Modern Care Journal

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Background and Aim: Gastroenteritis is one of the major causes of children mortality and malnutrition in developing countries. According to World Health Organization a child dies e very six seconds throughout the world because of diarrhea. Repeated attacks of diarrhea, lead to nutritional disorder and growth pauses. The current study was accomplished to assess the epidemiology of gastroenteritis in children admitted to Pediatrics ward of Vali-e-Asr hospital in Birjand.   Materials and Methods: Using census this descriptive study was done on children under 60 months who were admitted to Vali-e-Asr pediatric hospital with the diagnosis of gastroenteritis in 2002. Questionnaire was completed through interviews with the mother and hospital records. Data were analyzed in SPSS software   Results: Out of 314 children with diarrhea 6.58% were boys and 4.41% were girls, which 1.69% was born in the normal way. 36% of children had an electrolyte disorder with hypokalemia as the most common. 89.5% were treated by antibiotics and Ceftriaxone was the most common used drug. 48.7% of children had been breast fed in the first year of life, and 57.6% were finally discharged from the hospital with full recovery .   Conclusion: In this study, the prevalence of underweight children is more than the mean of children in Birjand which could be a predisposing factor for gastroenteritis. Electrolyte disorders are important in children and by correcting them many mortality and complications can be avoided.

Keywords: Epidemiology, Gastroenteritis, Electrolyte disorders, Children

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