Doctors With Africa CUAMM, Medici Con L'Africa, Cuamm, Ethiopia.
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Public Health, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
BMC Pediatr. 2022 Jun 2;22(1):326. doi: 10.1186/s12887-022-03389-w.
The continued provision of safe food, free of aflatoxin remains a huge challenge in developing countries. Despite several favourable climatic conditions that facilitate aflatoxin contamination in Ethiopia, there is little information showing aflatoxin exposure in children. Therefore, this study assessed aflatoxin exposure among young children in Butajira district, South-Central Ethiopia.
Community based cross-sectional study stratified by agro-ecology was employed in Health and Demographic Surveillance Site (HDSS) of Butajira. The study included 332 children aged 12-59 months and were selected by simple random sampling technique using the HDSS registration number as a sampling frame. We collected data on dietary practice and aflatoxin exposure. Aflatoxin M1 concentration in urine was measured by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The data analysis was carried out using STATA.
Detectable urinary Aflatoxin M1 was found in 62.4% (95% CI: 56.9 - 67.5%) of the children at a level ranging from 0.15 to 0.4 ng/ml. Children living in lowland agro-ecological zone had [AOR = 2.11 (95% CI; 1.15, 3.88] odds of being exposed to aflatoxin as compared to children living in highland agro-ecological zone. Children at lower socio-economic status [AOR = 0.27 (95% CI; 0.14, 0.50] and medium socio-economic status [AOR = 0.47 (95% CI; 0.25, 0.87] had 73% and 53% lower odds of being exposed to aflatoxin as compared to children in the higher socio-economic status, respectively.
Aflatoxin exposure among young children was very high in South-Central Ethiopia. This high aflatoxin exposure might emphasize the need for aflatoxin exposure mitigation strategies in Ethiopia. Especially, raising awareness of the community towards aflatoxin exposure is very crucial. In addition, further research is required to assess long-term aflatoxin exposure and its association with child growth and development.
在发展中国家，持续提供安全的、不含黄曲霉毒素的食品仍然是一个巨大的挑战。尽管埃塞俄比亚有几个有利于黄曲霉毒素污染的有利气候条件，但几乎没有信息表明儿童接触黄曲霉毒素。因此，本研究评估了埃塞俄比亚中南部布塔吉拉地区幼儿的黄曲霉毒素暴露情况。
采用按农业生态区分层的社区横断面研究方法，在布塔吉拉的卫生和人口监测点（HDSS）进行研究。该研究包括 332 名 12-59 个月大的儿童，他们是通过使用 HDSS 登记号作为抽样框架的简单随机抽样技术选择的。我们收集了饮食实践和黄曲霉毒素暴露的数据。尿液中黄曲霉毒素 M1 浓度采用酶联免疫吸附试验（ELISA）测定。数据分析采用 STATA 进行。
在 62.4%（95%置信区间：56.9-67.5%）的儿童中检测到可检测的尿液黄曲霉毒素 M1，其浓度范围为 0.15 至 0.4ng/ml。与居住在高地农业生态区的儿童相比，居住在低地农业生态区的儿童接触黄曲霉毒素的几率更高 [比值比（AOR）=2.11（95%置信区间；1.15，3.88]。社会经济地位较低的儿童 [AOR=0.27（95%置信区间；0.14，0.50]和中等社会经济地位的儿童 [AOR=0.47（95%置信区间；0.25，0.87]接触黄曲霉毒素的几率分别比社会经济地位较高的儿童低 73%和 53%。
在埃塞俄比亚中南部，幼儿黄曲霉毒素暴露水平非常高。这种高黄曲霉毒素暴露可能强调了埃塞俄比亚需要采取黄曲霉毒素暴露缓解策略。特别是，提高社区对黄曲霉毒素暴露的认识非常重要。此外，还需要进一步研究评估长期黄曲霉毒素暴露及其与儿童生长发育的关系。
