The causes of hospital admission and death among children in Bamako, Mali.
The health burden and mortality caused by infections during childhood remain large in sub-Saharan Africa. We performed a review of the causes of hospitalization and death among children admitted to a pediatric teaching hospital in Bamako, Mali. Medical records of children admitted throughout 2000 were systematically sampled and abstracted for demographics, diagnosis, hospital course, and disposition. A sample of 1644 charts, from 5001 admitted children, were abstracted. The median age was 8 months. Half of the children had a febrile illness. All diagnoses were made clinically. The annual incidence per 100,000 and case fatality rates of the four most common serious infections, excluding malaria, were as follows: pneumonia, 165 (12 per cent); sepsis, 75 (37 per cent); meningitis, 71 (20 per cent); and enteric fever, 14 (12 per cent). An estimated 1300 children were admitted with thick-smear confirmed malaria; at least 64 per cent met World Health Organization criteria for severe malaria and 11 per cent died. Seventy-one per cent of admissions were due to infections. Overall 21 per cent of children admitted died in the hospital, most within the first 3 days of admission. Infectious diseases remain the primary cause of hospitalization among Malian children and frequently lead to death. A substantial proportion of this morbidity and mortality is probably attributable to vaccine-preventable diseases, such as Haemophilus influenzae type B, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Neisseria meningitidis. Prospective surveillance using microbiological data is needed to delineate the organism-specific burdens.
Campbell
James D
JD
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Center for Vaccine Development, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA. jcampbel@medicine.umaryland.edu
Sow
Samba O
SO
Levine
Myron M
MM
Kotloff
Karen L
KL
D000293:Adolescent; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008302:Mali / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies