Children with Ghee Lipoid Pneumonia in Aseer Region, SouthWestern Saudi Arabia

All children attending the Aseer Central Hospital (the only tertiary hospital in Aseer region, southwestern Saudi Arabia) with lobar pneumonia (315 children) during the period from January 1987 to December 1999 were studied. Out of these, forty-five children were found to have ghee lipoid pneumonia (diagnosed by oil red 0 stain). All of them were given oral and/or nasal administration of ghee for cultural and healing reasons. They included 23 males and 22 females. Their ages ranged from 15 days to 13 years. There was a clustering of cases. Most cases were coming from one place (Dahran Al Janoub) with main catchment population of rural origin. The month of December witnessed the highest number of admissions (18%). The study showed that ghee lipoid pneumonia could be of public health importance due to cultural malpractices. Massive health education and awareness programmes are mandatory to eradicate this condition from the region.