The increasing burden of infectious diseases on hospital services at St Mary's Hospital Lacor, Gulu, Uganda.

To evaluate the impact of infectious diseases on hospital services in Northern Uganda, a retrospective analysis of discharge records concerning 70,304 inpatients admitted to the Lacor Hospital (Gulu, Uganda) during the period 1992-1997 was performed. Children less than five years old represented 46.5% of the admissions, and the burden of infectious diseases on pediatric admissions increased over time, especially due to malaria and measles. Infectious diseases accounted for 7 of the 10 leading causes of admission. The most frequent cause was malaria (21.8% of total). The second leading infectious disease resulting in admission was respiratory tuberculosis (6.2%); given the long hospital stay, this is the most important disease in terms of hospital bed days (24.6%). Infectious diseases have represented a progressively heavy burden on hospital services, mostly due to pediatric admissions. Respiratory tuberculosis and malaria represent nearly one-third of the overall burden in terms of hospital bed days.