Attia Bari, Asma Mushtaq, Samia Naz, Ummul Baneen, Muhammad Zeesshan Khan, Tahir Masood Ahmad.
Preventable diseases - leading cause of death in developing countries.
Pak Paed J Jan ;37(2):95-100.

Introduction: Infant and childhood mortality remains high in the poor population of the developing world. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the leading causes of death among children admitted to the hospital with acute illnesses in a developing country. Place and Duration of study: The Department of Pediatric Medical Unit-1 of The Children’s Hospital and the Institute of Child Health, Lahore from March 2011 to November 2011. Patients and Methods: Descriptive observational study carried out at The Children’s Hospital. The study population comprised of children admitted to General Medical Ward I, who had passed away with different diseases. Results: 62 (62%) were male and 38 (38%) were female out of 100 child deaths. Age range was from 01 month to 14 years. Maximum number of mortality was < 1 year 69 (69%) and only 7 (7%) of total deaths were > 5 years of age. Deaths were maximum during the first few months of life, with 46% occurring in the first 6 months. 41 (41%) of children had weight for age <60%, 33 (33%) had 60-70%, 14 (14%) had 70-80% and only 12 (12%) had weight >80%. Enteric diseases was the most common cause present in 36 (36%) of all deaths, followed by acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) 27 (27%) and Central nervous system (CNS) infection in 25 (25%). Other than these number of diseases were negligible. Conclusion: A significant proportion of deaths in children can be prevented by making strategies to decrease malnutrition and infections.

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