Hospitalizations and Deaths Associated with Diarrhea and Respiratory Diseases among Children Aged 0⁻5 Years in a Referral Hospital of Mauritania.

Mohamed Ahmed,Mohamed Bollahi,Ali Mokdad,Mohammed Benhafid,Jorg Heukelbach,Abdellahi Weddih,Mariem Sidatt,Abdelkarim Filali-Maltouf,Khattry Makhalla

doi:10.3390/tropicalmed3030103

Abstract

Diarrhea and respiratory diseases are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among <5-year-olds worldwide, but systematic data are not available from Mauritania. We conducted a hospital-based retrospective study. Data on admissions to Mauritania’s National Referral Hospital (the main pediatric referral center in the country), due to diarrhea and respiratory diseases, during 2011–2014, were analyzed. A total of 3695 children <5 years were hospitalized during this period; 665 (18.0%) due to respiratory diseases, and 829 (22.4%) due to diarrhea. Case fatality rates in the respiratory diseases and diarrhea groups were 18.0% (120/665) and 14.1% (117/829), respectively. The highest frequency of deaths due to diarrhea occurred in the age group 2–5 years (16/76; 21.0%), and due to respiratory diseases in the age group 6–12 months (32/141; 22.6%). We conclude that case fatality rates caused by respiratory diseases and diarrhea are extremely high in children hospitalized at the National Referral Hospital. These data call for intensified efforts to reduce deaths among hospitalized Mauritanian children, and also for integrated control measures to prevent and reduce the burden of both diseases. Additional studies are needed to show the effectiveness of the introduction of vaccination programs for pneumococcal diseases and rotavirus infection in the child population, which were launched in November 2013 and December 2014, respectively.

Highlights

Diarrhea and respiratory diseases are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among children under five years of age, over the world [1,2]
Infectious gastroenteritis accounted for 65% of diarrheal diseases, and 78% of respiratory diseases were related to bronchopneumonia
These results are in line with previous studies that have shown that diarrhea and respiratory diseases contribute to a high morbidity and mortality among pediatric patients in developing countries [2,11,12,13]

Summary

Introduction

Diarrhea and respiratory diseases are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among children under five years of age, over the world [1,2]. Despite the decline in the burden of diarrhea and respiratory diseases since 2005, they still pose a major public health burden [3]. Both of these infectious diseases have always been in the 10 top causes of deaths among children, especially in low- and middle-income countries [4]. Mauritania is an Arabic–African country, located between North and West Africa, on the Atlantic Ocean. In the Arabic region, including Mauritania, respiratory diseases and diarrhea account for about 50% of all post-neonatal deaths [10]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion