Table 2. Probable causes of death in 342 children under 15 years of age in Karonga district, Malawi, according to the demographic surveillance system, 2002–2006.

Probable cause of death	Boys												Girls												Boys and girls
	0–11 mo			1– 4 yr			5–14 yr			Total			0–11 mo			1– 4 yr			5–14 yr			Total			0–11 mo			1– 4 yr			5–14 yr			Total
	No.	%		No.	%		No.	%		No.	%		No.	%		No.	%		No.	%		No.	%		No.	%		No.	%		No.	%		No.	%
Communicable diseases
HIV/AIDS	12	10.3		8	14.3		8	32.0		28	14.2		8	10.1		15	28.3		4	30.8		27	18.6		20	10.3		23	21.1		12	31.6		55	16.1
Tuberculosis or HIV/AIDS	0	–		4	7.1		0	–		4	2.0		2	2.5		1	1.9		1	7.7		4	2.8		2	1.0		5	4.6		1	2.6		8	2.3
Tuberculosis	1	0.9		0	–		0	–		1	0.5		0	–		0	–		0	–		0	–		1	0.5		0	–		0	–		1	0.3
Pneumonia	15	12.9		4	7.1		2	8.0		21	10.7		17	21.5		3	5.7		1	7.7		21	14.5		32	16.4		7	6.4		3	7.9		42	12.3
Malaria	7	6.0		7	12.5		1	4.0		15	7.6		3	3.8		8	15.1		0	–		11	7.6		10	5.1		15	13.8		1	2.6		26	7.6
Diarrhoea	16	13.8		5	8.9		0	–		21	10.7		6	7.6		4	7.5		0	–		10	6.9		22	11.3		9	8.3		0			31	9.1
Neonatal sepsis	12	10.3		0	–		0	–		12	6.1		8	10.1		0	–		0	–		8	5.5		20	10.3		0	–		0	–		20	5.8
Acute febrile disease, nonspecific	11	9.5		10	17.9		2	8.0		23	11.7		7	8.9		8	15.1		2	15.4		17	11.7		18	9.2		18	16.5		4	10.5		40	11.7
Other	3	2.6		3	5.4		3	12.0		9	4.6		1	1.3		1	1.9		0	–		2	1.4		4	2.1		4	3.7		3	7.9		11	3.2
Subtotal	77	66.4		41	73.2		16	64.0		134	68.0		52	65.8		40	75.5		8	61.5		100	69.0		129	66.2		81	74.3		24	63.2		234	68.4
Noncommunicable diseases
Prematurity/low birth weight	12	10.3		0	–		0	–		12	6.1		11	13.9		0	–		0	–		11	7.6		23	11.8		0	–		0	–		23	6.7
Asphyxia/birth injury	10	8.6		0	–		0	–		10	5.1		8	10.1		0	–		0	–		8	5.5		18	9.2		0	–		0	–		18	5.3
Congenital disorders	4	3.4		1	1.8		2	8.0		7	3.6		1	1.3		1	1.9		0	–		2	1.4		5	2.6		2	1.8		2	5.3		9	2.6
Cardiovascular	0	–		0	–		0	–		0	–		0	–		0	–		1	7.7		1	0.7		0	–		0			1	2.6		1	0.3
Respiratory	0	–		0	–		0	–		0	–		0	–		1	1.9		0	–		1	0.7		0	–		1	0.9		0	–		1	0.3
Cancer	0	–		0	–		0	–		0	–		0	–		1	1.9		0	–		1	0.7		0	–		1	0.9		0	–		1	0.3
Other	7	6.0		6	10.7		2	8.0		15	7.6		1	1.3		3	5.7		2	15.4		6	4.1		8	4.1		9	8.3		4	10.5		21	6.1
Subtotal	33	28.4		7	12.5		4	16.0		44	22.3		21	26.6		6	11.3		3	23.1		30	20.7		54	27.7		13	11.9		7	18.4		74	21.6
External causes
Accidental	1	0.9		4	7.1		4	16.0		9	4.6		1	1.3		6	11.3		2	15.4		9	6.2		2	1.0		10	9.2		6	15.8		18	5.3
Unknown intent	0	–		0	–		1	4.0		1	0.5		1	1.3		0	–		0	–		1	0.7		1	0.5		0	–		1	2.6		2	0.6
Subtotal	1	0.9		4	7.1		5	2		10	5.1		2	2.5		6	11.3		2	15.4		10	6.9		3	1.5		10	9.2		7	18.4		20	5.8
Unknown	5	4.3		4	7.1		0	–		9	4.6		4	5.1		1	1.9		0	–		5	3.4		9	4.6		5	4.6		0	–		14	4.1
Total	116	100		56	100		25	100		197	100		79	100		53	100		13	100		145	100		195	100		109	100		38	100		342	100

AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus.