Epidemiology of acute diarrhea in children living in Sicily.
A longitudinal survey (February 1984 - January 1985) on the incidence of acute diarrhea episodes in a sample of 8,164 children (aged 0-12 years) living in southeastern Sicily was carried out by means of weekly telephone interviews with doctors practising in the territory. The incidence rate was 0.479 (0.472-0.485 95% C.I.) per child per year and the frequency of episodes was significantly higher (p less than 0.001) in children aged 0-4 years (0.86). Diarrhea was more frequent in industrial areas than in rural ones, and almost half (45.1%) of the total episodes had a mild course. No death from diarrhea occurred and admission to hospital was reported for 8.4% of all cases.
Lupo
L
L
Istituto di Igiene e Medicina Preventiva, Università di Catania, Italy.
De Grandi
V
V
Ganci
E
E
Nastri
A
A
Ielo
S
S
Mistretta
A
A
Giammanco
G
G
D000208:Acute Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003968:Diarrhea, Infantile / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D012621:Seasons; D012802:Sicily / Q000453:epidemiology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors