Morbidity and mortality pattern in the Children Emergency Unit of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu

Background: Efforts to improve child survival can only be effective if they are based on reasonably accurate information about the causes of death.Objectives: To review the pattern of post-neonatal deaths among children admitted into the Children Emergency Unit of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria.Methodology: The records of all the children admitted into the Children Emergency Unit of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu from January 2006 to December 2010 were reviewed. Neonates were excluded. Information extracted from the records included: age, sex, date of presentation, final diagnosis and duration of admission. Analysis was mainly descriptive, while frequency tables, graph and prose were used to present the results.Results: A total of 6,816 admissions were recorded during the period. Cases of malaria, acute gastroenteritis, pneumonia and sepsis were the most commonly admitted. There were 267 deaths, with a mortality rate of 3.9%. Sepsis, malaria, and acute gastroenteritis accounted for 28.8%, 24% and 11.2% of deaths, respectively. More than 77% of the deaths occurred among children under 5years of age. Mortality was higher during the dry months of December to March, (p=0.760, χ2 =0.094). More than 60% of the deaths occurred within 24hours of presentation, (χ2 =131.9, p=0.001).Conclusion: Mortality rate at the Children Emergency Unit of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu was 3.9%. Infectious diseases were the major causes of mortality in these children. There is, thus, a need for goal-directed efforts towards reducing the mortality from these diseases.Keywords: Admission, disease, gastroenteritis, malaria, pneumonia, sepsi