title: A one-year community study of under-fives in rural Ethiopia: patterns of morbidity and public health risk factors.
abstract: A prospective weekly home surveillance study was undertaken to determine morbidity patterns within the Butajira Rural Health project in central Ethiopia. Overall prevalence of illness was 5.8% in 1216 person-years observed among rural Ethiopian children aged under 5 years. Acute respiratory infections (ARI) (prevalence 2.8%) and acute diarrhoea (2.4%) were the commonest conditions. Episodes of illness were distributed unequally among children, with a mean of 2.34 episodes per child. These included an average of 1.13 episodes of ARI (of which 0.16 had lower respiratory symptoms [ALRI]) and 1.17 episodes of acute diarrhoea. Sanitation factors were the principal risks for gastroenteritis, while living in rural areas predisposed children to ARI. Parental factors such as illiteracy were also linked to morbidity.
authors.affiliation: Ethio-Swedish Children's Hospital, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Muhe
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Byass
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Freij
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sandström
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wall
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000367:Age Factors; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003906:Developing Countries; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology; D005002:Ethiopia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009017:Morbidity; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors