Co-morbidities in Hospitalized Children with Severe Acute Malnutrition.

ABSTRACT

Objective: To study the co morbidities in hospitalized children with severe acute malnourishment. Methods: 104 severe acute malnourished children were included. Results: 54% had diarrhea and 27.8% had acute respiratory tract infections. Tuberculosis was diagnosed in 22% of cases (60.8% cases in children 6-12 mo old). Malaria and Measles were diagnosed in 3.8% each, and HIV infection was seen in 2.9% cases. Signs of vitamin B and vitamin A deficiency were seen in 14.4% and 5.8% cases, respectively. Malaria and HIV were not found to be major co morbid conditions. Conclusions: Timely identification and treatment of various co-morbidities is likely to break undernutrition-disease cycle, and to decrease mortality and improve outcome.