Hypoglycaemia in Under-five Children with Diarrhoea

The present study aimed to observe the clinical features of hypoglycaemia, and identify predictors of hypoglycaemia in under-five diarrhoeal children requiring hospitalization for close observation and support. Such information could be useful to the clinicians and policy makers in developing appropriate management protocols both for identification of such children and optimizing their management. We performed a prospective study in 782 under-five children who presented with diarrhoeal illnesses. Blood glucose was determined when hypoglycaemia was suspected in 598 (62%), and 65 (11%) of them were hypoglycaemic (study group). From the other 533 non-hypoglycaemic children, 195 were randomly selected as comparison group. Bacteraemia was significantly (P = 0.026) often detected in 17 out of 260 (7%) children as opposed to 3 out…