Mortality of children aged 5–15 years in a tertiary care center in Yaoundé, Cameroon

Although sub-Saharan Africa accounts for only 21% of the global population of children and adolescents aged 5–15 years, 55% of deaths among children in this age group occur in this region. This seems to be related to infectious diseases. We hypothesized that besides infectious diseases, in our conte...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archives de pédiatrie : organe officiel de la Société française de pédiatrie 2020-07, Vol.27 (5), p.257-260
Main Authors: Ngo Um Sap, S., Tchaptchet, K., Mekone, I., Minka, B., Mbono, R.C., Tony, J., De Djob, L., Bissa, C., Koki Ndombo, P.O.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescents
Cameroon - epidemiology
Cause of Death
Child
Child Mortality
Child, Preschool
Children
Chronic Disease
Female
Hospital Mortality
Humans
Male
Mortality
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Tertiary Care Centers
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Summary:Although sub-Saharan Africa accounts for only 21% of the global population of children and adolescents aged 5–15 years, 55% of deaths among children in this age group occur in this region. This seems to be related to infectious diseases. We hypothesized that besides infectious diseases, in our context, a chronic underlying condition increases mortality. Our goal was to describe the leading causes of mortality among this age group. We conducted a retrospective study in a tertiary care center in Yaoundé. We included the medical files of children who died between January 2013 and December 2017. The in-hospital mortality rate was 10.3 per 1000. Coma and/or convulsion was the main cause of death (70.6%), followed by severe anemia (64.7%) and respiratory distress (56.8%). We identified a chronic illness in 62.2% of cases: HIV infection (39.2%) and sickle cell disease (24.5%) were the most prevalent. The main diagnoses were severe malaria, severe sepsis, and meningitis (Cryptococcus sp. included) in 25 (n=35), 16.4 (n=27), and 10.3% (n=17) of cases, respectively. HIV infection and sickle cell disease are the most prevalent chronic diseases related to the patients’ death in the age group studied. Specific interventions focusing on this age group are recommended including intensification of impregnated bednet usage as well as HIV and sickle cell disease management.
ISSN:0929-693X
1769-664X
DOI:10.1016/j.arcped.2020.05.006