Original Research Article
Year: 2019 | Month: February | Volume: 9 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 203-210
Seasonal Epidemiology of Acute Respiratory Infection among the Children in Kashmir Himalayan Region-India
Manzoor A. Wani1, Ishtiaq A. Mayer2, Suhial Naik3, Bashir A. Lone4
1Research Scholars, Department of Geography, University of Kashmir-Srinagar
2Professor, Department of Geography, University of Kashmir-Srinagar
3MD. Pediatricians and Child Specialist, Sub District Hospital Sopore
4Research Scholars, Department of Geography, University of Kashmir-Srinagar
Corresponding Author: Manzoor A. Wani
ABSTRACT
The study was carried to analyse the seasonal dynamics of respiratory infections among the children of Sopore Baramulla J&K North India. The study was prospective cross-sectional. The parents with their ailing children visiting to the pediatricians at Sub-District Hospital and Private Health Care clinics were questioned from1 June 2016 to 1 May 2017. Information regarding different socio-economic variables were also collected and noted on predesigned well-structured questionnaire in order to find the association between respiratory infections and variable socio-economic parameters. The obtained data was analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software by adopting suitable statistical methods in order to find the association between the respiratory illness and socio-economic variables. During the clinical investigation, high cases of acute respiratory infection were diagnosed which constitutes 57.14% to wheezing associated with Lower Respiratory Tract Infection (WALRTI), followed by Bronchiolitis 28.57 % and Bronchopneumonia with 14.28%. The highest cases were found during winter and spring 44.34% and 32.60 % respectively within the age group of <6 years. The study also revealed that the highest cases were from rural areas 87.3 % of the total respondents with high cases of acute respiratory infections (ARI) in winter and spring season below the age groups 6 years.
Key words: Seasonal appraisal, Socio-economic, Relative humidity, Lower respiratory tract infections.