Child care practices with respect to acute respiratory tract infection in a poor, urban community in Nigeria.

A longitudinal study conducted over a 3-year period in a poor, urban community in Nigeria, a developing country, found that acute respiratory tract infection (ARI) was common, in particular among infants and boys. Between 81% and 95% of the children treated for ARI over the 3-year period were brought to the clinic by their mothers. About 32% of these children had been treated with cough medicines, 42% with antipyretics, 5% with antibiotics, and 10% with hematinics before they were brought to the clinic. The source of such medications included medicines left over from previous prescriptions and those bought from chemists' shops and street vendors. Up to 64% of the children treated for ARI had been force-fed local herbal teas by their mothers; herbal teas were used for both preventive and curative purposes.