body and prevent the body from falling sick. HIV on entering the human body attaches itself to the CD4 cells and injects its RNA into these cells. The viral RNA then attaches to the host’s DNA
Koen F M Joosten, Henrike Zwart, Wim C Hop, and Jessie M Hulst
A nationwide study has shown that 19% of children admitted to Dutch hospitals are malnourished at admission. This high prevalence underlines the need for routine screening and treatment of malnutrition in hospitalized children.
Gomila AA, De Grandis ES, Visconti GB, Montero SB, Bertero MI, Marietti G, Crespo D, Pico AN, Bianchi M, Gomila H A.
The prevalences of malnutrition and anaemia are high among the children admitted to Hospital de Niños de la Santísima Trinidad. Córdoba
Casey Olives, Marcello Pagano, Megan Deitchler, Bethany L. Hedt, Kari Egge and Joseph J. Valadez
Cluster sampling schemes offer both time efficient and statistically valid alternatives to the conventional methodology for assessment of acute malnutrition in emergency settings.
March 2009, Issue 35 of Field Exchange has been released by Emergency Nutrition Network. Among the Field articles, Research and News & Views presented in this issue were:
MM Hossain, MQ Hassan, MH Rahman, A KABIR, AH Hannan AND AKMF Rahman
In Bangladesh, Treatment of severe malnutrition with locally adapted ICMH protocol using locally available foods is as efficacious as the WHO protocol.
Hossain MI, Dodd NS, Ahmed T, Miah GM, Jamil KM, Nahar B, Alam B, Mahmood CB. Journal of Health Popul Nutr. 2009 Feb;27(1):72-9
Experience in managing severe malnutrition in a government tertiary treatment facility in Bangladesh has demonstrated the potential of addressing severe acute malnutrition (with complications) effectively with minimum incremental expenditure in Bangladesh.
Sheila Isanaka, BA, Eduardo Villamor, MD, DrPHa, Susan Shepherd, MDc and Rebecca F. Grais, PhD,
The World Health Organization standards with the z-score criterion might become a useful tool for the early detection of acute malnutrition in children, although additional research on the resource implications of this transition is required
Thandi Puoane, Katie Cuming, David Sanders, and Ann Ashworth
Despite training and support aimed at implementing the WHO case-management guidelines for SAM, some hospitals reduced their case-fatality rates by at least half, whereas others did not.
Pamela Fregusson, Jobiba Chinkhumba, Carlos Grijalva-Eternod,Theresa Banda, Catherine Mkangma, Anrew Tomkins
Nutritional recovery has been found to be similar between HIV infected and uninfected children who survived SAM.
Mark J Manary, Heidi L. Sandige
A review of how best to manage cases of acute childhood malnutrition in light of recent changes in standard recommendations have been published.
A study carried out in Niger showed that children who received energy-dense fortified ready to use food had a 58% lower chance of suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition.
Bahwere P, Piwoz E, Joshua MC, Sadler K, Grobler-Tanner CH, Guerrero S, Collins S.
In Malawi and other high HIV prevalence countries, studies suggest that more than 30% of all severely malnourished children admitted to inpatient nutrition rehabilitation units are HIV-infected
Bachou H, Tumwine JK, Mwadime RK, Ahmed T, Tylleskar T.
Management according to the WHO protocol for severe malnutrition can reduce the need for blood and IV infusions
Philip Bejon, Shebe Mohammed, Isaiah Mwangi, Sarah H Atkinson, Faith Osier, Norbert Peshu, Charles R Newton, Kathryn Maitland, and James A Berkley
Data among children from Kenya have shown that malnutrition is a common predisposing factor to death from malaria, Lower Respiratory Tract Infections, diarrhoeal deseases and gastroenteritis and interventions that reduce malnutrition will reduce deaths from all these causes.
Carlos Bernal, Claudia Vela´squez, Gloria Alcaraz, and Jorge Botero
By implementing the WHO guidelines, low mortality rates were achieved in children with severe acute malnutrition in class I hospitals
Intensive medical treatment of SAM can substantially reduce case mortality from the 30% to the 4% range. However, community based management using fortified ready-to-use foods for all but the most severe cases offers a better overall public health solution
Susan Thurstans , Marko Kerac , Kenneth Maleta , Theresa Banda and Anne Nesbitt
Severe malnutrition in childhood associated with HIV infection presents a serious humanitarian and public health challenge in Southern Africa.
Morris add, Bruce Cogill, Ricardo Uauy
Effective international action against undernutrition is needed to accelerate progress. In this paper, it is argued that an international nutrition system is needed to deliver in four functional areas: stewardship, mobilisation of financial resources, direct provision of nutrition services at times of natural disaster or conflict, and human and institutional resource strengthening.
Bryce J, Coitinho D, Darnton-Hill I, Pelletier D, Pinstrup-Andersen P.
This paper reports on an assessment of actions addressing undernutrition in the countries with the highest burden of undernutrition, drawing on systematic reviews and best-practice reports.
Zulfiqar A Bhutta, Tahmeed Ahmed, Robert E Black, Simon Cousens, Kathryn Dewey, Elsa Giugliani, Batool A Haider, Betty Kirkwood, Saul S Morris, HPS Sachdev, Meera Shekar
This paper reviewed interventions that affect maternal and child undernutrition and nutrition-related outcomes. These interventions included promotion of breastfeeding; strategies to promote complementary feeding, with or without provision of food supplements; micronutrient interventions; general supportive strategies to improve family and community nutrition; and reduction of disease burden.
Cesar G Victora, Linda Adair, Caroline Fall, Pedro C Hallal, Reynaldo Martorell, Linda Richter, Harshpal Singh Sachdev
A review of the associations between maternal and child undernutrition with human capital and risk of adult diseases in low-income and middle-income countries was done. Data from five long-standing prospective cohort studies from Brazil, Guatemala, India, the Philippines, and South Africa showed that indices of maternal and child undernutrition were related to adult outcomes.
Black RE, Allen LH, Bhutta ZA, Caufield LE, de Onis M, Ezzati M, Mathers C, Rivera J
Maternal and child undernutrition is highly prevalent in low-income and middle-income countries, resulting in substantial increases in mortality and overall disease burden. This paper presents new analyses to estimate the effects of the risks related to measures of undernutrition, as well as to suboptimum breastfeeding practices on mortality and disease.
Bahwere P, Piwoz E, Joshua MC, Sadler K, Grobler-Tanner CH, Guerrero S, Collins S.
In Malawi and other high HIV prevalence countries, studies suggest that more than 30% of all severely malnourished children admitted to inpatient nutrition rehabilitation units are HIV-infected. However, clinical algorithms designed to diagnose paediatric HIV are neither sensitive nor specific in severely malnourished children. The present study was conducted to assess : i) whether HIV testing can be integrated into Community-based Therapeutic Care (CTC); ii) to determine if CTC can improve the identification of HIV infected children; and iii) to assess the impact of CTC programmes on the rehabilitation of HIV-infected children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM).
Sadler, K., Kerac, M., Collins, S., Khengere, H., Nesbitt, A.
To assess the clinical outcomes of a combined approach to the treatment of severe acute malnutrition in an area of high HIV prevalence using: (i) an initial inpatient phase, based on WHO guidelines and (ii) an outpatient recovery phase using ready-to-use therapeutic food.
Weisstaub, G., Araya, M.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, malnutrition still represents a health concern expressed mainly as stunting and micronutrient deficiencies, lessening the attention given to acute malnutrition (moderate and severe); however, the latter has a high fatality rate. Ending these avoidable deaths represents a major health and ethical challenge in the region.
Berti, A., Bregani, E.R., Manenti, F., Pizzi, C.
Malnutrition still has a dramatic impact on childhood mortality in sub-Saharan African countries. Very few studies have tried to evaluate the outcome of severely malnourished children treated according to the UNICEF 2004 guidelines and reported fatality rates are still very high.
Fergusson, P., Chinkhumba, J., Tomkins, A.
The aim of the study was to determine the impact of HIV on nutritional recovery in severely malnourished children in Malawi. The study found that HIV-infected severely malnourished children gain and maintain weight as well as HIV-infected children.
Hoddinott, J., Maluccio, J.A., Behrman, J., Flores, R., Martorell, R.
There is evidence to suggest that improving nutrition in early childhood in developing countries is a long-term economic investment. This study investigates the direct effect of a nutrition intervention in early childhood on adult economic productivity. Findings of the study provide powerful economic incentive for investment in childhood nutrition.