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Abstract Background Almost half of the estimated 5.3 million deaths of under-five children in 2018 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa with morbidity contributing substantially to these deaths. Seeking medical care for children has been described as an important measure of reducing mortality occasioned by morbidity. This study examined factors influencing mothers’ health seeking behaviour for their children in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods This study made use of data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) of 31 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The study involved 75,982 children who received or did not receive measles vaccine and 93,142 children who sought or did not seek medical care when affected by fever or cough and diarrhoea. Binary logistic regression was applied in the analysis. Results Most of the children (74%) received measles vaccine while less than one-fifth sought medical care for fever or cough (16%) and diarrhoea (10%). Majority of the children of women who received measles vaccine and sought medical care when they had fever or cough are from richest households. Children of women with primary and secondary or higher education, children of working women and children of women that attended antenatal care during pregnancy are more likely to seek medical care for fever or cough. While children of women who live in urban areas and children of second or higher order of birth are less likely to receive measles vaccine, children aged 24–35 months and those who were of average size at birth are less likely to seek medical care for diarrhoea. Conclusions This study has revealed that mothers’ health care seeking behaviour for their children is influenced by social, maternal and child factors. Any intervention aimed at improving child health in sub-Sharan Africa should take these factors into consideration.

ABSTRACT This study was done in Basrah Maternity and Child hospital from January 2002 till the end of December 2002 to determine the proportion of children less than two years of age with diarrheal diseases among hospitalized children and to study the morbidity and mortality of these patients. A child less than two years of age with diarrhea represents the leading cause of hospitalization and constituted (35%) of the total admission during the study period. Infants less than one year of age represent (64.9%) of all cases of diarrhea and the remaining were above one year of age. About (74.9%) of these cases were acute diarrhea and (25.1%) were chronic cases. Age of less than one year and associated malnutrition were the two most important predictors of development of chronic diarrhea. Sex of patients did not influence the occurrence of acute and chronic diarrhea. The duration of diarrhea and the age of patient determined the outcome of cases. Acute cases among infants less than one year of age have higher mortality than those children above one year of age. No death reported for acute cases above one year. The case fatality for chronic diarrhea was (49 % for under I year and 7.15 % for those above 1 year) and it is about 8 times more than that of acute cases. This mortality rate is more than the reported rate in the literatures by about two times, reflecting the need for improving the management of these of children.