Abstract
From July 1992 to May 1993 a study was performed of the relationship between bacteraemia, nutritional status and HIV status in 212 out of 334 consecutive infants and children aged 0–5 years, who had died at home in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The remainding 122 children were excluded because the time period between death and arrival at the hospital was over 3 h. A pathogen was isolated from 92 (43%) children andKlebsiella species were most commonly isolated. A positive HIV-1 serology was found in 122 (58%) children and 110 (52%) children were malnourished. Malnutrition was significantly associated with bacteraemia at death after adjustment for the confounding effect of age and HIV status (odds ratio 4.28; 95% CI 2.27–8.07;P<0.001). No association was found between either HIV serostatus or proven HIV infection and bacteraemia, which could not be attributed to nutritional status.
Conclusion
Bacteraemia, in particular with Gram-negative bacteria, is an important cause of death in malnourished children in Zimbabwe regardless of their HIV-1 antibody status.
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Wolf, B.H.M., Ikeogu, M.O. & Vos, E.T. Effect of nutritional and HIV status on bacteraemia in Zimbabwean children who died at home. Eur J Pediatr 154, 299–303 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01957366
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01957366