title: Hospitalizations and deaths caused by diarrhea in children five years old and younger at four hospitals in Haiti, 2010-2012.
abstract: Worldwide, diarrhea is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality in children; however, there are few data on the burden of diarrheal disease in Haiti. We conducted a retrospective review of hospital discharge registries from 2010 to 2012 in the pediatric wards of four Haitian hospitals and recorded the number of all-cause hospitalizations and deaths as well as diarrheal hospitalizations and deaths by age (≤ 2 and 3-5 years) and epidemiological week. Diarrhea was associated with 3,582 (33.7%) of 10,621 hospitalizations and 62 (11.5%) of 540 in-hospital deaths in children ≤ 5 years old. Of these children, 88.5% and 96.8%, respectively, were among children ≤ 2 years old. The highest proportions of diarrhea-associated hospitalizations occurred from January to April. At four Haitian hospitals over a 3-year period, during which time a major epidemic of cholera occurred, diarrheal disease in children ≤ 5 years was a major contributor to pediatric hospitalizations and mortality.
authors.affiliation: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Haiti, Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Laboratoire National de Sante Publique (National Public Health Laboratory), Port-au-Prince, Haiti; US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Kiersten S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Derby
authors.forename: Mentor Ali Ber
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lucien
authors.forename: Eyal
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Leshem
authors.forename: Maria W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Steenland
authors.forename: Stanley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Juin
authors.forename: Gerard A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Joseph
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Katz
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D002771:Cholera / Q000453:epidemiology; D003681:Dehydration / Q000453:epidemiology; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006205:Haiti / Q000453:epidemiology; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D009017:Morbidity; D012189:Retrospective Studies