Prevalence Of Diarrheal Disease Research Articles

Observations on the suckling's dilemma--a personal view.

In discussing the suckling--the baby who is breast fed alone 2 questions are examined: (1) does existing information provide any guide to whether early supplementary feeding or a delay in supplementary feeding is the better and less dangerous choice; and (2) what further information should be collected and with what priority. Regarding faltering growth it is essential to know the pattern of weight gain in the 1st months of life. More detailed studies are needed on growth during the first 6 months of life. Longitudinal studies are able to provide important information even when the samples are small. Measurements should ideally be made at intervals of 1 month and results analyzed in terms of velocity rather than attained weight. Most studies of growth and infection in developing countries except for the work of Mata and colleagues have been made on children who are 6 months old or more. As the critical period for breast fed infants is at about 3 months this is too late. The evidence is quite strong that breast feeding often becomes inadequate at about this time and an urgent need exists for more information to back up or refute this statement. Evidence from several countries shows that the peak prevalence of diarrheal disease occurs after growth has begun to fall off. This peak prevalence coincides more or less with the time of introduction of supplementary food but more information is needed regarding the relative contributions of contaminated food and environment in the causation of diarrhea. It can be argued that an infant whose nutritional state is good will have a relatively high degree of resistance to the ubiquitous infections from food and environment.

Malnutrition and gastroenteritis in The Gambia

There is a strong association between failure to thrive and diarrhoeal disease in young Gambian children. The high prevalence of diarrhoeal disease seen is not due to frequent attacks of “acute infantile diarrhoea” of viral origin. The picture of protracted diarrhoea is almost certainly due to colonization of the upper bowel and the high prevalence demonstrated to be at least partly due to the environment to which the children are exposed, particularly in terms of food and water hygiene. Until this cycle of upper bowel colonization and protracted diarrhoea is broken, a diet-based nutrition programme cannot be expected to function effectively.

Seasonality in water related intestinal disease in Guatemala.

Field studies in two rural communities in the Pacific lowlands have been in process since 1973 to evaluate the relationship between environmental improvements, particularly a piped water supply, and the prevalence of diarrheal diseases. An initial appraisal of the data indicates that diarrheal diseases in the tropics vary with the dry and rainy seasons. However, there are aspects of the relationship between water and diarrheal disease which still require explanation. The field studies are designed to provide further insight into these seasonal influences as well as to variations which are related to epidemic cycles, environmental factors and the range of socio-economic development in these areas.