Pattern and outcome of admissions to neonatal unit of tertiary care hospital Nawabshah

To determine the number, disease pattern and outcome of admitted patients in neonatal unit of tertiary care hospital Nawabshah. Retrospective, descriptive study. This study was conducted at NICU pediatrics ward People's Medical College Hospital, People's University of Medical and Health Sciences for women, Nawabshah, Sindh from 1[st] January 2010 to 31[st] December 2010. Data was retrieved from file record regarding sex, gestational age [term and preterm], reason for admission and outcome [discharge, expired]. 2584 neonates were admitted during study period, among them 1776 [68.73%] were males and 808 [31.27%] were females, majority of patient 1657 [64.12%] were admitted during first 24 hours with the clinical diagnosis of birth asphyxia, 489 [15.85%] having neonatal sepsis, 312 [10.67%] because of prematurity, 117 [8.63%] admissions were due to neonatal jaundice and 19 [0.73%] having various conditions like hydrocephalus associated with meningomyelocele, prune belly syndrome, down syndrome, Icthyosis, HDN and TORCH infection. Birth asphysia, Pre-maturity, neonatal infection, neonatal jaundice were the main causes of neonatal admissions. Regular antenatal visits and timely referral to tertiary care hospitals will hopefully result in better outcome

Risk factors for severe acute malnutrition in children under the age of five year in Sukkur

Severe acute malnutrition [SAM] affects approximately 13 million children under the age of 5 year and is associated with 1-2 million preventable child deaths per year. To determine the risk factors for severe acute malnutrition in children under the age of five year. Settings and duration: Nutrition stabilization center of Ghulam Muhammad Mahar Medical College Hospital Sukkur from February 2011 to January 2012. This was a prospective descriptive study. All children diagnosed as severe acute malnutrition, defined as weight for height measurement of < 70% of the median or > 3 SD below the mean World Health organization reference values or the presence of bilateral pitting edema of nutritional origin admitted in Nutrition Stabilization Center were included in this study. Two hundred seventy [270] children were admitted during study period. The age ranged from 06 to 59 months. Maternal illiteracy was present in 216[80%] and paternal illiteracy in 180[66.7%] cases. Parent's income was less than 5000/month in 198[73.3%], family size with more than 4 or more children was seen in 180[66.7%] cases. Exclusive breast feeding was present in only 70[25.9%], mixed feeding was seen in 170[62.9%] and only bottle feeding was seen in 30[11.1%] cases. Late weaning was started in 150[55.6%]. Recurrent diarrhoea was seen in 120[44.4%]. The common risk factors associated with severe acute malnutrition were parental illiteracy, large family size, poverty, non exclusive breast feeding and recurrent diarrhoea. Policy message: To decrease childhood malnutrition mothers should be encouraged for exclusive breast feeding. Parent's education can play an important role in improving child health