Background: Diarrhea is the second leading cause of mortality in children below 5 years of age in Pakistan. Use of Zinc and ORS has been proven in clinical trials to be beneficial in reducing morbidity and mortality. Poor knowledge regarding home management of diarrhea leads to mortality due to severe dehydration. The objective of this study was to assess the level of knowledge of mothers of under five-year-old children regarding, diarrheal home management in Cantonment General Hospital, Rawalpindi. Material and Methods: This was an observational cross-sectional study carried out at Department of Pediatrics, Cantonment General Hospital, Rawalpindi, from 1st August, 2017 to 31st January, 2018. About 400 mothers of under five-year-old children, coming to the outpatient department of the hospital were enrolled in this study. A self-designed structured and validated questionnaire was used to assess the level of knowledge of mothers regarding home management of diarrhea using Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) and Zinc. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 23 with a p value < 0.05 considered statistically significant. Results: About 91% (n=364) of mothers had awareness regarding use of ORS as a means of diarrheal home management. Regarding level of knowledge variable results were found. A good percentage of mothers had knowledge of the purpose of ORS use (78.3%), administration (60%) and initiation of ORS (68%), but only 20.8% mothers rightly answered the timing of ORS administration. Mothers knowledge about the use of zinc, daily administration and duration of administration (10-14 days) was 38.8% ,20.5% and 17.3% respectively.  Mothers who were more educated especially secondary and above and of the age group 22-31, had better awareness of ORS than others, as P value is less than 0.05. Among mothers who were aware of the use of ORS, only 41.8% of them were also aware of the use of zinc. Conclusion: A high awareness level regarding ORS use in mothers was reflected fairly in terms of purpose, administration and initiation of ORS but the knowledge of mothers regarding use of zinc and timing of ORS administration, in home management of diarrhea is still lacking.

Background: Breast feeding prevents infections in infants. Those who are partially or never breast-fed and receiving bottle feeds are at higher risk of infections as compared to exclusive breast-fed infants. The objectives of this study were to record the effect of exclusive breast feeding versus partial and never breast feeding on infections in infants and also to find an association of infection with type of feed, gestation and vaccination status in infants till six months of age.Material and Methods: A total of 500 Infants were included in this cross-sectional study. Information regarding pattern of feeding and infections was obtained by verbal interview of mother and the questionnaire was filled by the study physician. The outcome evaluated was infections in infants till one year of age. Categorical comparisons were made using chi square test. A ‘p’ value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Out of 500 infants, 59.4% were males. About 59.6% were exclusively breast-fed till 6 months of age, 31.2% were partially breast-fed and 9.2% were never breast-fed. In exclusively breast-fed group, 29.5% infants reported infections as compared to 40.4% in partial breast-fed group and 65.2% in never breast-fed infants (P < 0.000). Similarly, 40.6% of infants in exclusively breast-fed group, 55.1% in partial breast feed and 58.7% in the never breast-fed reported infections in 4-6 months of age, which was statistically significant (P = 0.003). There was no significant difference in infection rates among the three study groups in 7-9 (P=0.192) and 10 -12 months (P=0.42) of age.Conclusions: Exclusive breast feeding till six months of age significantly reduces the risk of infections in infancy.