title: Mortality patterns in a rural Kenyan community.
abstract: Causes of death of 239 children below the age of 5 years in a rural community were determined using structured questionnaires. It was found that mortality was highest in infancy, accounting for 63% of all deaths with a trend of decreasing mortality with increasing age. The commonest cause of death was ARI (pneumonia and measles) accounting for 49% of the deaths, followed by diarrhoeal illnesses (8.8%). Only half of the deaths (51.5%) occurred at some health facility, though 77% of all children had been taken to a health facility for treatment during the fatal illness.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, College of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi.
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Mirza
authors.forename: W M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Macharia
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Wafula
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Agwanda
authors.forename: F E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Onyango
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002423:Cause of Death; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006268:Health Facilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007630:Kenya / Q000453:epidemiology; D012424:Rural Population; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires