An Epidemiological Survey Of Diarrhoea Among Children In The Karnataka Region of Kaveri Basin

Abstract

Research Question: Whether the source of drinking water influences the occurrence of diarrhoea in under fives? Objectives: i) To know the incidence of morbidity and mortality due to diarrhoea. ii) To identify the relationship of occurrence of diarrhoea with source of drinking water. iii) To study the treatment practices in diarrhoea. Study Design: Cross sectional. Participants: 7141 under five children. Setting: Rural and Urban clusters. Analysis: Simple proportions. Results: Nearly 7% of children experienced diarrhoea in the past two weeks and 4% had an attack of diarrhoea in the last 24 hours. Incidence of diarrhoea was significantly higher amongst 1-3 years male children. The source of drinking water per se did not influence the incidence of diarrhoea. Low (12.7%) ORS use rare was reported 31% of mothers stopped breast-feeding and 15% of mothers stopped oral fluid during diarrhoea. The overall under five-mortality rate in the area was 6.5 per 1000 children and of these one third deaths could be attributed to diarrhoea.