title: Trends of diarrhoeal diseases in children under five years in the War Memorial Hospital-Navrongo, Ghana: 2010-2013.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Diarrhoea is the third leading cause of hospital morbidity in children under five years in the War Memorial Hospital (WMH). With the current changes in climate, little is known about the seasonal and spatial distribution of diarrhoeal diseases in the WMH. We determined trends of diarrhoeal diseases in children under five years in the WMH.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed secondary data of children under five years who attended the WMH and were diagnosed of diarrhoea. Diarrhoea was defined as a clinician's diagnosis of the passage of three or more watery stools a day in a child under five years in the WMH. Descriptive data analysis was done and expressed as frequencies and relative frequencies. Monthly proportions of diarrhoea and rainfall figures were presented to show seasonal distributions of cases. Geographical distribution of cases was determined using Epi Info and Arc GIS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 865 diarrhoeal cases in children under five years reported to the hospital. Out of this, 425 (49.13%) were female children with 346 (40%) aged 0-11 months. The highest peak occurred in the rainy season from May to August. However, there was a weak negative relationship between diarrhoeal diseases and rainfall for the whole study period. Cases were clustered in the northeastern part of the Kassena Nankana Municipality (KNM).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The most affected age group was in 0-11months. Majority of cases were from the North Eastern part of the Municipality. There was seasonal variation of diarrhoeal diseases. Diarrhoeal diseases have the highest occurrence in the rainy season but an increase in rainfall does not necessarily lead to an increase in diarrhoeal cases. Intervention to reduce diarrhoea should be intensified before the rainy season and in the northeastern parts of the municipality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Diseases Control, School of Public Health, University of Ghana.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Anyorikeya
authors.affiliation: Ghana Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program, School of Public Health, University of Ghana.
authors.forename: Donne Kofi
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Ameme
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Diseases Control, School of Public Health, University of Ghana; Ghana Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program, School of Public Health, University of Ghana.
authors.forename: Kofi Mensah
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Nyarko
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Diseases Control, School of Public Health, University of Ghana; Ghana Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program, School of Public Health, University of Ghana.
authors.forename: Samuel Oko
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Sackey
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Diseases Control, School of Public Health, University of Ghana; Ghana Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program, School of Public Health, University of Ghana.
authors.forename: Edwin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Afari
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D005869:Ghana / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011891:Rain; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012621:Seasons
keywords: Diarrhoea; Ghana; children under five years; distribution; seasonal