Cryptosporidiosis in infancy and childhood mortality in Guinea Bissau, West Africa

A community study was carried out as part of a three-year surveillance of diarrhoea among children below 4 years of age from a semi-urban district. Cryptosporidium spp. were detected in 7 per cent of stool samples. The samples represented a total of 3215 episodes of diarrhoea. The prevalence of cryp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMJ (Online) 1993-01, Vol.307 (6091), p.417-420
Main Authors: Molbak, K, Hojlyng, N, Gottschau, A, Sa, JCC, Ingholt, L, Dasilva, APJ, Aaby, P
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:A community study was carried out as part of a three-year surveillance of diarrhoea among children below 4 years of age from a semi-urban district. Cryptosporidium spp. were detected in 7 per cent of stool samples. The samples represented a total of 3215 episodes of diarrhoea. The prevalence of cryptosporidium in episodes of persistent diarrhoea was 15 per cent. The case death rate was 3.5 per cent for children less than 1 year-old and 2.3 per cent for 1 year-old children. No deaths were recorded among children above two. Excess mortality was significant for children who acquired cryptosporidiosis in infancy and could not be explained by malnutrition, breast feeding, socio-economic factors, sanitation or water supply conditions.
ISSN:0959-8138