FREQUENCY OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES AMONG CHILDREN UNDER 5 YEARS OF AGE

Objectives: To determine the most frequent infectious disease in children under 5 years of age, admitted in pediatric ward of Holy family Hospital, Rawalpindi. To know the socio-demographic factors of infectious diseases in children under 5 years of age living in rural and urban areas. Study Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study. Material and Methods: To determine frequency of infectious diseases under five years of age, we have done Cross sectional descriptive type of study in Pediatric ward of Holy family hospital Rawalpindi. The study was done over a period of 3 months i.e. from 1st August,2018 to 31stOctober,2018 A total of 107 children meeting the inclusion criteria were interviewed. Sample was collected by Non-probability convenient sampling technique. Data was collected using a Questionnaire along with checklist. The data after collection and assembling is analyzed by SPSS 16.0. The result and discussion were made on this analysis. Result: Out of 107 patients, 40 patients (37.4%) had acute respiratory infections (ARI's). 26 patients (24.3%) had diarrhea, 10 patients (9.3%) gastroenteritis, 6 patients (5.6%) Malaria, 6 patients (5.6%) encephalitis, 3 patients (2.8%) patients had meningitis while the prevalence of sepsis, pertussis, T.B, LRTI, UTI was 1.9% i.e. 2 patients had these diseases. Conclusion: It is concluded from our study that acute respiratory infections (ARI) is the most frequent infectious disease and infectious diseases are more common in rural areas as compared to urban areas in children admitted in pediatric ward of Holy family Hospital, Rawalpindi. Key Words: Frequency, Infectious diseases, Holy family Hospital