TITLE:
Prevalence of Contagious Diseases of School Going Children in Bangladesh
AUTHORS:
Khan Md. Murtaja Reza Linkon, Utpal Kumar Prodhan, Md. Liton, Md. Kamrul Islam, Laisa Ahmed Lisa, Dipak Kumar Paul
KEYWORDS:
School Children, Contagious Diseases, Nutritional Status, Cross Sectional Study, Prevalence
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biosciences and Medicines,
Vol.3 No.7,
July
3,
2015
ABSTRACT: Children are becoming increasingly vulnerable to contagious disease around the world. It also leads to chronic health problems. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence of contagious diseases in children of 5 - 12 years from five government primary schools (class II to V) in Tangail City, Bangladesh using multistage sampling method. Data were collected using a carry home questionnaire and diseases screening examination was done in the school. Prevalence of common contagious diseases was calculated. A total of 84 students were screened to have contagious diseases by clinical examination, giving a prevalence rate of 8.76% from 958 participated school children. The prevalence of contagious disease among the affected children in the study was found 30.95% for scabies, while 20.24% for influenza and 7.14%, 9.52%, 15.48%, 5.95%, & 10.71% for typhoid, chicken pox, measles, pneumonia, and whooping cough, respectively. Anthropometric measurements were recorded which indicated that 48.8% of children were well-nourished and 21.4%, 17.9%, & 11.9% of children were underweight, stunted, and wasted, respectively. However, these data are extremely important to define the problem and to design proper intervention strategies.