Browsing by Author "Mgeni, Samwel Stima"

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    Childhood accident in Dar es Salaam
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 1981) Mgeni, Samwel Stima
    A total of 1051 childhood accident cases admitted to the Muhimbili Medical Center surgical andmedical pediatric wards over the period of 12 months of 1980 were reviewed to determine the pattern of childhood accidents and the influence of sex, age, social and environmental factors on their causation.Childhood accidents in 1980 occupied the 5th overall position in the hospital morbidity list, the other causes of morbidity being acute diarrhoeal diseases; respiratory tract infections other than TB measles, and low birth weight. The commonest form of accident (31%) was trauma and the other forms of accidents were, accidental poisoning (27%) accidents from foreign bodies (25%), and burns (17%). The commonest form of trauma was fractures and the other forms were head injuries, and a group of other injuries. The commonest mode of injury was falls, particularly from trees, and falls happening while the child was running. The commonest form (45%) of' accidental poisoning was kerosene poisoning the other forms of poisoning were due to drugs and chemicals (26%), food agents (23%) and a miscellaneous group (6%) of other forms of poisoning. In the majority of cases of accidents from foreign bodies the foreign bodies were seeds lodged into the nostrils and ears.Thecommonest form (82.4%) of burns were scalds, the other forms (17.6%) were due to open fires.The majority of cases in all the accidents except trauma, were under the age of 5 years and the peak occurred in the age group 1 - 3 years.In trauma, the majority of the cases were under7 years and peak occurred in the ace croup 5-7 years. A Male preponderance was noted in all the accidents.Remarkable monthly and diurnal variations in the occurrence of childhood accidents were noted for trauma, kerosene poisoning and burns only.