Why do families of sick newborns accept hospital care? A community-based cohort study in Karachi, Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE: Sick young infants are at high risk of mortality in developing countries, but families often decline hospital referral. Our objective was to identify the predictors of acceptance of referral for hospital care among families of severely ill newborns and infants <59 days old in three low-income communities of Karachi, Pakistan. STUDY DESIGN: A cohort of 541 newborns and infants referred from home by community health workers conducting household surveillance, and diagnosed with a serious illness at local community clinics between 1 January and 31 December 2007, was followed-up within 1 month of referral to the public hospital. RESULT: Only 24% of families accepted hospital referral. Major reasons for refusal were financial difficulties (67%) and father/elder denying permission (65%). Religious/cultural beliefs were cited by 20% of families. Referral acceptance was higher with recognition of severity of the illness by mother (odds ratio=12.7; 95% confidence interval=4.6 to 35.2), family's ability to speak the dominant language at hospital (odds ratio=2.0; 95% confidence interval=1.3-3.1), presence of grunting in the infant (odds ratio=3.3; 95% confidence interval=1.2-9.0) and infant temperature <35.5 °C (odds ratio=4.1; 95% confidence interval=2.3 to 7.4). No gender differential was observed. CONCLUSION: Refusal of hospital referral for sick young infants is very common. Interventions that encourage appropriate care seeking, as well as community-based management of young infant illnesses when referral is not feasible are needed to improve neonatal survival in low-income countries.

Burden of Haemophilus influenzae type b disease in Pakistani children.

Estimates of the burden of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) in children in Pakistan are limited. A prospective surveillance was set up in 8 sentinel sites in Karachi and Hyderabad in January 2004. A total of 1481 children aged < 5 years underwent lumbar puncture for suspected acute bacterial meningitis. Specimens from 237 (16.0%) children met the criteria for probable bacterial meningitis, and Hib was detected in 45 of them (19.0%). The minimum detected incidence of Hib meningitis in the Hyderabad area was 7.6 per 100 000 in children < 5 years of age, and 38.1 per 100 000 children < 1 year. Hib vaccination is justified for inclusion in Pakistan's expanded programme of immunization.

Validity of neonatal jaundice evaluation by primary health-care workers and physicians in Karachi, Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to validate primary health-care workers' and physicians' visual assessment of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in Karachi, Pakistan. STUDY DESIGN: We compared primary health-care workers' and physicians' clinical identification of jaundice in infants <60 days old. RESULT: Primary health-care workers identified 1- to 20-day-old neonates with hyperbilirubinemia > or =15 mg per 100 ml (260 micromol l(-1)) with 83.3% sensitivity and 50.5% specificity; neonates aged 1 to 6 days were identified with 76.2% sensitivity and 60.7% specificity. Physicians identified neonates aged 1 to 20 days with hyperbilirubimemia > or =15 mg per 100 ml (260 micromol l(-1)) with 51.4% sensitivity and 90.7% specificity, and neonates aged 1 to 6 days with 50% sensitivity and 88.5 % specificity. The primary health-care workers' and physicians' assessments showed fair interobserver agreement (kappa statistic 0.29). CONCLUSION: Primary health-care workers identified hyperbilirubinemic neonates with adequate sensitivity. With proper training and supervision, their assessment could improve the referral of hyperbilirubinemic neonates in low-resource settings in the developing world.