Clinico-epidemiological profile of acute respiratory infections and malnutrition in urban and rural population of central India

Abstract

Background: Acute respiratory infections (ARI) and Malnutrition in children have tremendous burden on the health care sector of developing nations including India. The intensity with which these conditions are holding grip in the community is indeed a matter of concern and hence developing nations should develop an insight to assess the severity of it has become a necessity.Methods: A hospital based cross sectional study was carried out in children aged 0-14 years. Children were clinically assessed and diagnosis was made as URTI or LRTI Also anthropometry was performed and accordingly children were divided into categories of no malnutrition (NM), severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) in ‘under 5’ years age children according to WHO guidelines, whereas children aged ‘above 5’ years were categorized as per the IAP guidelines.Results: It was observed that most of the mothers of children were illiterate with inadequate or absent ventilation and use of biomass fuels (chulha) for cooking purpose in households of rural children. The proportion of malnutrition was found to be equal in Under 5 children. In ‘above 5 years’ age study subjects, 52.4% of urban study subjects were normal as compared to 16.7% of rural study subjects.Conclusions: Our study implies that ARI and Malnutrition definitely is more prevalent in the pediatric population. Prevalence of URTI was found to be on a higher side in the rural population and LRTI prevalence was found to be higher in the urban population. Similarly, the prevalence of malnutrition was almost similar in ‘Under 5’ aged children, whereas the prevalence of malnutrition in ‘Above 5’ aged children was higher in the rural population than urban population.

An Analysis of the Pharmacological Management of Respiratory Tract Infections in-Patients at a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital

“…Pneumonias can prove fatal at times especially in the rural areas where immediate health care facilities remain unavailable as compared to urban areas where immediate interventions are possible due to presence of tertiary health care centers. 9 Antibiotics are often thought to be the first line treatment in lower respiratory tract infections; however, these are not indicated in viral infections where antiviral therapy is required. It is important to use appropriate antibiotic selection based on the infecting organism and to ensure this therapy changes with the evolving nature of these infections and the emerging resistance to conventional therapies.…”