ABSTRACT
This is a case control study which involved 194 malnourished children below 5 years of age who were attending Basrah Maternity and Children Hospital during 2001 About 84% have marasmus, 8.24% marasmun kwashiorkor 6.18% kwashiorkor and 1.55% under weight Parasitic infections were more frequent among malnourished children [59.8%] than wellnourished children [33%] with increased frequency among malnourished children with diarrhea [32.5%] Cryptosporidiosis was found in 6.85% of children below 5 years with increased frequency among malnourished children with diarrhea 14.89% compared to 11% in malnourished children without diarrhea Only 2% were noticed among wellnourished children with diarrhea while no case has been recorded in wellnourished children without diarrhea. Depressed cellular immunity characterized by decrease in total lymphocytes [particularly T-lymphocytes] was found among malnourished children either with or without diarrhea While humoral immunity [IgG, IgM, IgA] was significantly elevated among malnourished children with or without diarrhea in comparison to wellnourished children. C3 and C4 were increased in malnourished children without diarrhea with significant difference in C4 only. While they were decreased in malnourished children with diarrhea, with significant difference in C3. In addition, Phagocytic activity showed a significant decrease in malnourished children with or without diarrhea compared to wellnourished children