Pattern of Morbidity and Mortality in a Children’s Ward – the Awka Experience

Pattern of morbidity and mortality in children in a hospital setting is essential because it serves as a guide to what happens in the larger society. By these findings, health facilities could be modified and improved upon for better management of those cases. To document the pattern of morbidity and mortality in children’s ward of Amaku General Hospital Awka (AGHA) Anambra State, the hospital records of children aged above one month to 18 years admitted to the children’s ward of AGHA from 1st January 2007 to 31st December 2008 were retrieved and reviewed. Of the 491 patients admitted during the period, 400 patients met the criteria for the study. The youngest child was 7 weeks old and the oldest 18 years. The commonest causes of admission were severe malaria (21.75%), Gastroenteritis (15.50%), febrile convulsion (14.75%), pneumonia (13.75%) andHIV/AIDS (10%). The commonest causes of death were severe malaria with anemic heart failure (30.61%), Gastroenteritis with severe dehydration (20.41%), pneumonia (16.33%) and HIV/AIDS (12.25%). Among the deaths, infancy period was mostly affected (36.74%). Having seen the pattern of morbidity and mortality in our area to be infection related, we recommend to government and society the improvement in our environmental sanitation, sustained health education, reducing poverty while promoting routine immunization, growth monitoring, Breastfeeding of our children and introduction of new vaccines.Keywords: Pattern, morbidity, mortality, children’s ward, Awk

Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of children who received emergency blood transfusion in a secondary health facility at Awka.

Background: Severe anaemia is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in children in developing countries and could be managedby urgent blood transfusion to save life, though with its attendance risks like exposure to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other bloodborne infections.Objective: To determine the socio demographic and clinical characteristic of children found to have received emergency blood transfusion inAwka, Anambra state.Patients and methods: The hospital records of children aged above one month to 18 years who received emergency blood transfusion atchildren’s ward of Amaku General Hospital Awka (AGHA) between march 1, 2007 to August 31st, 2009 were studies.Results: Of the 391 patients and admitted during the period, 35 (8.9%) had emergency blood transfusion. The youngest child was 7 months andoldest 14 years. More than 65% of those transfused were less than 5 years. There was no statistically significant sex difference among thosetransfused ( p > 0.05). The middle socio-economic class patients presented with severe anaemia more than other social class. Malaria was the commonest cause of anaemia requiring emergency blood transfusion accounting for 51.4% as a single entity or 28.6% in combination with otherconditions.Conclusion: Severe anaemia requiring urgent blood transfusion was caused mostly by malaria. Measures aimed at addressing poverty andmalaria attacks were suggested as a way forward. These will help reduce the incidence of severe anaemia and thus the need for emergency bloodtransfusion