Newborns are vulnerable to environmental factors
Tareq Salahuddin
Neonatal mortality rate in Bangladesh is 37 per 1000 live births on an average; in some areas this is even much higher. Over the past few decades we have observed under 5 mortality coming down gradually whereas, on the contrary levels of newborn mortality is still beyond the acceptable limit. This will be very difficult for Bangladesh to achieve the MDG-4 targets by 2015 if, we cannot curb the neonatal mortality rate down to 22 per 1000 live births. A combination of pneumonia, sepsis and meningitis, known as Very Severe Disease (VSD) of the newborn causes 50% of the newborn deaths in Bangladesh. The common signs are fever, hypothermia, difficult breathing, lethargy, convulsion, inability to feed and some more. Failure to take immediate appropriate medical care once these signs are obvious, may lead the newborn to death in a very short period of time. Recently 'International Journal on Environmental Research and Public Health' published an important research article from Bangladesh titled "Vulnerability of Newborns to Environmental Factors: Findings from Community Based Surveillance Data in Bangladesh". Scientists from Projahnmo study group demonstrated for the first time that environmental factors — the meteorological factors in particular — are closely associated with VSD of the newborn. When the environmental temperature rises, incidence of VSD also increases — Dr Ishtiaq Mannan and his co-authors reported in this article. When there is a combination of heat and humidity, the relationship is even stronger. Researchers think that, the health of the newborns born in the poor rural households of Bangladesh are being influenced by the changes of the environmental factors and they indicated several pathways that may potentially lead to VSD. Higher heat-humidity index may facilitate proliferation of bacteria in poorly ventilated households. In some particular of the year people usually remain in the households due to rain and the overcrowding and related poor hygienic practice may enhance chances of infection. Findings of this paper will have significant contribution in strengthening prevention and management strategies for VSD of the newborns. The seasonal pattern of VSD and the possible pathways should be incorporated in the awareness raising and health education programme for the families, targeting the delivered mothers and newborn caregivers in particular. As the research revealed that risks are higher in certain months of the year, the health programme may consider taking a strategy of intensifying the disease surveillance at the community level. Also at the health centres and the hospitals, these findings will help projecting preparedness to manage sick newborns as well as monitoring of coverage. To see the full article please visit — http://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph/special_issues/risk_assessment/
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