title: [Clinical signs of malnutrition in children living around a mining area: a case study in the city of Lubumbashi and its surrounding].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Malnutrition remains to this day a major public health problem, particularly in developing countries. This study aimed to determine the clinical signs observed in malnourished children admitted to a care unit.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a descriptive cross-sectional study, conducted from July 2013 to December 2014. Our study included 311 cases (182 malnourished children and 129 well-nourished children), based on exhaustive sampling, with an active screening of malnourished and well-nourished children. The diagnosis was made clinically and was associated with anthropometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The main collected symptoms in malnourished children were: cough or pneumonia in 42.50%, gastroenteritis in 38.55%, skin lesions in 22.91% of cases, fever in 22.35% of cases, edema in 19.0% of children, pallor in 8.38% of children; finally splenomegaly and hepatomegaly were the less common symptoms (1.68% and 2.89% respectively). Well-nourished children, instead, showed splenomegaly and fever associated with malaria.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Malnourished children living around a mining area don't differ in symptomatology from the other malnourished children, except for hepatomegaly and splenomegaly which are very rare in our malnourished children.
authors.affiliation: Département de Pédiatrie, Faculté de Médecine Université de Lubumbashi, Lubumbashi, République Démocratique du Congo.
authors.forename: Aimée Mudekereza
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Musimwa
authors.affiliation: Département de Pédiatrie, Faculté de Médecine Université de Lubumbashi, Lubumbashi, République Démocratique du Congo.
authors.forename: Gray Wakamb
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Kanteng
authors.affiliation: Département de Pédiatrie, Faculté de Médecine Université de Lubumbashi, Lubumbashi, République Démocratique du Congo.
authors.forename: Hermann Tamubango
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Kitoko
authors.affiliation: Département de Pédiatrie, Faculté de Médecine Université de Lubumbashi, Lubumbashi, République Démocratique du Congo.
authors.forename: Oscar Numbi
authors.initials: ON
authors.lastname: Luboya
mesh_terms: D000886:Anthropometry; D015362:Child Nutrition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015023:Democratic Republic of the Congo / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006529:Hepatomegaly / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008906:Mining; D013163:Splenomegaly / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Lubumbashi; Malnutrition; child; clinical; mining environment