COMMUNITY-BASED STUDIES ON CHILDHOOD MORTALITY IN A MALARIA HOLOENDEMIC AREA ON THE TANZANIAN COAST

Demographic surveillance of children under 5 years of age was undertak en over a 2 year period in a rural area of coastal Tanzania where holo endemic malaria conditions exist. The mean annual entomological innocu lation rate (EIR) during the period under study was 234 infective bite s per person. There were 192 deaths in children and 1130 live births d uring the 2 years. Of these, 148 were infant deaths giving an infant m ortality rate of 131/1000 live births (95% CI 101, 154). There were 44 deaths in children 1-4 years of age and the overall child mortality r ate was 10/1000 (95% CI 6.1, 14.3). Using verbal autopsy questionnaire s, 56% of the deaths under 4 years were tentatively attributed to mala ria. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.