ACUTE RESPIRATORY INFECTION AMONG CHILDREN IN AN AIR FORCE COMMUNITY.

984 children of 745 families were studied for occurrence of Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI). Incidence of ARI was 3.5 episodes per year among infants and 1.8 episodes per child per year among under-five children. 88.8% episodes of ARI were mild while 11.2% episodes were moderate to severe, which mostly occurred in winter. Parental smoking habit, decline in duration of breast feeding, bedroom smoke pollution and over crowding were found to increase the risk of ARI among children. An effective preventive strategy has been highlighted.