Social capital is a concept that has been identified to improve health outcomes in many populations. Due to COVID-19 and many other factors, Sri Lanka faced a massive economic crisis that affected ...the nutrition of communities. Many community engagement initiatives have begun to promote the country's nutrition during the worst-hit years. The Mothers' Support Groups initiative is one of the existing community engagement initiatives that is well known for strengthening community social capital. This article discusses how the Mothers' Support Groups (MSG) initiative in Sri Lanka contributed to improving social capital in Sri Lanka during the economic crisis, focusing on nutrition.
We conducted a case study on the activities undertaken by mothers' support groups in view of how they focused on social capital. We selected all activities presented by districts that improved social capital related to nutrition promotion captured in the YouTube video stream. We analyzed these qualitative data to identify the main themes related to social capital and nutritional promotion. Two coders transcribed the video recordings. We analyzed the data using the iterative thematic inquiry (ITI) method and initially assessed beliefs about concepts, building new beliefs through encounters with data, listing tentative themes, and evaluating themes through coding.
Six major themes were identified (that social capital had been strengthened to promote nutrition): awareness creation of nutrition, home gardening promotion, promoting livestock farming, minimizing food waste, improving the home economy, and psychosocial health promotion. The most common forms of social capital encountered in these themes were bonding, bridging, and linking. Furthermore, strengthening structural social capital is more prominent than strengthening cognitive social capital.
Social capital can improve nutritional status during crises. Activities that can be used to achieve this vary from simple awareness creation among communities to more advanced psychosocial health promotion. Overall, social capital contributed to the community development aspect of health promotion to a greater extent.
BackgroundRotavirus is the most common cause of severe gastroenteritis among children. We conducted hospital-based surveillance to estimate the burden of hospitalizations for rotavirus among children ...aged <5 years and to describe strain distribution patterns during the 2-year study period MethodsChildren aged <5 years with diarrhea were prospectively enrolled and evaluated by trained pediatricians at representative hospitals in Mongolia and Sri Lanka. Fecal specimens were tested by rotavirus antigen detection enzyme immunoassay. Specimens that tested positive for rotavirus were further characterized to determine the genotype of strains by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction ResultsFrom 1 March 2005 through 28 February 2007, a total of 1277 hospitalized children with diarrhea were enrolled in Mongolia, and 1916 were enrolled in Sri Lanka. Of the 1152 children in Mongolia who had samples tested, 458 (40%) had results positive for rotavirus, and in Sri Lanka, 428 (24%) of 1806 children with samples tested had positive results. G3P8 was the most common genotype among rotavirus strains in Mongolia (68%) and Sri Lanka (15%) ConclusionsRotavirus causes 40% and 24% of hospitalizations for diarrhea among children in Mongolia and Sri Lanka, respectively. Each study site will continue surveillance of rotavirus, and additional laboratory testing will be performed to provide additional information on the distribution of rotavirus strains by G and P genotype
Objective The objective of this prospective study was to investigate the status of acute respiratory tract infections caused by Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae in tsunami disaster ...evacuation camps. Methods Nasopharyngeal swabs (NP) of 324 internally displaced persons (IDP) in 3 different tsunami disaster evacuation camps of Sri Lanka were collected between March 18th and 20th, 2005, and analyzed for MIC, β-lactamase production, serotypes, PCR and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Results Many IDP had respiratory symptoms and the prevalence of cough and/or sputum was 84%, 70.5% and 64.7% in the three camps. Twenty-one H. influenzae from 20 IDP and 25 S. pneumoniae from 22 IDP were isolated from the NP. All H. influenzae isolates were nontypeable, and 5 were β-lactamase producing. Seventeen pneumococci were susceptible, 5 showed intermediate resistance and 3 were fully resistant to penicillin G. Molecular analysis showed the 21 H. influenzae strains had 13 PFGE patterns and 25 pneumococci had 16 PFGE patterns. All 4 different PFGE patterns of H. influenzae strains were detected in a few IDP in camps 1 and 3, and 5 different PFGE patterns of serotype 3, 22A, 9A, 10A and 11A pneumococci were detected in a few IDP in camps 1 and 3. Conclusion Our data indicate acute respiratory tract infections caused by various types of H. influenzae and S. pneumoniae appear to have been prevalent, some of which were potentially transmitted from person to person in tsunami disaster evacuation camps.
Background: Accidental burns are a common cause of morbidity and mortality among children under 5 years. The principal caretaker's knowledge and practices are directly associated with the child's ...safety. Objective: To describe the knowledge and practices on childhood unintentional burns prevention among principal caretakers of under 5 year children in a semi-urban community. Method: This community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 462 principal caretakers of children below 5 years in Chilaw MOH area. Multi-stage cluster sampling technique was used. Caretaker's knowledge and practices related to unintentional burns prevention were measured using a pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to identify socio-demographic factors associated with caretaker's knowledge and practices. Results: In 90.5% household’s mother was the principal caretaker. The median age of principal caretakers was 27 years (lQR; 24-31years). The mean scores for overall knowledge and practices were 75.8% (±11.2%) and 67.6% (±12.8%) respectively. Three-quarters of principal caretakers were aware that children are more vulnerable for burns while 63.1% caretaker’s believed accidental burns are preventable. Over 70% of caretakers knew that many injuries can be avoided by stopping children coming to the kitchen, but only in 39.2% houses had safety barriers preventing children coming to the kitchen. Two-thirds of the principal caretakers always ensured that their children were under close supervision. The caretakers overall knowledge was significantly associated with their education level (p<0.001), caretaker’s relationship to the child (p=0.002) and family income (p=0.038). The practices related to burn prevention was significantly associated with caretaker’s education level (p<0.001), family income (p=0.006), and social class (p=0.011). Conclusion: Young children spend most of their time in households; still there are many hazards around them which can lead to accidental burns. This study identified a gap between caretakers’ knowledge and practices which need targeted interventions to safeguard children.
The South Asian Pneumococcal Surveillance network uses standard recruitment and laboratory procedures for surveillance of invasive pneumococcal disease in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Children aged 2 ...months to 5 years who were admitted to the sentinel surveillance site, Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and who presented with signs and symptoms of meningitis, pneumonia, or very severe disease were studied. Blood culture and CSF culture specimens were analyzed at the microbiology laboratory at Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children. Specimens were processed by routine conventional methods. Antigen testing was performed on CSF specimens with use of commercially available latex agglutination test kits. From January 2005 to March 2007, we observed 23 isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae , and the most common serotypes were 19F, 14, 23F, and 6B. Of the serotypes found, 60% are covered by the currently available 7-valent conjugate pneumococcal vaccine. More than 90% of the isolates were penicillin resistant, and the rate of resistance to third-generation cephalosporins was also high.
Abstract Objective To demonstrate the burden of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) disease in Sri Lanka and provide information for decision-making in public health planning and vaccine ...introduction. Methods This was a prospective, population-based study carried out in 2004, to describe the epidemiology and calculate the incidence of meningitis caused by Hib in children <5 years of age in the district of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Hib was identified in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens by culture and antigen detection (latex agglutination test; LAT). Results The lumbar puncture rate in children <5 years of age was 1.9%. A causative bacterial organism was identified in 108 meningitis cases, and in 54 (50%) this was Hib. The LAT increased the Hib detection rate in CSF four-fold. In 2004, the annual incidence of Hib meningitis in Colombo was 20.1 cases per 100 000 children aged <5 years. Conclusions This study is the first from Sri Lanka reporting the Hib meningitis incidence rate pre-vaccine introduction. The reported incidence rate is one of the highest from the Asian region, but is likely an underestimation considering the difficulties in the laboratory identification of Hib.
Rotavirus diarrhea is an important cause of child mortality in developing countries, but studies on this diarrhea are scarce in Sri Lanka. A prospective study conducted in Sri Lanka on rotavirus ...infection among children in a hospital setting (n = 611) versus children residing in tsunami camps (n = 52) showed that prevalence of rotavirus infection was comparable, 21.9 and 20%, respectively. The hospital and camps were located in different districts. Analysis of the genotypes of 122 rotaviruses from the hospital and 12 from the camps indicated that G9P8 was associated with 35 and 33%; G12P8/nt with 14.7 and 33%; G3P8/4/nt with 17 and 8% and G1P8/4 with 6.5 and 16.7%. Rotaviruses with G2P8/4/6 and G4P8/4 were hospital-associated only, and some rotaviruses (9 and 8% from the hospital and the camps, respectively) were G- and P-nontypable. We conclude from the present study that multiple emerging genotypes were prevalent in Sri Lanka, and children in camps were at risk of developing diarrhea due to rotaviruses.
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