Browsing by Author "Fernando, K. M. D."

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    Preliminary report on the assessment of adolescent health needs in a tertiary care health institution in Sri Lanka
    (Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians, 2015) Randeny, R. A. N. S.; Fernando, A. D.; Karunasekera, K. A. W.; Dimal, D. A.; Fernando, K. M. D.
    BACKGROUND:There is no age sensitive approach to the health care needs of adolescents in Sri Lanka. Little is known about the satisfaction of adolescents about available healthcare facilities. There are plans to increase the age of admissions to paediatric wards to 16 years. There is a need for data on disease patterns and needs of adolescents in order to organize services in a sensitive and specific manner.OBJECTIVE: Assesment of healthcare needs of adolescents admitted to Colombo North Teaching Hospital {CNTH). DESIGN,SETTING AND METHOD: This on going study plans to recruit patients from two Teaching Hospital, CNTH and Batticaloa in order to study demographic variations. This preliminary report is of the first 1000 adolescents at CNTH. It is prospective, descriptive study, conducted in wards/ clinics, at CNTH. Adolescents (10-19 years) admitted/attending clinics were recruited on an all inclusive,consecutive basis. A pretested interviewer administered questionnaire was used for data collection from those aged 10-14 years by a trained interviewer. Those between 14-19 years were given a self administered pretested questionnaire with language preference.RESULTS: Majority 898 (89.8%) were residents of Western Province. Reasons for admission - fever 259 (25.9%), abdominal pain 89 (8.9%), surgical 63 (6.3%), ENT 59 (5.9%), dermatological 44 (4.4%) trauma 41 (4.1%), obstetric and gynaecological problems 34 {3.4%), endocrine 25 (2.5%), respiratory problems 28(2.8%),deliberate self-harm 22 (2.2%), headache 15 {l.5%), asthma 14 (1.4%), chronic disease 11(1.1%) child protection issues 9 (0.9%). 145(14.5%) experienced depression at least once, and out of them 61 (42.06%) admitted to suicidal throughts; out of these 22 (36%) inflicted deliberate self-harm. 70 (7%) experienced physical abuse, 15(1.5%) sexual and 46 (4.6%) emotional abuse. 786 (78.6%) were satisfied about the overall healthcare facilities.CONCLUSIONS: A tremendous spectrum of disease patterns was seen. Depression, deliberate self-harm and forms of child abuse constituted a significant number. Majority of adolescents were satisfied about overall health are facilities.
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    Study on immunity against Hepatitis (Hep) B in children after vaccination during infancy and assessment of knowledge about Hep B infection among mothers of Gampaha District
    (University of Kelaniya, 2019) Fernando, K. M. D.
    Study on immunity against Hepatitis (Hep) B in children after vaccination during infancy and assessment of knowledge about Hep B infection among mothers of Gampaha District Fernando, K.M.D., Molecular Medicine Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Ragama, Sri Lanka Hepatitis (Hep) B is a potentially life threatening liver infection caused by a virus. It is important to know whether immunity produced by vaccination during infancy last up to adolescence. Sound knowledge about Hep B infection would promote mothers to vaccinate their children against Hep B. Objective of this study was to assess the Hep B surface Antibody (anti-HBs) status in children aged ten years after Hep B vaccination during infancy and knowledge about Hep B infection among mothers in the District of Gampaha, Sri Lanka. In the PART 1 of the study, assessment of anti-HBs status after Hep B vaccination during infancy was conducted with 150 children (10 years old) with evidence of Hep B vaccination at 2, 4 and 6 months during infancy. After quantitative detection of anti-HBs using Enzyme-Linked lmmunosorbent Assay (ELISA), majority of children 85.33% (128/150) showed protection level of anti-HBs .C::.10 mIU/ml). In the PART 2 of the study, assessment of efficacy of a booster dose of Hep B vaccine in children who had Ab levels below protective level (< 10 mlU/ml) in the PART 1 was conducted with 22 children. They were offered a free booster dose and retested one month after the . booster . All children showed Ab response above 10 mIU/ml, while 81.81% ( 18/22) had a titre > 100 mlU/ml. In the PART 3 of the study, assessment of knowledge about Hep B infection among mothers in the District of Gampaha, Sri Lanka was assessed with 800 mothers. Overall knowledge of Hep B, educated population had a high score, while not educated population had the minimum score. Even though the mothers in all groups had notable levels of knowledge on transmission of Hep B, their awareness on complications and prevention were relatively low. Therefore, the awareness programs conducted by the relevant sector should focus more on the above aspects to improve the overall knowledge of mothers on Hep B. Vaccination against Hep B during infancy appears to produce protective level of Ab at 10 years of age. Even the children with Ab titres below protective level produced a sharp rise in titres with a booster dose. Though we have a good immunization coverage mothers seem to have a very poor knowledge about Hep B.