Prevalence and Associated Factor of Campylobacter Species Among Less Than 5-year-old Children in Ethiopia: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Background: Despite the significant reductions in under-five mortality, campylobacteriosis has emerged as one of the most common causative agents of bacterial foodborne gastroenteritis in humans. We performed this systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the pooled prevalence of Campylobacter species and associated risk factors among children less than 5 years of age in Ethiopia.

Methods: A systematic search was conducted on PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, Google Scholar and the Cochrane Library. All identified observational studies reporting the prevalence and determinants of diarrhea among children under 5 years of age in Ethiopia were included. Two authors independently extracted data and analyzed them using STATA Version 13 statistical software. A random-effects model was computed to estimate the pooled prevalence and the associations between determinant factors and campylobacteriosis.

Results: Out of 166 papers reviewed, 8 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of Campylobacter species among children under 5 years of age in Ethiopia was 10% (95% CI: 7, 13). Contact with domestic animals (OR: 3.2, 95% CI: 2.0, 5.1), illiterate mothers (OR: 2.1, 95% CI: 1.1, 3.8), consumption of animal products (OR: 1.7, 95% CI: 0.7, 4.5), and status of mothers' personal hygiene (OR: 1.1, 95% CI: 0.7, 1.8) were significantly associated with the prevalence of Campylobacter species.

Conclusion: In our study, Campylobacter species among children under 5 years of age in Ethiopia were significantly high. Contact with domestic animals, illiterate mothers and consumption of animal products were significantly associated with prevalence of Campylobacter species.