INFECTION AND KWASHIORKOR IN SUDANESE CHILDREN

Two groups of Sudanese children, 55 with nutritional marasmus (NM) and 55 with kwashiorkor (K) were studied to differentiate between the eti ology of NM and K. Subjects were between 6 and 36 months of age, admit ted to the Children's Emergency Hospital in Khartoum. This paper prese nts the results of the association between K and infections during the weaning period. Data on morbidity were obtained by a physician consul ting health records and asking the mothers in the hospital to recall t he occurrence of measles, and the frequency of gastroenteritis, malari a, pneumonia, whooping cough, tuberculosis and other respiratory illne sses, three months prior to hospitalization. A clinical examination an d appetite estimation were also performed. Biochemical tests, included hematology, serum proteins and urea, were performed on all subjects. The findings provide strong evidence that K is more associated with in fections during the weaning period than is NM. The odds ratios for mea sles (2.3), frequency of pneumonia (2.1), and other respiratory illnes ses (2.9) during the weaning period provide support for the suggestion that these illnesses are significant in predicting the occurrence of K. In contrast diarrhea seems to be a frequent antecedent and concurre nt feature of both types of PEM. The results suggest important element s for prevention and control of PEM.