Prise en Charge Pré Hospitalière de la Diarrhée chez l'Enfant de Moins de 5 Ans à Libreville Pre hospital management of diarrhea in children under 5 in Libreville

INTRODUCTION. Acute diarrhea still today a current problem because of their high incidence and their consequences in terms of mortality and morbidity. OBJECTIVE. To assess the management of children with diarrhea before hospitalization. PATIENTS AND METHODS. This was a retrospective descriptive study conducted from cases of children hospitalized for diarrhea from January 1st to December 31th 2012, in the pediatric department of Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Libreville. We included children younger than 5 years hospitalized for diarrhea. Data were collected using a pre-questionnaire and analyzed with epi info 3.5.4. RESULTS. Seven hundred and fourteen children were hospitalized during the period of which 143 (20%) less than 5 years for diarrhea. The sex ratio was 1, 4. The average age was 12.9 months. Children aged 0 to 11 months accounted for 58.1%. In 66.1% of children, diarrhea started an average of 4.6 days before the date of the consultation. Dehydration was moderate in 67 children (46.9%) and severe in 20 (14%). The usual diet of the child was reported in 34 cases (23.8%). Self-medication had been conducted by the parents in 88.8% of cases. Oral rehydration salts were administered in 5.6% of cases. CONCLUSION. Oral rehydration is not sufficiently used by families in the management of diarrhea in children under 5 years. The implementation of IMCI is a strategy that could improve the treatment of diarrheal diseases in the home.