Morbidity pattern among Nigerian children from a poor urban community

In a longitudinal study of the pattern of morbidity in a cohort of Nigerian children under five from a poor urban community, symptoms of respiratory tract infection were found to be the commonest during the study period. Nasal discharge had the highest incidence rate of 30.3 episodes per 100 child days followed by cough which had 12.2 episodes per 100 child days. Fever with or without other symptoms had an incidence of 10.8 episodes per 100 child days. The incidence of diarrhoeal disease of 3.3 episodes per 100 child days was much lower than that of the respiratory symptoms. When stratified by age, the respiratory symptoms and fever were common among the younger age groups with a peak incidence at 13-24 months. Diarrhoea on the other hand had an earlier peak than the other three symptoms, being most frequent among those aged 7-12 months. Skin rash had the highest incidence rate among children aged 37-60 months. Although it is not possible to describe a definite seasonal pattern of symptoms from this study, monthly distribution shows that nasal discharge occurred at an almost constant rate throughout the year, cough also occurred throughout the year with periods of decreased incidence in December and May. Fever as a symptom occurred throughout the study period with a decreased incidence in December and peaks in the late dry season. Although symptoms of diarrhoea were present throughout the study period, higher incidence rates occurred in the dry season. Skin rash occurred more frequently during the dry season and decreased during the rainy season.