Influence Transmission in Children in the Builsa District

Abstract

Trachoma, an infectious, preventable disease in early childhood has serious consequences of blindness in adulthood. The disease is more prevalent in developing countries and studies are going on in many African Countries to help eliminate it by the year 2020. Past studies in Africa indicates that the disease is prevalent in areas where the climate is much drier, hot and dusty. Further studies have proved that lack of water and an increase in the number of flies due to poor sanitary conditions help in the spread of the trachoma. The DHMT of Builsa district analysed data from the whole district and found that an acute eye infection was climbing a steady ladder among the top ten diseases. The DHMT has attached importance to eye infections especially among children and would like to know the extent to the problem in the district, This will enable them plan and implement measurable interventions. The study was designed as a descriptive cross-sectional survey. WHO, Rapid Knowledge, Practice and Coverage (RKPC)/20 cluster sampling technique was used. A sample size of 300 was chosen. Questionnaire administrations to mothers with children aged 3-12 years and eyelid examination of their children was used to collect data. The study results were as follows. 6.6% of the children had follicles whiles 1.7% showed signs of intense inflammation. Overall, 8.3% of the study population had signs of the disease. There was no significant difference between mothers’ age and trachoma. Household water use patterns and attitudes towards face washing plays an important role in the elimination of trachoma as a blinding disease. A significant number of the children whose primary water source is more than thirty minutes walk suffered trachoma. A proportion of the children who shared towels with other siblings showed significant eyelid changes. Based on the results of the findings the following conclusions were drawn. The causes of trachoma among children are poor hygienic conditions, indiscriminate defecation, and lack of water and sharing of the same towel. The following recommendations among others are provided to the DHMT. • The DHMT should train at least one Ophthalmic nurse for the district. • The DHMT should liase with the Ghana Education Service to entreat teachers to ensure that school children wash their face at least once before they close from school. • The DHMT in collaboration with the District Assembly should train the VAP members to ensure that children in the rural areas wash their face at least three times a day with clean water.