{"id":121592,"date":"2025-09-17T19:08:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T19:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/09\/17\/new-research-exposes-gaps-in-child-diagnostics-as-world-marks-patient-safety-day\/"},"modified":"2025-09-17T19:08:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T19:08:08","slug":"new-research-exposes-gaps-in-child-diagnostics-as-world-marks-patient-safety-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/new-research-exposes-gaps-in-child-diagnostics-as-world-marks-patient-safety-day\/","title":{"rendered":"New research exposes gaps in child diagnostics as World Marks Patient Safety Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nairobi, Kenya, Sept 17 \u2014 As the world observes World Patient Safety Day under the theme \u201cSafe care for every newborn and every child\u201d, new research from Kenya has sounded the alarm over the inadequate use of diagnostics and escalating antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among hospitalized children.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The five-year retrospective study, led by Dr. Veronicah Chuchu, a PhD Fellow at the University of Nairobi\u2019s Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (CEMA), examined the medical records of 1,608 children admitted with suspected infections between 2017 and 2021 at a major referral hospital in Kenya.<\/p>\n

The findings paint a troubling picture of systemic weaknesses in diagnosis and treatment that put children at serious risk.<\/p>\n

Gastroenteritis, bacterial pneumonia, and sepsis emerged as the most common infections\u2014reflecting global trends in child morbidity and mortality, particularly among under-immunized and malnourished populations.<\/p>\n

Yet, the study revealed that only 4 in 10 children had laboratory cultures requested, and of these, just 17% received full antibiotic sensitivity testing\u2014the gold standard for guiding treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver 70% of samples showed bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics, and nearly 30% were extensively drug-resistant, leaving clinicians with very limited treatment options,\u201d the report noted.<\/p>\n

Children under five years old and those with repeat hospital admissions were found to be the most vulnerable.<\/p>\n

Alarmingly, 86% of samples showed no bacterial growth, often due to prior antibiotic use, poor collection methods, contamination, or transport delays.<\/p>\n

In the absence of reliable results, doctors defaulted to broad-spectrum antibiotics\u2014an approach that accelerates resistance, increases treatment costs, prolongs hospital stays, and still leads to preventable deaths.<\/p>\n

AMR is already among the top 10 global health threats, with sub-Saharan Africa recording the world\u2019s highest death rates linked to resistant infections.<\/p>\n

The World Health Organization (WHO) has set ambitious targets to reduce AMR-related deaths and preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics, but experts warn these goals cannot be achieved without stronger diagnostic systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cSafe care starts with strong diagnostics; without them, children\u2019s lives hang in the balance,\u201d said Dr. Chuchu.<\/p>\n

The study emphasized the urgent need to scale up diagnostic capacity so that every child with an infection has access to cultures and sensitivity testing.<\/p>\n

Further, it called for the strengthening of laboratories through investments in infrastructure, skilled personnel, and timely reporting and the embedding of laboratory testing into clinical decision-making, moving away from reliance on experience-based prescribing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen children are treated without knowing the exact cause of their illness, their safety is compromised from the very start,\u201d Dr. Chuchu emphasized.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn this World Patient Safety Day, let us commit to ensuring that every child in Kenya \u2014 and across Africa \u2014 receives safe care from the start. That means building stronger laboratories, training health workers, and making diagnostics as essential as stethoscopes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The research was conducted by Washington State University Global Health Kenya and CEMA at the University of Nairobi, with funding from the Fogarty International Center and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, supported by the Paul G. Allen School for Global Health at Washington State University.<\/p>\n

CEMA is a multidisciplinary research centre advancing health outcomes in Kenya and Africa through data-driven decision-making.<\/p>\n

Established as a consortium of infectious disease specialists, epidemiologists, computer scientists, and data analysts, CEMA also played a central role in guiding Kenya\u2019s pandemic response.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nairobi, Kenya, Sept 17 \u2014 As the world observes World Patient Safety Day under the theme \u201cSafe care for every newborn and every child\u201d, new research from Kenya has sounded the alarm over the inadequate use of diagnostics and escalating antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among hospitalized children. The five-year retrospective study, led by Dr. Veronicah Chuchu, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121592\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}