Malnutrition contributes to an estimated 45% of deaths among children under 5 years of age in developing countries, predominantly due to infections. Malnourished children therefore stand to benefit hugely from vaccination, but malnutrition has been described as the most common immunodeficiency globally, suggesting that they may not be able to respond effectively to vaccines. The immunology of m...

A survey carried out in May 1979 of the nutritional status of 2152 children aged 1-5 living in Ubon Refugee Camp, Thailand, showed that 165 (7.5%) probably suffered from malnutrition, using arm circumference as an index. This index was validated by comparisons with weight for age and with morbidity in 'malnourished' and normal groups. Arm circumference appeared to be a valid index of nutritiona...

To determine the risk factors for death of severely-malnourished Bangladeshi children with shigellosis, a case-control study was conducted at the Clinical Research and Service Centre of ICDDR,B: Centre for Health and Population Research in Dhaka, Bangladesh. One hundred severely-malnourished children (weight-for-age <60% of median of the National Center for Health Statistics), with a positive s...

Both malaria and protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) are highly prevalent in young children of sub-Saharan Africa, and the association between PEM and malaria continues to be discussed controversially. We analysed the association between PEM, malaria morbidity and all-cause mortality in a cohort of 709 children aged 6-30 months in a malaria holoendemic rural area of Burkina Faso. Study children w...

Various studies have reported the effect of severe malnutrition on electrolyte levels and electrocardiographic parameters. However, only a few have reported these findings in mild and moderate grades of malnutrition in children. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the effect of malnutrition (mainly mild and moderate grades) on corrected QT interval (QTc) and QT dispersion (QTcd...

Malnutrition is a common cause of secondary immune deficiency and has been linked to an increased susceptibility to infection in humans. Malnutrition specifically affects T-cell-mediated immune responses. The aim of this study was to assess in lymphocytes from malnourished children the expression levels of IL-12, IL-18 and IL-21, molecules that induce the differentiation of T cells related to t...

BACKGROUND It has been hypothesized that one factor associated with poor prognosis in kwashiorkor, but not in marasmus, is impaired lipid catabolism, which limits the supply of energy that is essential for survival when dietary intake is inadequate. However, this hypothesis has not been tested. OBJECTIVE The objective was to measure lipid kinetics in malnourished children with kwashiorkor or ...

This case-control study was conducted in the Dhaka Hospital of ICDDR,B to identify the risk factors of mortality in severely-malnourished children hospitalized with diarrhoea. One hundred and three severely-malnourished children (weight-for-age <60% of median of the National Center for Health Statistics standard) who died during hospitalization were compared with another 103 severely-malnourish...

UNLABELLED Infections and malnutrition remain the main causes of infant mortality in developing countries. In protein-calorie malnutrition, immunologic responses are affected, which often facilitates infections. However, the presence of asthma and allergic rhinitis are not commonly recognized in malnourished individuals. The aim of this study was to evaluate serum IgE values in children with pr...