Open AccessInfrequent small bowel intestinal bacterial overgrowth in malnourished Zambian children
Author(s) -
Namwiinga Ndulo,
Rory Peters,
Kirsten Macgregor,
Mercy Imasiku,
Beatrice Amadi,
Paul Kelly
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the pan african medical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.287
H-Index - 30
ISSN - 1937-8688
DOI - 10.11604/pamj.2020.35.29.9831
Subject(s) - medicine , malnutrition , small intestinal bacterial overgrowth , gastroenterology , dysbiosis , hydrogen breath test , antibiotics , severe acute malnutrition , breath test , pediatrics , irritable bowel syndrome , disease , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , helicobacter pylori
There is evidence that children with malnutrition have an increased frequency of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) due to impaired gastric acidity, impaired intestinal motility, and dysbiosis. Children with malnutrition respond to antibiotic therapy but it is not clear if this effect is mediated by treatment of SIBO. We set out to determine the frequency of SIBO in children of varying nutritional status in a poor community in Lusaka, Zambia. Hydrogen breath testing, following a dose of 1g/kg oral glucose, was used to determine the presence of SIBO amongst the study participants. Forty nine children, 45 of whom had varying degrees of malnutrition, completed a full series of observations at 15, 30 and 60 minutes. Four children (8%) had a rise of 10ppm from baseline, consistent with SIBO. No correlation with nutritional status was observed. In this small study of Zambian children, SIBO was infrequent and unrelated to nutritional status.