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(ii) Other epidemiological methods
Cross sectional morbidity survey of school children
A total of 591 girls and 758 boys were examined clinically In the government school,
Kedar, after obtaining a detailed history about any illness suffered during the prevlous 2
weeks.
3 History
1. A total of 265 (19.6%) children gave a histoly of having suffered from some form of
illness dunng the previous 2 weeks.
2. The common ailments were fever (12.5%), respiratory infection (6.7%), headache
(4 7%) and abdominal paln (2 9%).
3. The mean duration of fever was 3.6 (i 2.8) days, respiratory infection 4.5 (+ 2.9)
days, headache 3.3 (+ 2.8) days and abdominal pain 2.7(i 2.9) days
4. The mean school loss due to fever was 2.1 (i 2.7) days, resp~ratory infection 1.4
(i 2 1) days, abdominal paln 1.4 (i 2.4) days , headache 1.1 (i 1.8) days and
diarrhea 1 5 (+ 2.1) days.
5. There was no significant d~fference between girls and boys as regards the
frequency of d~sorders, duration and school loss due to these (p > 0.05).
=, Clinical examination
1. Out of 591 girls 15 (2.5%) and out of 758 boys, 25 (3.3%) did not suffer from any
illness. The average d~sorder per child was 2.5 for both girls and boys.
2. The important nutntional d~sorders prevalent were anemia (57.1%), riboflavin
deficiency (32.9%), nutntional skln disorders (11.6%) and vitamin A deficiency
(3.1 %).
3. Among the infectious disorders won infestation, was the commonest being
prevalent in 46.4% of the ch~ldren examined. The other infections seen were dental
cal~es (27.9%), skin infections ( 8.7%), respiratory Infections ( 6.0%) and eye