15.The Profile of Severe Acute Malnutrition in Infants below 6 Months versus 6-60 Months of Age Children
Iftikhar Ahmad, Imran Qaisar and Abdul Rehman
ABSTRACT
Objective: To compare the clinical and laboratory findings, the comorbid conditions and the outcome in children aged < 6 months versus those aged 6 to 60 months with SAM.
Study Design: Cohort study
Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at the Pediatrics Unit 2, Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur from April 2018 to November 2018. Materials and Methods: This cohort study was conducted on children, aged 1-60 months, having WHO criteria of SAM.
Results: Out of a total of 62 cases, 29.0% were less than 6 months of age whereas 71.0% were 6 to 60 months. There were a total of 56.5% male and 43.5% female. Only 14.5% children were exclusively breast fed. Out of 62 cases, 56 (90.3%) recovered well while 2 (3.2%) deaths were reported. The raised blood urea level and leukocytosis turned out to be statistically significant in children < 6 months of age while anemia (p = 0.017) was noted to be statistically significant in 6 to 60 months age group.
Conclusion: Lack of breastfeeding was found to be very high in children with SAM. The raised blood urea levels as well as the leukocytosis were found to be significantly more common in children with SAM who were aged less than 6 months while anemia was significantly more common in children aged 6 to 60 months.
Key Words: Sever acute malnutrition, anemia, leukocytosis, raised blood urea level.
Citation of articles: Ahmad I, Qaisar I, Rehman A. The Profile of Severe Acute Malnutrition in Infants below 6 Months versus 6-60 Months of Age Children. Med Forum 2019;30(4):66-69.