Abstract

Atiku E. Aisha, Ogbonnaya D. Nkiru*, Bozieghen Esther and G. C. Umueze

This study involved the investigation of carriage rates of Haemophilus influenzae in nasopharyngeal aspirates of pre-school children in Enugu State, Nigeria. Throat and nasal swabs were obtained from 158 children who were aged 6 months to 6 years. The children comprised those in nursery schools (A), those in their homes (B), and those who attended day-care centers (C). H. influenzae was identified after isolation in culture by satelitism and biochemical tests. Of the samples studied, the organism was isolated in 50 giving an average carriage rate of 31.7%. Descriptive statistics was used for general description of study participants and to evaluate the distribution. Data obtained were analyzed using SPSS version 15.0 software. Mean carriage rate of 30.60% was obtained from children in nursery schools, 41.08% from those at home and 22.64% from those attending day care centers. The highest carriage rate was obtained from children who were in their homes and had never attended nursery schools or day-care centers. In each of the 3 groups of children with the exception of those at home, children aged 1 year had the highest isolation rate. It can be concluded from this work that the carriage rate of H. influenzae is significant in pre-school children in Enugu State, Nigeria.