Kwashiorkor and severe acute malnutrition in childhood

Children with oedema recover better than those with severe wasting in outpatient therapeutic program at Boloso Sore district, Southwest Ethiopia

Objectives

Severely undernourished young children clinically present with a typical nutritional oedema or none-oedematous. However, research evidence is limited on how these types predict treatment outcomes in Ethiopia. This study was aimed to compare oedematous and none-oedematous children for their treatment outcomes in Boloso Sore district in Southwest Ethiopia.

Results

The overall recovery rate was 396 (68%). From oedematous children; 235 (79.9%) recovered, 18 (6.1%) transferred, 6 (2.0%) defaulted, 3 (1.0%) died, and 32 (11%) remained none-respondents. The treatment outcomes among the none-oedematous children were 161 (55.9%), 12 (4.2%), 4 (1.4%), 3 (1.0%), and 108 (37.5%) in similar order. Treatment outcomes of severely undernourished children in the two arms were statistically different (Χ² = 5.82, P < 0.016). Severely malnourished children with oedema were 2.3 times highly likely to recover as compared to those without it (adjusted hazard ratio = 2.3 at 95% confidence interval: 1.79, 2.82). We documented that oedematous children in the study area had a better likelihood of recovery as compared to those with severe wasting. We recommend targeted community outreach activities on severe acute malnutrition focusing on the types.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-018-3232-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A comparison of the heart and muscle total lipid and fatty acid profiles of nine large shark species from the east coast of South Africa

We have assessed the fatty acid profiles of the hearts and different muscle tissues from nine large shark species (Carcharhinus limbatus (blacktip), Carcharhinus obscurus (dusky), Carcharhinus brevipinna (spinner), Carcharhinus leucas (Zambezi/bull), Galeocerdo cuvier (tiger), Sphyrna lewini (scalloped hammerhead), Sphyrna zygaena (smooth hammerhead), Carcharodon carcharias (great white) and Carcharias taurus (raggedtooth/grey nurse/sand tiger)) found off the east coast of South Africa. While there was generally little variation between the species, all species showed profiles rich in both n6 and n3 polyunsaturated fatty acids compared to terrestrial commercial meats that have low n3. Thus, utilizing skeletal muscle tissues from sharks caught as part of the bycatch when fishing for teleosts would avoid unnecessary wastage of a potentially valuable resource, with all the possible health benefits of high quality protein combined with balanced polyunsaturates, although contamination with high levels of metabolic wastes, such as urea, may be a negative consideration.