Commentary: Comorbidity as a factor in child health and child survival in developing countries

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Abstract
Ask any clinician who has looked after children in a developing country about co-morbidity in childhood disease and you are likely to get a similar answer. Children in developing countries get ill and die in large numbers from a relatively small number of causes. Frequently they present with more than one problem and those with multiple problems are more likely to die. This co-morbidity is more than would be expected by chance alone, and is largely due to common risk factors, particularly malnutrition. This view is reinforced by studies of the aetiology of pneumonia and diarrhoeal disease in developing countries, which reveal a population of high risk, often malnourished children from whom multiple pathogens can be identified.1