Abstract
BACKGROUND: Despite acute respiratory infections being a major cause of death among children in developing countries including India, there is a lack of community-based studies that document its burden and aetiology.
METHODS: A dynamic cohort of children aged 0-10 years was established in four villages in a north Indian state of Haryana from August 2012 onwards. Trained health workers conducted weekly home visits to screen children for acute respiratory infection (ARI) defined as one of the following: cough, sore throat, nasal congestion, earache/discharge, or breathing difficulty. Nurses clinically assessed these children to grade disease severity based on standard age-specific guidelines into acute upper or lower respiratory infection (AURI or ALRI) and collected nasal/throat swabs for pathogen testing.
RESULTS: Our first year results show that ARI incidence in 0-10 years of age was 5.9 (5.8-6.0) per child-year with minimal gender difference, the ALRI incidence in the under-five age group was higher among boys (0.43; 0.39-0.49) as compared to girls (0.31; 0.26-0.35) per child year. Boys had 2.4 times higher ARI-related hospitalization rate as compared to girls.
CONCLUSION: ARI impose a significant burden on the children of this cohort. This study platform aims to provide better evidence for prevention and control of pneumonia in developing countries.
Original language | English |
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Journal | BMC Infectious Diseases |
Volume | 15 |
Pages (from-to) | 462 |
ISSN | 1471-2334 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2015 |
Keywords
- Acute Disease
- Child
- Child, Preschool
- Cohort Studies
- Female
- Hospitalization/statistics & numerical data
- Humans
- India/epidemiology
- Infant
- Infant, Newborn
- Male
- Pneumonia/prevention & control
- Respiratory Tract Infections/diagnosis
- Rural Population