Specialist hospital study shows that septic shock and drowsiness predict mortality in children under five with diarrhoea

Aim To evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcome in children hospitalised with diarrhoea, comparing those developed septic shock with those who did not. Methods We carried out a retrospective chart review on children aged 0–59 months admitted to the Dhaka Hospital, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research, Bangladesh, with diarrhoea between October 2010 and September 2011. They were included if they had severe sepsis defined as tachycardia plus hyperthermia or hypothermia or an abnormal white blood cell count plus poor peripheral perfusion in absence of dehydration. Patients unresponsive to fluid and boluses, who required inotropes, were categorised as having septic shock (n = 88). The controls were those without septic shock (n = 116). Results Death was significantly higher among the children with septic shock (67%) than the controls (14%) (p