Fatal Diarrhoeal Disease in Australian Aboriginal Children

Summary: The clinical and pathologal features are presented of thirteen (13) young Australian aboriginal children with diarrhoea who died over a recent two year period. Clinical evidence of malnutrition was present in six patients and fatty in tration of the liver was found in nine the twelve children examined. In most patients the clinical features were co plicated by parasitic infestations bacterial and fungal infections. These findings emphasise the importance of malnutrition in determining the disproportionately high mortality rate in aboriginal children compared with other Australian children.