000			03618nam a22001937a 4500
001			CUHAS/MD/4001773/T/16
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100			_aMwasulama, Edward _922300 _dCUHAS/MD/4001773/T/16 _eUndergraduate Ethical Clearance Certificate No. 1669/2020
245			_a Health facility-related factors associated with diagnosis, treatment and prevention of schistosomiasis among under-five children attending RCH Clinic at Itimila District, Tanzania
260			_aMwanza, Tanzania : _bCatholic University of Health and Allied Sciences [CUHAS - Bugando] _bPhone: +255 28 298 3384 : _b Fax: +255 28 298 3386 : _b Email: vc@bugando.ac.tz : _b Website: www.bugando.ac.tz : _c ©30.08.2021
300			_ax; 34 Pages
300			_aIncludes References and Appendices
520			_aAbstract: Background: Despite causing significant suffering to millions of underfive children, schistosomiasis among underfive children has been overlooked. In many endemic areas, there are inadequate detection, treatment, and prevention services for underfive years of age living in affected areas. The goal of the study is to identify the gaps in the health care system that can be filled to improve early diagnosis and management of the population at risk of severe disease and poor clinical outcomes as well as providing health education on disease identification, the importance of correct diagnosis and treatment as well as prevention. Method: A total of 17 randomly selected health facilities are located in Itilima District in the Simiyu region. At each facility, the in-charge clinician, or any other healthcare worker appointed by the in-charge clinician, participated in the questionnaire survey. A quantitative questionnaire installed in epicollector5 was used to collect data. Healthcare workers working at various departments (pharmacy, laboratory, RCH, and outpatients) were interviewed. The questionnaire collected information related to healthcare worker’s knowledge about schistosomiasis transmission, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment among under five years of age children attending the RCH clinics. Results: A total of 62 healthcare workers from different levels of facilities where the majority of the facilities were dispensaries (87.50%) with 1 (6.25%) health center and a newly built district hospital which was not fully functioning were interviewed. The majority of the dispensaries (75%) had no type of equipment to diagnose schistosomiasis. A total of 94 cases were diagnoses over the last year whereby nearly all of them (94.40%) where based on clinical presentations. All participants had a general knowledge of what schistosomiasis is and the method of treatment. The majority of participants (71%) were not aware of the common organism schistosomiasis in preschool children however the majority (87.1%) would consider the diagnosis of schistosomiasis in preschool children. The majority of the facility diagnosed schistosomiasis clinically (94%) and identified a lack of diagnostic tools in the facility as a major challenge (82.3) Conclusion: Generally, the capacity of the health facilities included in the current study is inadequate in the areas of diagnosis, treatment and healthcare worker’s knowledge. The unavailability of Praziquantel and laboratory services in many of the health facilities requires an urgent response from the responsible authorities such as the MOHCDGEC.
600			_xParasitology _930263
600			_xBiochemistry _915676
700			_aZinga, Maria _920315
700			_aFelix Tarimo _926662
942			_2ddc _cCR
999			_c22052 _d22052