Impact of Diarrhea on the Clinical Presentation and Outcome of Severe Pneumonia in Bangladeshi Children.

We compared clinical presentation and outcome of 225 children with severe pneumonia between those with and those without diarrhea. Having diarrhea was associated with metabolic acidosis (P < 0.001) and hypocalcemia (P = 0.002) on presentation, and with a fatal outcome: 20/113 (20%) died with diarrhea versus 3/112 (3%) without diarrhea. Diarrhea is an important comorbidity in Bangladeshi children with severe pneumonia requiring attention for improved case management.