• Resource Library
• Technical Resources
  • Assessment
  • Field Exchange Digest
  • General food distributions
  • Humanitarian systems
  • Infant and young child feeding in emergencies
  • Livelihoods interventions
  • Prevention and treatment of moderate acute malnutrition
  • Prevention and treatment of severe acute malnutrition
• Harmonised Training Package (HTP)
• E-learning lessons
• ENN Resources

Clinical illnesses and causes of death in a Burmese refugee camp in Bangladesh

Document type:	Article
Year:	1978
Location:	Bangladesh
Topic:	Burmese refugees
Author:	Khan MU. Int J Epid
Date published:	January 1983

Clinical illnesses and causes of death in a Burmese refugee camp in Bangladesh. Khan MU International Journal of Epidemiology 1983; 12: 460-464

In 1978 almost 200000 Burmese refugees entered Bangladesh. Thirteen camps were set up for refugees. Data for the camp at Leda is presented here. There were four medical clinics; including a diarrhoea clinic operated by the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh. The four clinics recorded a total of 174201 visits by the refugees, of which 28% were for watery diarrhoea, 32% for dysentery and 40% for other illnesses. Of 2321 diarrhoea stools cultured. 29.2% yielded pathogens of which 22% were Shigellae alone. Coliform count of water was extremely high. The death rate (89/1000/year) was higher than the birth rate (28/1000/year). Most of the deaths were among infants (640), children (357) and old people (131). Main causes of death were clinical diarrhoea (11.8%), fever (23%) and poor nutrition (52%). Prompt arrangements for food, identifying the vulnerable groups, and proper sanitation perhaps could have reduced the number of deaths considerably.

Abstract only ije.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/12/4/460

This resource appears in: Research

« Back