Introduction: Infant and childhood mortality remains high in the poor population of the developing world. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the leading causes of death among children admitted to the hospital with acute illnesses in a developing country. Place and Duration of study: The Department of Pediatric Medical Unit-1 of The Children’s Hospital and the Institute of Child Health, Lahore from March 2011 to November 2011. Patients and Methods: Descriptive observational study carried out at The Children’s Hospital. The study population comprised of children admitted to General Medical Ward I, who had passed away with different diseases. Results: 62 (62%) were male and 38 (38%) were female out of 100 child deaths. Age range was from 01 month to 14 years. Maximum number of mortality was < 1 year 69 (69%) and only 7 (7%) of total deaths were > 5 years of age. Deaths were maximum during the first few months of life, with 46% occurring in the first 6 months. 41 (41%) of children had weight for age 80%. Enteric diseases was the most common cause present in 36 (36%) of all deaths, followed by acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) 27 (27%) and Central nervous system (CNS) infection in 25 (25%). Other than these number of diseases were negligible
Attia Bari, , ASMA MUSHTAQ, SAMIA NAZ, Ummul Baneen, , Muhammad Zeesshan Khan, Prof. Tahir Masood Ahmad. (2013) Preventable Diseases - Leading Cause of Death in Developing Countries , , Volume 37, Issue 2.
