Abstract

Diarrhea and pneumonia are leading killers of the world’s youngest children. The toll is highly concentrated in the most disadvantaged children from 15 high-burden countries. The present research reports the factors associated with the comorbidity of the two killer diseases in the context of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), one of the 15 countries suffering the most from the blights. This analysis of data from a cross-sectional household survey found an association between child’s comorbid diarrhea and pneumonia and the indicators of child’s age, unimproved sanitation facilities, unsafe or indiscriminate disposal of children’s feces, malnutrition and parents’ education. It was concluded that improved child’s environment and safe hygiene practice protect against a co-occurrence of the two conditions in rural DRC.

Key words: Diarrhea, pneumonia, comorbidity, sub-Sahara, rural, fecal disposal, sanitation, Congo-Kinshasa.