The need for further studies on relationships between deaths and environmental variables has been reported in the literature. This case-control study was, therefore, carried out to find out the associations between several social and environmental variables and deaths of children due to infectious diseases such as those leading to diarrhoea, acute respiratory infection, measles and other diseases. Six hundred and twenty-five deaths (cases) and an equal number of matched living children (controls) aged 1-59 months, were studied in rural Matlab. An analysis of crude and adjusted odds ratio showed differential associations. Sources of drinking water, amount of stored water, conditions of latrines, number of persons sleeping with the child and the type of cooking site were statistically significantly associated with deaths due to infectious diseases after controlling for breast feeding, immunization, and the family size. Significant associations were also observed between: (i) the sources of drinking water and deaths due to ARI, and (ii) conditions of latrines and deaths due to diarrhoeal diseases, after controlling for the confounding variables. Several other environmental factors also showed associations with these various death groups, but they were not statistically significant. The size of the samples in death groups (small) and the prevalence of more or less homogeneous environmental health conditions probably diminished the magnitude of the effects. The results of the study reconfirm the importance of environmental health intervention in child survival, irrespective of breast-feeding, immunization, and selected social variables.
PIP: Findings are reported from a case-control study conducted to assess the associations between several social and environmental variables and deaths of children due to infectious diseases, such as those leading to diarrhea, acute respiratory infection (ARI), measles, and other diseases. 625 deaths (cases) and an equal number of matched living children (controls) aged 1-59 months were studied in rural Matlab. Sources of drinking water, the amount of stored water, latrine conditions, the number of persons sleeping with the child, and the type of cooking site were statistically significantly associated with deaths due to infectious diseases after controlling for breast-feeding, immunization, and family size. Significant associations were also observed between sources of drinking water and deaths due to ARI, and conditions of latrines and deaths due to diarrheal diseases, after controlling for confounding variables. No other statistically significant environmental factors were associated with these various death groups. Study results confirm the importance of environmental health interventions in child survival, irrespective of breast-feeding, immunization, and selected social variables.