Population-Based Study of Acute Respiratory Infections in Children, Greenland

Acute respiratory infections (ARI) are frequent in Inuit children, in terms of incidence and severity. A cohort of 294 children <2 years of age was formed in Sisimiut, a community on the west coast of Greenland, and followed from 1996 to 1998. Data on ARI were collected during weekly visits at ho...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emerging Infectious Diseases
Main Authors: Koch, Anders, Sørensen, Per, Homøe, Preben, Mølbak, Kåre, Pedersen, Freddy Karup, Mortensen, Tine, Elberling, Hanne, Eriksen, Anne Mette, Olsen, Ove Rosing, Melbye, Mads
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2002
Subjects:
Research
Ari
Greenland
Sisimiut
inuit
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2738482
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12023914
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid0806.010321
Description
Summary:Acute respiratory infections (ARI) are frequent in Inuit children, in terms of incidence and severity. A cohort of 294 children <2 years of age was formed in Sisimiut, a community on the west coast of Greenland, and followed from 1996 to 1998. Data on ARI were collected during weekly visits at home and child-care centers; visits to the community health center were also recorded. The cohort had respiratory symptoms on 41.6% and fever on 4.9% of surveyed days. The incidence of upper and lower respiratory tract infections was 1.6 episodes and 0.9 episodes per 100 days at risk, respectively. Up to 65% of the episodes of ARI caused activity restriction; 40% led to contact with the health center. Compared with studies from other parts of the world, the incidence of ARI appears to be high in Inuit children.

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