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Global burden of diarrheal diseases attributable to 13 pathogens in children under five: a comprehensive analysis
Xue Li1,2, Liping Guo1,2, Yongyan Chen1
1Department of Pharmacy, The Seventh People's Hospital of Zhengzhou, Zhengzhou, China.
Introduction:
Diarrheal diseases remain a major cause of death and disability among children under five, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Methods:
Using Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 (GBD 2021) data, we assessed mortality and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) attributable to 13 diarrheal pathogens across 204 countries from 1990 to 2021. Analyses included age-stratified burden estimation, temporal trend analysis using estimated annual percentage change (EAPC), and frontier analysis with the Socio-demographic Index (SDI).
Results:
From 1990 to 2021, global diarrheal deaths declined from 2.43 million to 0.56 million, and DALYs from 218.14 million (95% UI: 131.58-335.90 million) to 50.63 million (95% UI: 28.77-82.70 million). Rotavirus and Shigella remained leading causes of mortality, while Clostridioides difficile was the only pathogen with a positive EAPC, indicating an increasing burden. Considerable regional and national disparities persisted, with the highest mortality in Chad (842.44 per 100,000) and the lowest in Andorra (0.05 per 100,000).
Discussion:
These findings underscore the need for pathogen-specific, regionally targeted interventions to further reduce child mortality and disability.
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