Transient risk factors for acute childhood diarrhoea in an urban community of Papua New Guinea

Transient risk factors may play an important role in the aetiology of acute diarrhoea. These factors have not been well elucidated. To assess them, we monitored 479 children below the age of 5 years living in a well-defined urban community in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, for one year, using the nested case-control method with density sampling. Comparing the odds ratios, we found that eating food that had been kept for more than 12 h, eating away from home, temporary absence of mother from home for more than one day, and the presence of respiratory infection in the child, were statistically associated with an increased risk of diarrhoea. We conclude that these transient factors must be addressed if effective control of diarrhoea is to be achieved. We believe that further studies will identify the factors more precisely and provide a better understanding of the method we have employed.