A Retrospective Study on Infectious Diseases Occurrence in Undernourished and Well-Nourished Children in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa Primary Care Center-Gambia | Biomedgrid

The interrelated nature of the occurrence of infectious diseases amongst malnourished and well-nourished children is still among the topics that need a thorough research. Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) are associated with increased severity of common infectious diseases. Death amongst children with SAM is almost always as a result of infection. Malnutrition is common in Kiang West District particularly during the “hunger” season from the month of August to October every year. This study aimed to compare pattern of infectious diseases registered in malnourished children with the well-nourished children in a free rural primary care clinic in Kiang West District, The Gambia. We retrospectively analyzed data from the Keneba Electronic Medical Records System looking for records of all children 5 years and below seen with ICD-10 codes for various prevalent of infectious diseases between January 2010 and December 2017. Data of children with normal anthropometry characteristics was compared against those with moderate acute malnutrition (WHO z score 2-3) and severe acute malnutrition (WHO z score > 3).