HEALTH AND DEMOGRAPHIC SURVEILLANCE IN RURAL WESTERN KENYA: A PLATFORM FOR EVALUATING INTERVENTIONS TO REDUCE MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY FROM INFECTIOUS DISEASES

• Published in: The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene Vol. 73; no. 6; pp. 1151 - 1158
• Main Authors: ADAZU, KUBAJE, LINDBLADE, KIM A, ROSEN, DANIEL H, ODHIAMBO, FRANK, OFWARE, PETER, KWACH, JAMES, VAN EIJK, ANNA M, DECOCK, KEVIN M, AMORNKUL, PAULI, KARANJA, DIANA, VULULE, JOHN M, SLUTSKER, LAURENCE
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lawrence, KS ASTMH 01.12.2005; Allen Press
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age Distribution; Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Autopsy; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Communicable Disease Control - statistics & numerical data; Communicable Diseases - epidemiology; Communicable Diseases - etiology; Communicable Diseases - mortality; Demography; Female; Health Status; HIV Infections - epidemiology; HIV Infections - etiology; HIV Infections - mortality; HIV Infections - prevention & control; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Infant; Infant Mortality - trends; Infant, Newborn; Infectious diseases; Kenya - epidemiology; Malaria - epidemiology; Malaria - etiology; Malaria - mortality; Malaria - prevention & control; Male; Medical sciences; Medically Underserved Area; Middle Aged; Mortality - trends; Population Surveillance - methods; Rural Health - statistics & numerical data; Rural Health Services - utilization; Surveys and Questionnaires; Kenya; Africa; Human; Infection; Rural environment; Surveillance; Mortality; Tropical medicine; Epidemiology; Morbidity; Public health
• ISSN: 0002-9637; 1476-1645
• DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.2005.73.1151

We established a health and demographic surveillance system in a rural area of western Kenya to measure the burden of infectious diseases and evaluate public health interventions. After a baseline census, all 33,990 households were visited every four months. We collected data on educational attainment, socioeconomic status, pediatric outpatient visits, causes of death in children, and malaria transmission. The life expectancy at birth was 38 years, the infant mortality rate was 125 per 1000 live births, and the under-five mortality rate was 227 per 1,000 live births. The increased mortality rate in younger men and women suggests high human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-related mortality in the population. Of 5,879 sick child visits, the most frequent diagnosis was malaria (71.5%). Verbal autopsy results for 661 child deaths (1 month to <12 years) implicated malaria (28.9%) and anemia (19.8%) as the most common causes of death in children. These data will provide a basis for generating further research questions, developing targeted interventions, and evaluating their impact.