High infant mortality from infections

High infant mortality due to preventable infections

05/11/2012

Child mortality is a major problem, especially in the Third World countries of Africa and Asia. Although the death rate of children under the age of five has been reduced for some diseases, in 2010 there were 7.6 million children worldwide. Scientists at the United Nations (UN) calculated that infectious diseases account for two-thirds of deaths among children under the age of five.

Pneumonia most often leads to death
Pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and other infectious diseases are very rarely fatal in industrialized countries. In developing countries, pneumonia and complications of premature delivery are the leading causes of death in children under the age of five. With better medical care, such infectious diseases and complications could be treated successfully in most cases. The UN scientists report in „The Lancet“, that many infections are preventable.

Li Liu of the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group and colleagues and Unicef ​​Children's Relief Center analyzed child mortality data from 193 countries. They found that more than three million babies usually died in the first month after birth due to complications of premature birth. According to scientists, the most common cause of death for older children was pneumonia against diarrhea and malaria. About half of the deaths were for children from Africa, with 73% avoiding preventable infectious diseases. In Southeast Asia, complications during the first month of life were the number one cause of death.

Child mortality should fall by two-thirds
In 2006, the UN made a provision according to which the child mortality of under-five-year-olds should be reduced by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015. However, this goal does not seem attainable in the given time period. In Africa, only the numbers of AIDS, malaria, tetanus and measles have dropped significantly. Overall, child mortality worldwide has fallen by 26 percent since 2000, the researchers report. The advances in pneumonia, diarrhea and measles were particularly high. However, this progress would not be enough to reduce child mortality by two-thirds overall.

In the coming years, more measures and life-saving interventions for the health of newborns, toddlers and mothers would have to take place, especially in the severely affected regions, explain the scientists.

Reduce child mortality with vitamin A.
British and Pakistani scientists reported in the journal last August „British Medical Journal“, that vitamin A could save the lives of countless children in developing and emerging countries.

In a comprehensive study, the researchers analyzed data from 43 studies on the effects of vitamin A. More than 200,000 children between the ages of six months and five years were involved. Researchers led by Professor Zulfiqar Bhutta from the Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi (Pakistan) came to the conclusion that the death rate of children in developing and emerging countries could be reduced by 24 percent by taking vitamin A supplements.

Vitamin A is a vital vitamin that is not produced by the body itself. In developed countries, people absorb this nutrient with their food. In developing countries, the scarce food supply and famine cause a vitamin A deficiency in humans. This manifests itself in various health impairments, ranging from dry skin, difficulty seeing, hair loss and night blindness on an increased susceptibility to infection to anemia, heart disease and increased risk of cancer. In addition, impairments of fertility are a possible consequence of vitamin deficiency. In addition, children who ingest less vitamin A are more likely to develop growth disorders.

According to Professor Bhutta, the results of the study are so clear that the use of vitamin A supplements should begin immediately in the relevant regions. In addition, the dietary supplements are cheap. (Ag)

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Picture: UK